❮ Projects page Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY)

Spatial Analysis Project:

As Pennsylvania moves to rapidly increase opportunities for early learning for at-risk children through expanded funding of universal pre-k, where should new investments in the region be targeted?

Pennsylvania’s early learning system already makes child care subsidies available to working parents, but 80% of the funds are spent on childcare that is of low or uncertain quality. However, the much-touted “return on investment” for early learning is associated only with high quality programs. The distribution of quality programs varies geographically; is the supply mismatched with the highest need? Where are the largest gaps? Can parents’ demand for quality seats be boosted by opening or improving well-located centers? If so, where? Is demand hyper-local or flexible?

As Governor Wolf prepares to act on his promise to provide universal pre-k, local advocates and funders need data enabling them to prioritize and stage investments over the next 4 years.

Data available:

• Locations of licensed programs by Star level (indicates quality), publicly available from Keystone STARS.
• Locations of unlicensed caregivers from DHS.
• Lists of Head Start, Nursery and Accredited programs, with number of seats.
• Census data on poverty ratios for children under 6.
• The Child Care Map provides one model of this kind of data, but only covers Philadelphia. There is no such tool available for the other half the children in the region.

Maps and Reports that will be created:

• Map high quality early childhood programs, indicating relative size and location vis a vis major roads and public transit, if relevant
• Map of density of poor, low- and moderate-income families (by census tract if possible)
• Quality mismatch: Analyze degree of unmet need by contrasting or subtracting supply from demand/need
• Identify ideal/optimum locations for new high quality sites
• Identify Star 2 programs (step below high quality) in areas of high unmet need/good targets for investment

How the maps and reports will be used:

Poverty is often invisible in more affluent suburban areas. Poor children in the suburbs actually face worse odds of getting into publicly funded Pre-K. Policymakers and funders can use the maps to inform, target and prioritize new Pre-K investments. PCCY will shape recommendations and make sure that policy/decision-makers use good data and relevant criteria in their deliberations. The information is urgently needed by the new administration.