Linking Home-Based Child Care and State-Funded Preschool

The Community Connections Preschool Program (Illinois Action for Children)

By Child Trends and the National Center for Children in Poverty

May 1, 2011

Read or Download the Report

75-page PDF

In This Report, You’ll Learn

  • An outline of the Community Connections preschool program.
  • Scope of the Community Connections program's implementation.
  • Methodology and findings of interviews conducted with members of the five groups participating in Community Connections.
  • Discusses respondents' perceptions of benefits/targeted effects of the program.
  • An analysis of the challenges voiced by respondents, as well as ideas for meeting those challenges.

About This Report

Summary

The Community Connections preschool program was developed in 2006 by the Illinois Action for Children (IAFC) to help prepare children in home-based child care for success in school and in life. It has three goals:

  1. to make state prekindergarten classroom experiences available to children in home-based care;
  2. to extend classroom learning experiences in the home-based care setting; and
  3. to support infant and toddler development in participating providers' homes.

This report describes the methodology and findings of Phase 1 of the evaluation of the Community Connections model.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaway

the Community Connections preschool program model

Illinois Action for Children formed the Community Connections program model in 2005 to meet the need of children who were in home-based care and, as consequence, excluded from the "Preschool for All" initiative..

Findings & Stats

Statements & Quotations