PDG B-5: Success Stories from the States

Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5) is a federal grant that supports quality statewide early childhood services for children from birth through age five. 

This grant empowers states to strengthen, align, and expand their early learning programs, maximizing efficiency and efficacy within each state’s program design. PDG B-5 helps each state develop strategic plans that prioritize parental choice, transitions from early learning to elementary school, and overall program quality. The impact of the program has historically stretched across 49 of the 50 states, Washington, DC, and four territories. For a look at how each state has used PDG B-5, take a look at our national map. President Trump’s recommendations on discretionary funding levels for fiscal year (FY) 2027 and a recent House proposal would eliminate PDG B-5 entirely.

In 2026, 23 states were selected to receive PDG B-5 grants. Here’s how 10 of them are using this funding:

Alabama

Reported in WSFA, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education was awarded $3.8 million from PDG B-5 to strengthen and coordinate the state’s early childhood system. This grant aims to build the professional skills of a stable early child care workforce, align results across mixed-delivery programs, bolster family engagement, and design strong analytical systems that inform policy and services across agencies. 

Arizona

As discussed in Arizona PBS, Arizona received an $8.4 million grant to stabilize their early education workforce and improve literacy initiatives. According to 12 News, “Federal grants and cross-agency partnerships like this one [are] central to sustaining and expanding early learning programs across the state.” Officials hope to use the funding to build long-term infrastructure to support the literacy of early learners beyond the one-year grant period.

Arkansas

Arkansas was awarded a $14.8 million grant to centralize the state’s early education programming, with a focus on accessibility and workforce quality. According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, “In the grant application, the state said the money would be used to ‘accelerate’ efforts to transition to a single, unified early childhood system.” Recent statements from local workers have confirmed the state’s focus on a centralized program, such as Jessica Griffin (Local Lead, Southeast Educational Service Cooperative) in THV11: “I’ve had the privilege of witnessing firsthand how a unified early childhood system is laying a strong foundation for children’s success in school and life.” 

Delaware

Delaware Public Media reports an $11.3 million grant from PDG B-5 to expand the state’s early child care and early education programs. In collaboration with educational and economic advisors, the funding will go towards program coordination across the state. Previous use of a PDG B-5 grant in Delaware empowered almost 600 children to receive child care. 

Hawaii

Hawaii’s $1.4 million PDG B-5 grant, as reported in Kaua’i Now, will “support statewide systems-building efforts focused on improving coordination across agencies and service providers, strengthening family access and choice in early learning programs, enhancing quality across the early learning system and helping ensure children enter kindergarten ready to succeed.” The grant will support statewide integration of this high-quality early learning program.

Michigan

In APNews, a pilot program rolled out this spring to test no-cost pre-K in home-based child care programs, expanding the state’s existing Pre-K For All program. This $1.5 million initiative will support up to 75 to 80 children to attend preschool. The expansion of the existing Pre-K For All program to home providers aims to offer working families an option with more flexible hours, individualized support, and community relationships. 

Ohio

As reported in Ohio Capital Journal, Ohio received a $14.7 million grant to support access to early care and education services. Specifically, the funding will go towards technology and research, as well as supporting early childhood education workers with “curriculum development, professional learning opportunities, and business support resources.” They aim to improve the coordination of services across the state to make it easier for interested families to identify local programming.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma received $14.7 million from PDG B-5, according to Seminole Producer. Of the new funding, Jeffrey Cartmell (Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services) said, “This funding will allow us to continue building better data systems while implementing specific strategies to help Oklahoma’s early care and education system improve and ultimately, serve children, families and our workforce better.” Along with programming relating to workforce integration and retention, the grant proposal included a collection of projects targeting system alignment, program efficacy and expansion, and data collection. 

Oregon

As reported in KDRV, Oregon was awarded a $7.4 million grant to support the development of a cohesive early education system, “rooted in accountability and efficiency, while maximizing family choice.” Previous funding for Oregon helped the state assess its early education needs before the founding of their Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC). The current year’s funding will support the state’s new early childhood plan, created by the recent DELC.

Vermont

VT Digger reports that a nearly $13 million grant will support urgent developments to Vermont’s child care system. After the 2023 passage of Act 76, thousands of children gained access to child care through the expanded tuition assistance program, resulting in a steep increase in new child care providers. The funding will support data collection and analysis to coordinate the new network of child care providers by assisting the transmission of information between agencies, providers, and policy makers. This grant will also support child care providers through business management support and workforce development, especially through a new, efficient background-check system.