TITLE
Title
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION INITIATIVE
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Natalie Craver, County Manager's Office
Coretta Walker, County Manager's Office
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BACKGROUND
Background
Staff will provide an update on Guilford County's Early Childhood Education (ECE) initiative, including local childcare access, affordability, workforce challenges and the work completed to date by the County's ECE stakeholder work group. The work group identified several priority areas, including childcare availability and accessbility, cost of care, workforce recruitment and retention, and utilization of childcare subsidies.
Staff will also review a proposed 18-month, $267,135 contract with MDC Consulting to re-engage community partners, conduct a baseline assessment, establish performance measures and develop an implementation plan with targeted strategies to address identified barriers. MDC Consulting was selected due to the quality of their submission, their proven track record, detailed expertise about child care, and their leadership sponsoring community-based ECE conversations both in North Carolina and across the South. Staff recommends funding the work with available ARPA-enabled funding.
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REQUESTED ACTION
Requested Action
Appropriate $267,135 in ARPA Investment Earnings, approve all necessary budget amendments and transfers; approve the scope of services and then direct staff to negotiate and execute a contract with MDC Consulting based on the scope of services.
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