Kentucky Kindergarten Readiness Performance-Based Child Care Incentive Pilot Program

The Kentucky Kindergarten Readiness Performance-Based Child Care Incentive Pilot Program (or the K-Readiness Pilot for short) was established through House Bill 6. The pilot will evaluate whether offering financial incentives tied to kindergarten readiness can improve children's school readiness outcomes and whether such an approach would be practical and cost-effective to implement across Kentucky. Specifically, the project will determine whether providing payments of up to $2,000 to licensed child care centers, certified family child care homes, and eligible families for every child who qualifies as kindergarten ready, may improve the state’s percentage of children who qualify as kindergarten ready.

The pilot is being evaluated by the University of Kentucky using rigorous research methods designed to provide policymakers with trustworthy evidence about the feasibility, costs, and potential impacts of a performance-based incentive model. The pilot is an evaluation study. It is intended to answer important questions before any statewide implementation decisions are made.

In addition to the evaluation study, the K-Readiness Pilot will establish two stakeholder workgroups (i.e., Assessment Process Workgroup and Fund Verification and Distribution Process Workgroup) that will provide expertise, feedback, and recommendations regarding the processes, systems, resources, and infrastructure that may be needed to implement performance-based incentive across the Commonwealth. By simultaneously evaluating the effectiveness and feasibility of performance-based incentives for Kentucky, a realistic understanding regarding the benefits and challenges can be presented to guide future decisions surrounding the state of early care and education in Kentucky. 

The K-Readiness Pilot seeks to answer the following questions:

1. Does offering a financial incentive increase the percentage of children who enter kindergarten ready to learn?
2. What are the costs associated with implementing such a program?
3. Should financial incentives prove effective, what resources are needed to implement the program at scale for Kentucky?

Kentucky invests substantial resources in supporting young children's development and school readiness. Before implementing any new statewide initiative, policymakers need reliable evidence about whether an approach works, whether the benefits justify the costs, and whether such a program can actually be implemented using current infrastructure supports or if new systems will be needed. 

This evaluation is designed to provide that evidence.

Myth: The state has already decided to implement this program statewide.

Fact: No decision has been made regarding statewide implementation. The purpose of this pilot is to determine whether the approach is effective and whether it would be feasible and cost-effective to implement at scale.

Myth: Every child care program in Kentucky will participate in the pilot evaluation.

Fact: Only a sample of eligible child care centers, certified family child care homes, and families will participate in the evaluation.

Myth: Children participating in the pilot evaluation will receive special services that other children across the state will not have access to.

Fact: All participating children will continue receiving their usual early care and education services. Any resources made available to children participating in the pilot evaluation will also be made available to all other children across Kentukcy. 

Myth: If a family is not selected, they are being excluded from future opportunities.

Fact: Participation in the study is solely for evaluation purposes and does not determine eligibility for future policy initiatives.

Myth: Researchers already know the program works.

Fact: If researchers already knew the answer, there would be no need for an evaluation. The purpose of the pilot is to learn whether the approach works, for whom it works, how much it costs, and what it will take to implement it at scale. In addition, to support a transparent evaluation process, House Bill 6 requires that all data generated through this project be made publicly available to the greatest extent possible in accordance with state laws and guidance from the University of Kentucky’s Institutional Review Board. Thus, Kentuckians should have access to the data that are analyzed for this evaluation.