The final Fiscal Year 2013 state budget adjustments, as passed, contain many important increases in funding for quality and access in early care and education programs. These incorporate the major elements of proposals from the Governor and Appropriations Committee.
Significantly, the final budget includes:
- $6.8 million in new funding for 1,000 additional School Readiness slots, to be phased in over the 2012-2013 school year
- $6.8 million increase from the FY 12 appropriation in Care4Kids funding (a 7% increase)
- $3.0 million in professional development for early childhood educators
- $1.94 million of new funding for Family Resource Centers
- $1.10 million of new funding for School Based Health Centers, and
- $450,000 of new funding for “wraparound services” through the State Department of Education (SDE)
- $2.7 million in new funding for programming that promotes early literacy
The budget also maintains funding for a number of other important programs, including state-funded child care centers, State Head Start Programs, the Parent Trust Fund, and Even Start. It rejects the Governor’s proposed move of Connecticut Charts-a-Course from the Department of Social Services (DSS) to SDE.
