The Need There is an acute shortage of quality child care in New Haven--and, indeed, throughout the nation--especially for low-income families. The crisis of child care availability is real and immediate in Connecticut: the state's families have a need for 160,000 child care slots, but licensed centers can only accommodate approximately 72,000 children, and licensed family child cares can provide space for only another 18,000 children.1 The child care crisis, however, is not just one of availability, but also of quality. Far too many children spend their days in under-resourced child care programs where the providers lack the knowledge and training to nurture children's development. As a consequence of poor quality care, children miss important early developmental milestones and experiences, starting school with significant deficits in language, cognitive, social and emotional development. Study after study has found that high-quality early care and education significantly boosts all children's readiness for school, and shrinks the achievement gap among preschoolers from different economic backgrounds.2 Next