Quality facilities are considered a critical component of Connecticut's effort to expand access to early education.

Well designed facilities support a quality early education in a variety of ways. Most importantly, they provide a healthy and safe environment in which children can learn and grow. Health problems related to asthma and allergies can be reduced; adequate space for gross-motor play can reduce obesity.

Recognizing the importance of affordable early care and education, CHEFA has partnered with the State to develop three specialized child care facility financing programs, and has become increasingly involved in a range of statewide initiatives to broaden access to quality programs.

Child Care Facility Loan Fund (CCFLF)

The CCFLF was created through School Readiness legislation (Public Act 97-259), establishing three separate programs to finance the construction of child care facilities: The Tax-Exempt Financing Program, Guaranteed Loan Program and Small Direct Loan Program.

»More information on CHEFA's Child Care Facility Programs

»View our current Child Care projects list

Developing a Plan for Child Care Facilities for Connecticut

Recognizing the need for the adequate long-term planning of workforce and facility development, the State Legislature called on the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA), and State Department of Education (SDE), to develop a school readiness expansion plan for Connecticut, focused specifically on facilities.

The Early Childhood Facility Plan will be presented in two reports. This interim report concentrates on an evaluation of Connecticut's current facility development programs, and develops proposals that could enhance existing programs and accelerate development.

After conducting community outreach and research, the final report in June 2009 will evaluate the options defined in the interim report and present them as a set of recommendations.

The Early Childhood Education Cost Estimate Tool

The Tool is an interactive cost model, available through this website, that estimates the costs of center- and school-based early care and education. The Tool does not endorse any program model or staffing design. Instead, it compares operating costs across many different center-based program models, based pre-configured scenarios or user-defined inputs.

»Access the Cost Estimate Tool