The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is deeply committed to investing in the early care and education workforce’s educational attainment.  OCDEL’s tuition assistance funds both the T.E.A.C.H. (administered by PACCA) and Rising STARS (administered by the PA Key) programs. Although OCDEL expanded funding for T.E.A.C.H. and Rising Stars this fiscal year, the demand for...Read More

The PA Department of Human Services Secretary, Teresa Miller, released the RFI Comprehensive Services and Information Resources to explore existing individual or family needs assessments, methods of connecting individuals and families to community resources, and models for providing whole-person or whole-family case management. Response deadline is January 18, 2019. https://conta.cc/2EridDhRead More

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is making some changes to the Rising STAR Tuition Assistance program. Rising STARS helps cover a portion of tuition costs for early learning professionals. Funding has been secured through June 30, 2019. Beginning immediately, degree waivers for programs outside of the approved degree list (PDF) will no...Read More

Spanking a child may increase aggression in a child, and may actually do long term harm to a child, says a new study by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The AAP recently released an updated policy statement about the harmful effects spanking can have on children. The use of spanking is also ineffective in...Read More

In response to traumas within communities, the PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) would like to highlight resources for early learning programs, schools, community partners and families. Click here to view the page.Read More

Deadline extended to November 9, 2018! Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU) in coordination with the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission (PAELIC) is currently accepting proposals to investigate the cost of providing high quality early care and education across Pennsylvania. Part I of this project, CHILD...Read More

You may have heard about Pennsylvania’s 2018-19 state budget which includes $4 million to expand evidence-based home visiting programs. The additional funding is expected to help about 1,000 families. Want to know more about evidence-based home visiting? Click here!Read More

Harrisburg, PA – Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Teresa Miller today announced increased funding for evidence-based home visiting programs in communities affected by the opioid epidemic included in Governor Tom Wolf’s 2018-2019 budget. The Department of Human Services currently supports four evidence based home visiting programs: Early Head Start, Healthy Families America, Nurse Family...Read More