Global consulting and digital services provider ICF has secured a trio of agreements valued up to $31 million by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families.
ICF is to provide training, technical assistance and IT modernization support to state, tribal and territorial early education and child care programs. The agreements include a new $24 million task order with the Office of Child Care to provide technical assistance to public leaders and their partners to create innovative early childhood systems and programs.
The awards also support a new $4 million grant with ACF’s Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation to build and operate a modernized, cloud-based Child Care and Early Education Research Connections website.
In addition, the agreements include a one year, $2.8 million cooperative agreement extension with OCC to provide technical assistance through the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance to provide training and technical assistance to public and community leaders supporting rigorous approaches to quality in all early care and education settings.
The pandemic has underscored the key role child care plays in supporting the U.S. workforce, economy and child development, said Mark Lee, senior vice president and public sector lead.
“We’re proud to help identify innovative solutions that address the current and future stressors on the nation’s early childhood systems,” he added.