Department: Economic Equity and Opportunity
Department Head/Elected Official: Estella Gonzalez
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Interlocal Agreement
Project ID (if applicable):
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): University of Houston
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity for approval of an interlocal agreement with the University of Houston for the benefit of its Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality (UH IRWGS) in the amount of $2,333,251 to evaluate Early REACH (Raising Educational Access for Children in Harris County), Harris County's child care contracted slots pilot program.
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Background and Discussion:
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law. Harris County Commissioners Court set goals for its ARPA funds, including designating funding to address the shortage of quality child care within the county.?In response, Harris County is implementing Early REACH, a pilot program to contract with high-quality child care centers to increase the supply of affordable, high-quality child care in Harris County. On January 31, 2023, Commissioners Court approved a contract with BakerRipley to implement Early REACH.
Harris County is seeking to contract with UH IRWGS as the evaluator for the necessary evaluation components of this project. The scope of the evaluation includes center, family, and market impacts, as well as the program's cost-effectiveness. The evaluation partner will work with DEEO through December 31, 2026, to examine the extent of Early REACH's impact on Harris County's children and families.
Expected Impact:
The UH IRWGS will assess Early REACH's effectiveness by examining its alignment with intended goals through an ev...
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