Early Childhood Education Fiscal Hub Report

Early Childhood Education Fiscal Hub Pilot project summary, key observations, and recommendations to improve financial stability of child care providers February 2019 Funded by Vanguard Strong Start for Kids Program and William Penn Foundation 1 Fiscal Hub Early Childhood Education Fiscal Hub Project The Early Childhood Education (ECE) Fiscal Hub is a partnership of Public Health Management Corporation, Reinvestment Fund, and CoMetrics to develop financial tools and industry standards to support and guide decision-making for the early learning sector. Generous grants from the Vanguard Strong Start for Kids Program and William Penn Foundation supported this project. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Vanguard Strong Start for Kids Program or William Penn Foundation. Acknowledgements The ECE Fiscal Hub would like to thank our advisory committee members for their guidance and support: Kristine Alvarez, Nonprofit Finance Fund Amanda Atkinson, Public Health Management Corporation Christie Balka, City of Philadelphia, Mayor’s Office of Education Julie Beamon, City of Philadelphia, Mayor’s Office of Education Melanie Brennan, Kencrest Angela Coaxum, Your Part-Time Controller Harriet Dichter, Early Childhood Education Policy and Strategy Consultant Amy Friedlander, Early Childhood Education Consultant Eva Gladstein, City of Philadelphia, Department of Health and Human Services Mary Graham, Children’s Village Karen Grimm-Thomas, Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning Teresa Hayes, Public Health Management Corporation Aliya Johnson Roberts, Pratt Street Learning Center Lynn Karoly, RAND Corporation Dainette Mintz, Urban Affairs Coalition Rashanda Perryman, The Vanguard Group, Inc. Libbie Poppick, Opportunities Exchange Carl Reese, Kencrest Latoshia Sanders, Public Health Management Corporation Tyrone Scott, First Up Louise Stoney, Opportunities Exchange Tom Sulpizio, Montgomery Early Learning Center 2 Fiscal Hub Fiscal Hub Partners Public Health Management Corporation Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute with a mission to create and sustain healthier communities. PHMC has served the Greater Philadelphia region since 1972. PHMC and its 11 affiliates have over 2,300 employees across 42 program locations serving approximately 350,000 clients annually through hundreds of programs. Service areas include behavioral health/recovery, primary care, chronic disease management and prevention, early intervention, education, workforce development, family services, and much more, plus the research and evaluation necessary to assess and target service needs effectively. Reinvestment Fund Reinvestment Fund is a national mission-driven financial institution that creates opportunity for underserved people and places through partnerships. It marshals the capital, analytics, and expertise necessary to build strong, healthy, and more equitable communities. Since 1985, Reinvestment Fund has made $2 billion in cumulative investments and loans. It is supported by over 850 investors that include individuals, foundations, religious institutions, financial institutions, civic organizations and government. CoMetrics CoMetrics enables independent businesses, cooperatives and nonprofit organizations to harness the power of data to transform their performance and impact. Founded in 1995 and incorporated as a Minnesota cooperative in 2003, CoMetrics currently serves over 300 organizations in eight sectors ranging from retail grocery to nonprofit affordable housing developers to impact investors. Its proven model can deliver value across a broad range of sectors, industries, and business types. CoMetrics builds the capacity of its partners to be data-driven. Its tools create timely, accurate and actionable analytics that improve financial management, drive innovation, and better measure social impact. For more information about this report or the Fiscal Hub please contact FiscalHub@phmc.org. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 Fiscal Hub Executive summary ........................................................................ 4 Background .................................................................................... 9 Project overview ............................................................................. 10 Overview of provider cohort ........................................................... 12 Fiscal Hub resources ..................................................................... 13 Fiscal Hub online tool ............................................................... 14 Case study – How the online tool has helped other sectors improve operations ..................................... 20 Proposed ECE industry standards & application ....................... 21 Key observations ............................................................................ 25 Recommendations