Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic began, federal funding started to flow to state agencies to support young children, their families, and the early care and education (ECE) workforce. From 2020 to 2023, there were three federal pandemic relief acts: the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act; the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act; and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Altogether, Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) received over two billion dollars in federal relief funds. The state also used the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund, which provided additional funds to support the state’s ECE and educational entities through an award from the U.S. Department of Education.

DECAL used federal pandemic relief funding to implement approximately 30 projects and initiatives designed to stabilize the ECE industry and support young children and families. Projects included 1) supporting families by covering family fees and increasing access to subsidized child care through expanded eligibility requirements for Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS), Georgia’s CCDF-funded child care subsidy program; and 2) stabilizing and supporting the ECE workforce by providing payments and bonuses, as well as launching pilots and trainings designed to increase ECE quality.

In 2023, DECAL partnered with Child Trends, a national nonprofit research organization, to examine how pandemic relief funding supported Georgia’s ECE providers, educators, and families. The evaluation focused on understanding recipients’ experiences and perceptions of the funding’s reach and impact and used a mixed-methods approach that included analyses of more than 10 administrative datasets, a survey of 650 ECE providers, and interviews and focus groups with providers, teachers, families, and DECAL staff.

Findings from the evaluation can be found in the products below:

• Summaries on evaluation findings related to:
  • Reach of Pandemic Relief Projects Supporting Georgia’s Early Care and Education Programs
  • Providers’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Georgia’s Pandemic Relief Funding Efforts
  • Families’ Experiences With Georgia’s Pandemic Relief Funding Efforts
• Snapshots of evaluation findings on specific pandemic relief initiatives:
  • Pandemic Relief Funding for Georgia’s ECE Providers and Families Through Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Initiatives
  • Pandemic Relief Funding for Georgia’s ECE Providers and Families Through Short-term Assistance Benefit for Licensed Entities (STABLE)
  • Pandemic Relief Funding for Georgia’s ECE Providers and Families Through Providing Our Workforce Essential Recognition (POWER)
• Evaluation reports focused on the providers, workforce members and families’ experiences with pandemic relief funding efforts:
  • Pandemic Relief Funding Supported Georgia’s Center-Based Administrators, Family Child Care Providers, and Pre-K Administrators
  • Pandemic Relief Funding Supported Georgia’s Early Care and Education Workforce
  • Pandemic Relief Funding Supported Georgia’s Families With Young Children

DECAL commissioned researchers from the University of Georgia and Georgia State University to revisit their previous study of the importance of the early care and education industry to Georgia’s economy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial report of the current study attempts to quantify the impact of the pandemic by comparing the industry in 2020 versus 2019 using a variety of metrics. The analyses in this report show that state and federal financial funding, as well as policy decisions by DECAL, were essential to supporting Georgia’s ECE industry. Future reports will examine the economic impact of the industry coming out of the pandemic.

Examining Quality in Georgia’s Child Care Centers Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Child Trends partnered with DECAL to examine potential effects of the pandemic on classroom quality as captured in classroom observations for Quality Rated, Georgia’s quality rating and improvement system. DECAL paused in-person classroom observations in March 2020 and resumed them in July 2022. This brief summarizes comparisons of ECERS-3 and ITERS-3 observations conducted as part of the rating process before and after the COVID-19 pause. It includes only classrooms serving infants/toddlers and children ages 3 to 5 in center-based programs taking part in Quality Rated. Average overall scores on both rating scales decreased slightly following the COVID-19 shutdown when comparing 2018-2019 to 2022 data.

Supporting Georgia’s Early Care and Learning System with CRRSA and ARP Funding: Perspectives from Stakeholders and Families

In 2021, DECAL contracted with the Urban Institute to conduct stakeholder engagement with Georgia families, child care providers, the early care and education (ECE) workforce, DECAL staff, and other stakeholder groups to assess the support needed for Georgia’s ECE system. More than 7,000 stakeholders across rural and urban Georgia communities shared their experiences, concerns, and recommendations to strengthen early care and learning in Georgia. This report reflects these perspectives through nine recommendations for how DECAL could allocate its federal pandemic relief funds to support Georgia’s early care and learning system.

The executive summary provides an overview of these nine recommendations and strategies, while the full report details how the team gathered the information, who participated, and what was found.

Full Report

Executive Summary

In 2021, Quality Rated implemented the Temporary Alternate Rating Option (TARO), which enabled child care programs to earn a rating through a virtual rating process during the COVID-19 pandemic. DECAL partnered with Child Trends to learn more about TARO through surveys, interviews, and analyses of administrative data. Findings and considerations are summarized in a set of reports.

Awarding Child Care Education Scholarship Supplements (ACCESS) is a temporary initiative to mitigate the negative financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families who receive Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) scholarships by paying child care providers their full published rate from May 2021 through at least October 2023. Beginning in December of 2021, DECAL partnered with Child Trends to administer an online survey to families who receive CAPS scholarships to understand their awareness of ACCESS and how the decrease in child care costs had affected their family’s finances. This report provides a summary of the findings from the survey. Families reported an overall high awareness of ACCESS and a decrease in child care costs and improvement in their finances as a result of ACCESS.

Utilizing funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, DECAL offered Short Term Assistance for Licensed Entities (STABLE) grants to support child care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Licensed child care providers were eligible to begin applying for Round 1 of these grants on April 30, 2020. In July 2020, DECAL Collaborated with researchers from the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government to conduct a survey of licensed child care providers regarding STABLE funds and their perception of DECAL’s administration of the grants. This report details those findings.