Federal Investment in Early Childhood Data Systems

Within the last year, there has been an unprecedented amount of federal investment to support states during the pandemic. These funds allowed states to invest in their early childhood data systems, collecting new data and creating new tools to support the needs of families, policymakers, and critical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief provides a comprehensive overview of funding (past, present, and potential) available to states for early childhood data systems, including the new federal funding which includes or has allowances for early childhood data systems, pending legislation, previous federal investment, and existing federal funding with allowances for data systems support. Although there has been a significant amount of new federal funding that allows for the improvement of data collections, data enhancements, and data integration, there is still a need to support the state’s capacity to implement and maintain these improvements over time. This provides an opportunity for foundations, philanthropic organizations, or additional state and/or federal funds to supplement the data systems efforts.