Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (WCCF) has just released a new publication, YoungStar in Wisconsin: An Analysis of Data as of July 2012. This report is the third in a series of progress reports since the YoungStar quality rating and improvement system was launched in 2011. Key findings include:
- Nearly half of low-income children funded by Wisconsin Shares are served in programs meeting quality standards above basic regulatory levels (rated 3-5 stars under YoungStar). While only 30 percent of programs are rated at 3-5 stars, 46 percent of children are in these higher-rated programs.
- The trend over time is that more and more children are in higher-rated programs.
- An extraordinary number of child care programs have been rated by YoungStar: over 4,100 as of July 2012.
- YoungStar regions vary significantly in the percentage of children in higher-rated settings. For instance, Northeastern region and Southern region have the highest percentages of children in quality settings, while Milwaukee region has the lowest.
- Ratings of child care centers are dramatically higher than ratings of family child care programs.
- An impressive array of resources is being provided to help programs improve, including technical assistance, scholarships, and micro-grants.
The WCCF report analyzes the progress made and the challenges facing child care programs wanting to move to a YoungStar quality level. WCCF believes that YoungStar can be a significant catalyst to increase the number of low-income children receiving high-quality early learning and development experiences. Research shows that high-quality early childhood programs lead to positive outcomes for children in school and beyond, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
