Pennsylvania’s Child Care System: Access, Affordability, and Quality
workforce is critical to ensuring high-quality experiences for children.
Keystone STARS is a tool used to achieve four primary goals: 1. Improve the quality of child care; 2. P rovide families a way to gauge and choose a quality child care program; 3. S upport child care providers to meet their quality improvement goals; and 4. R ecognize and reward programs for improving quality and meeting higher standards. Keystone STARS rates child care programs on a rating scale ranging from STAR 1 to STAR 4, with STAR 3 and 4 programs considered high-quality. As of 2017, all licensed child care programs receive a STAR 1 rating with the option to move up in quality ratings by meeting additional standards. 45 As child care programs advance in the quality rating scale, the requirements in each area increase. STAR 3 programs must earn a minimum of 70% of the possible points in each of the four Performance Standard categories in addition to the required indicators. 46 To be a designated STAR 4, programs must earn a minimum of 85% of possible points in each of the four Performance Standard categories in addition to the required indicators. 47 Reaching a high-quality rating also provides programs with slight monetary incentives to reward their quality improvement and encourage continued advancement in quality. Child care programs that reach a STAR 2 or higher receive an “add-on” to their Child Care Works subsidy payment rates per child to recognize their efforts toward high-quality programming. The amount of the “add-on” grows with each higher STAR level achieved. Since June 2021, the number of high-quality providers operating across the state is approximately 1,842, however there is a decline in the number of new Continued on next page
High-Quality Child Care Makes a Difference
When building a strong, stable, and impactful early care and education system, prioritizing investments in high-quality programming is key because it allows for the largest return on investment. Infants and toddlers participating in high-quality child care have shown positive, long-term, and multi- generational impacts in education, employment, and health. 44 High-quality child care programs: 1. O ffer safe, nurturing, and responsive environments where children grow, learn, and succeed. 2. A llow families to work knowing their children are with qualified and caring professionals. 3. F oster young children’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. In 2003, Pennsylvania launched a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS)—Keystone STARS—to track the quality of child care programs and provide families with a tool to understand the quality of their child’s program. As one of the first states to establish a rating system, Pennsylvania served as a model for other states in the development of their own QRISs. The QRIS uses research-based standards focused on: • S taff qualifications and professional development • P rogramming (curriculum, classroom environment) • Partnerships with family and community • L eadership and management (business practices)
2023 State of Early Care and Education
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