Quality Counts California is a statewide, locally implemented quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) that funds and provides guidance to local and regional agencies, and other quality partners, to enhance their support of early learning and care providers. Quality Counts California helps these agencies improve the quality of early learning and care programs, and informs parents and families on what quality looks like and why it is important for young children.
Quality Counts California is a collaboration between First 5 California and the California Department of Education, Early Learning and Care Division, and is implemented at the county or regional level through a locally operated QRIS. Using a common set of early learning and care program standards, and general guidance developed collaboratively through a state and local partnership, each QRIS engages and supports voluntary participation of programs in its own geographic area.
For more information, or to access resources that were previously available on this website, please go to the Quality Counts California website at qualitycountsca.net.
The California Department of Education (CDE) and First 5 California (F5CA) invite local qualifying agencies to apply for the Quality Counts California (QCC) Local Consortia and Partnership Grants Request for Proposal (RFA). This unified RFA comes at a particularly exciting time for early learning and care in California, with historic new leadership, investment, and a comprehensive vision for an early childhood system from the Governor’s office.
The three-year investment from F5CA and CDE for this unified RFA is nearly $277 million to be distributed across local consortia representing all 58 counties. For F5CA, this amount includes the $103 million approved by the F5CA State Commission during their July 2019 Commission meeting. For CDE funding, the annual amounts are dependent on the annual budget act as well as amounts of federal Child Care and Development Block Grant and will be updated each July following the budget execution. In addition, this RFA incorporates new federal funds from the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Renewal (PDG-R) from the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Agency designed to support local QCC implementation under a single QCC plan.
Please view the links below to get information on the RFA, its funding requirements, and key dates for the submission of a single application on behalf of your local consortia.
On July 25, 2019, the California Children and Families Commission approved $103 million over three years for Improve and Maximize Programs so All Children Thrive (IMPACT) 2020 to support local, regional, and state quality improvement infrastructure investments for California’s early learning and care (ELC) system. IMPACT 2020 represents a continued commitment to the innovative approach of First 5 IMPACT, launched by First 5 California in 2015. First 5 IMPACT built upon prior Commission investments in ELC such as the Power of Preschool and the Child Signature Program. IMPACT 2020 builds upon the success of First 5 IMPACT and is designed to address the needs of the whole child. The implementation of IMPACT 2020 takes place at a local consortium level: 49 consortia represent quality improvement efforts across all of California’s 58 counties, supported by 10 Regional Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Hubs. Included in the 49 consortia is the Tribal Child Care Association of California which participates in quality improvement efforts as its own consortium, partnering with T&TA Hubs and local consortia across the state.
IMPACT 2020 works in collaboration with other ELC quality improvement efforts in California to support the implementation of the Quality Counts California (QCC) Quality Continuum Framework. IMPACT 2020 is specifically designed to fund quality improvement expansion and support providers serving high-impact[1] communities and populations not already receiving support. QCC participation focuses on expansion of access to high-quality ELC in private centers; family child care homes; family, friend, and neighbor caregivers; and in alternative settings such as home visiting programs and libraries.
IMPACT 2020 was one of three funding streams included in the QCC Local Consortia and Partnership Grants, a joint Request for Application (RFA) developed in 2020 in partnership with the California Department of Education (CDE) and First 5 California. This cross-agency funding opportunity included both CDE Block Grants (California State Preschool Program and QCC), as well as IMPACT 2020, to align the QCC system of funding and strengthen partnerships to streamline implementation, achieve cost savings, and create efficiencies at both local and regional levels. The RFA, along with implementation documents and processes and procedures, can be found on the QCC website athttps://qualitycountsca.net/resources/qcc-local-consortia-and-partnership-grants-rfa-documents/.
Regional Training, Technical Assistance, and Coordination Hubs (T&TA Hubs or Hubs) coordinate services to support counties who implement Quality Counts California (QCC) locally. QCC is a statewide, locally implemented effort to strengthen California’s early learning and care system to support young children and their families. Hubs are funded through First 5 California IMPACT 2020 grants through Fiscal Year 2022–23.
California has 49 local QCC consortia organized into ten regions. Each of California’s 58 counties and the Tribal Child Care Association of California are represented within a local consortia. Hubs support data coordination and collection and reporting for the consortia in their region. They also facilitate specialized support around the elements of the QCC Quality Continuum Framework. Hubs serve as a coordinator and facilitator of training, resources, and shared planning to maximize efficiencies and collaboration within each region, as well as sharing information, ideas, and best practices across Hubs.
For more information on T&TA Hubs, you can find an information sheet, a map of the QCC Regions, and a list of the lead agencies representing the ten regions on the QCC website. The Request for Applications (RFA) for funding (now closed), which further outlines the roles and responsibilities of the contracted lead agencies, is below. If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to .
PD2GO (Professional Development 2 Go) is a collection of professional development designed in individual, easy-to-use 15-minute "packs" focusing on continuous quality improvement in early learning programs. PD2GO packs are organized in three comprehensive learning strands: Systems Thinking, Intentional Interactions in Teaching, and Effective Assessment. They create a foundation for weaving in additional quality improvement topics such as family engagement, dual language learning, and coaching in early learning.
For more information, visit the PD2GO page.
