Preschool Development Grants Birth-5 Technical Assistance (PDG B-5 TA) Center

The PDG B-5 TA Center delivers technical assistance to support states in building, enhancing, and expanding birth through age 5 mixed delivery systems and high-quality early childhood programs and services.

SRI International, in conjunction with our partner organizations, AnLar, Education Development Center (EDC), Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD), ICF, and the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), operates the national Preschool Development Grant Birth-5 (PDG B-5) Technical Assistance Center. This Center delivers evidenced-based and outcomes-focused universal, targeted, and tailored technical assistance (TA) for the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care (OCC) and the US Department of Education, Office of Early Learning (ED/OEL) to assist PDG B-5 Grantees states and other states in building, enhancing, and expanding B-5 mixed delivery systems and high-quality B-5 programs and services. The Center is funded through a contract number HHSP233201500041I, with the Office of Child Care.

The overarching goal of PDG-5 is an efficient and effective early childhood education (ECE) system that improves the quality of ECE programs and helps parents choose and access high-quality ECE settings. To accomplish this, the states that received initial grants have developed strategic plans for mixed-delivery, cross-system programs and services, to align, coordinate, and strengthen collaboration, and make efficient use of resources among the various programs, building on what works and addressing areas of challenge. The state’s agencies are undertaking a range of system building activities, for example, increasing access to high-quality care for families whose options are limited by high costs, child age, and/or residential location; aligning systems to better serve children and families through common program language, governance structures that facilitate a seamless system, and policies and practices for better transitions; supporting families through coordinated enrollment; improving information about options and strategies to increase engagement; and improving the quality of the workforce by addressing turnover and increasing the availability of evidence-based professional development.

Technical assistance activities include hosting an annual convening of Grantees and other states; facilitating Collaborative Labs video calls where Grantees can collaborate to address important challenges such as data systems and governance; creating and maintaining an online repository of resources on topics to include children with special needs, rural communities, homelessness, mental health and social-emotional learning, program performance evaluation, and more.