Kansas officials announced Friday that an $8.9 million grant from the Administration for Children and Families has been awarded to continue efforts to strengthen the early childhood system in Kansas. The funding is the first installment of a three year renewal of Kansas’s Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5), initiative.
“These funds will be imperative in helping to keep up our current momentum as we work to improve our state’s early childhood system,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “This grant is particularly welcome now, as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an additional degree of stress on early childhood in Kansas. With it, we will continue to fight for the health and safety of children and families in our state.”
Leaders from the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund, the Kansas State Department of Education, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Children and Families began this collaborative work with a PDG B-5 planning grant in January 2019. The initial grant funded a comprehensive statewide needs assessment, which illuminated what Kansans need and want from their early childhood care and education system.
Funding from this grant will support systems-alignment, infrastructure, and innovation at the local and state level. Kansans can expect to see investments in activities that build a sustainable infrastructure for the early childhood system.