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Founded by Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia General Assembly in 2017, the Georgia Foundation for Early Care + Learning makes strategic investments to improve and expand high-quality early education to help ensure all children in Georgia are prepared to succeed when they enter kindergarten regardless of family income or location. The Foundation will support education excellence by partnering with families, communities, the early care and education industry and stakeholders.
The Georgia Foundation for Early Care + Learning is the 501(c)3 nonprofit tied to the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), which is the state agency responsible for meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and their families. It administers the nationally recognized Georgia’s Pre-K Program; licenses child care centers and home-based child care; administers Georgia's Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Program and federal nutrition programs; and manages Quality Rated, Georgia’s community-powered child care rating system. The department also houses the Head Start State Collaboration Office, distributes federal funding to enhance the quality and availability of child care, and works collaboratively with Georgia child care resource and referral agencies and organizations throughout the state to enhance early care and education.
The Georgia Foundation for Early Care + Learning provides individuals, private foundations, and corporations with a streamlined way to invest in the state’s most essential early learning priorities. Recent examples include technology grants for childcare providers, marketing resources which help families to identify high-quality childcare environments through Georgia's Quality Rating and Improvement System, and celebrating the achievements of Georgia's Early Childhood Educators of the Year and Georgia's Pre-K Teachers of the Year. Additional examples include providing PPE resources to providers during the pandemic, supporting childcare programs in recovery efforts after Hurricane Michael hit Southwest Georgia, and supporting families in gaining access to emergency childcare during the pandemic.