Governor Ivey Announces $3.8 Million Grant to Further Strengthen Early Childhood Education System in Alabama

MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey on Wednesday announced the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECE) has been awarded a $3.8 million federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) from the Administration for Children and Families to support continued efforts to strengthen and align Alabama’s early childhood education system.

“Investing in our youngest Alabamians is one of the most important things we can do to strengthen our state’s future,” said Governor Ivey. “This federal funding allows Alabama to continue building a coordinated, efficient early childhood education system that supports families, strengthens our workforce and ensures children across our state have the opportunity to succeed from the very beginning.”

PDG B-5 is a competitive federal grant designed to help states build and improve early childhood systems by better coordinating and maximizing existing federal, state and local funding. The grant supports efforts to strengthen, align and expand high-quality early care and learning opportunities for children from birth through age five.

“This funding allows Alabama to continue building a strong, coordinated early childhood system that puts families first,” said ADECE Secretary Ami Brooks. “The initiative is designed to benefit children birth through age five, their families and the early childhood workforce across all settings, which includes First Class Pre-K (FCPK), licensed childcare, First Teacher Home Visiting, Part C Early Intervention, Head Start and Early Head Start and community-based programs, with intentional emphasis on rural regions and historically underserved communities.”

During Governor Ivey’s state of the state address, she touched on the gains made within the early childhood education system in Alabama, and this grant will help even further benefit the youngest Alabamians.

The most recent round of PDG B-5 grants, announced in December, emphasizes system efficiency, parental choice and quality improvement across early childhood programs. The ADECE will use the funding to increase the supply, stability and skills of early childhood professionals; strengthen consistency and alignment across mixed delivery programs; expand family engagement; and develop robust cross-agency analytic systems to guide policy, funding and service delivery.

For more information about the ADECE and Alabama’s early childhood initiatives, visit children.alabama.gov.

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