Joint Monitoring Guidance Document

Current as of:
Stick figure image of family with sun shiningMoving Toward More Effective Monitoring Strategies Across ECE Settings

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a Joint Guidance Document on Coordinated Efficiencies in Monitoring and Oversight of Early Care and Education Programs (PDF).

The purpose of this guidance document is to set a new vision for monitoring and oversight policy and practice within states that (a) improves the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of oversight with regard to early care and education programs; (b) creates a culture of health and safety that better supports the healthy development of children; and (c) enables states to be successful in meeting the goals of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014, (P.L. 113-186), which includes monitoring many more child care providers.

The joint HHS and USDA guidance document aims to:

  • Encourage states to align monitoring policies and procedures across funding streams where appropriate rather than monitoring exclusively by funding stream;
  • Recommend efficiencies that could be achieved through coordination, collaboration, cross-training, differential monitoring, data sharing, and greater use of technology;
  • Shift the current focus of monitoring from one of “compliance only” to “continuous quality improvement”;
  • Increase access to the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to promote nutritious meals and snacks for children in early care and education settings;
  • Recommend a universal set of core health and safety standards that apply across programs to support the alignment of monitoring policies and procedures;
  • Share examples of best practices and resources to support states in creating a culture of safe, healthy and developmentally appropriate early childhood settings; and
  • Ensure that results of monitoring visits are used to target technical assistance and other supports to ensure changes in behavior and improve overall quality of service.

Promoting the safety and healthy development of children in early care and education settings is the overarching goal of monitoring. However, today’s monitoring policies are often disconnected efforts based on the individual funding streams or program type that can lead to duplication and conflict. The various funding streams, including the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), CACFP, and Head Start have different legislative requirements, but all have the same overarching goals — to ensure that our nation’s most disadvantaged children have access to what they need to promote their optimal development.

The recommendations in the guidance document (PDF) are meant to foster discussion, share some innovative state practices, and help states design the next generation of monitoring policy and practice.

Joint Monitoring Resources

National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance

Related Reports