Preschool Development Birth through Five System Building Grant - New Jersey’s PDG B-5 funding will build on NJ’s 2024 Birth-to-Five Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan, its nationally recognized mixed-delivery system, and nearly a decade of sustained cross-agency collaboration among its many state Departments. NJ’s proposal advances all three PDG B-5 core priorities: (1) developing a shared statewide vision for ECE; (2) building a unified, coherent mixed-delivery system; and (3) maximizing family options and access to care. Key systems-building strategies include: (a) strengthening statewide governance and fully integrating Head Start/Early Head Start into policy, workforce, financing, and data systems; (b) aligning major funding streams including Child Care Development Fund, Preschool Education Aid, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and our Home Visiting Category 1 Unified System; (c) expanding shared services infrastructure, deploying business-management supports, launching a Family Child Care Apprenticeship Pilot, expanding supports for informal care providers, and increasing supports for teen parents through the Parent Linking Program and Project TEACH. New Jersey will also continue to expand interagency data sharing through data systems and strengthening Connecting NJ as the statewide single-entry access system for families to ensure a “no wrong door” approach to access and sustainability.
