Playbook for Regions
Playbook for Regions

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Incentivize and recognize the accomplishment of certain actions that reflect commitment to and progress toward advancing the task force report recommendations through a Regional Business-Forward/Child Care-Friendly Certification.

Playbook for Regions

The Playbook for Regions supports the implementation of the VBREE Regional Initiative as a central toolbox of guidance and resources to accelerate coordinated and cohesive progress toward the priority goals across all regions. The Playbook for Regions outlines exemplary strategies as well as provides tools, templates, and data for regions to leverage to advance the vision and mission of the VBREE Regional Initiative.

The Playbook consists of four sections that build on each other toward achieving the vision and mission of the regional initiative. Within each section, the Playbook focuses on topic areas that Regional Delegations can leverage to build child care supply, based on unique needs and opportunities.

Playbook for Regions
Playbook for Regions – 1.0
The downloadable Playbook for Regions PDF is updated regularly with additional tools, templates, and guides. All users are encouraged to check back for updates and additions as the work progresses.
Section 1. Understanding the Landscape

Section 1. Understanding the Landscape

Regional syntheses across Virginia allow for a common understanding of the current state and help mobilize aligned, collective commitment to plan to grow the supply of child care that can address specific challenges and yield returns in each region. This section of the Playbook focuses on topics related to the development of a current state landscape analysis and a Regional Action Plan that reflects the child care challenges and opportunities of the region.
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Section 2. Building a Policy Foundation

Section 2. Building a Policy Foundation

Access to high-quality, affordable child care is affected by laws, policies, and governmental actions, including at local and regional levels. Some policies are obvious in their impact on child care supply, while others may have a less direct yet still meaningful effect on the system. This section of the Playbook focuses on topics related to systems-level changes that contribute to a regional policy environment that creates favorable conditions to build child care supply.
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Section 3. Leveraging Existing Resources

Section 3. Leveraging Existing Resources

Existing human, financial, social, and physical capital present opportunities to leverage for increasing access to child care. This section of the Playbook focuses on topics related to harnessing existing regional resources, including facility space, financing, and partnerships, to amplify and accelerate initiatives to build child care supply.
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Section 4. Creating New Pathways and Resources

Section 4. Creating New Pathways and Resources

High-quality, affordable child care presents win-win opportunities for many diverse stakeholder groups and sectors. Forging these new partnerships and building new resources to fill gaps can open new potential solutions for child care in the region. This section of the Playbook focuses on topics related to creating new pathways and resources to use for building child care supply.
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Playbook Resources

In addition to the full downloadable version, the contents of the Playbook for Regions can be accessed using the filter features to quickly search by Topic and Resource Type. Click to filter for the Playbook materials that are most relevant to regional child care supply building needs.

Topics

Resources

ChildCareasRegionalInfrastructure
Brief Policies & Regulations Section 2. Building a Policy Foundation

Child Care as Regional Infrastructure

Treating child care as regional infrastructure means integrating child care development into long-range planning processes alongside transportation, housing, and economic development. It is a proactive, systems approach that coordinates regulatory alignment, facility development, and funding strategies to build lasting supply.
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Group of kindergarten kids clapping with a teacher.
Child Care Industry Early Educator Workforce Section 3. Leveraging Existing Resources Tool

ECCE Business Academy Budgeting Tool

In response to many requests for business supports from Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) site leaders and Ready Regions, VECF convened the Early Educator Finance and Compensation Task Force, a group of veteran ECCE site leaders, to help develop this training in collaboration with financial planning and resiliency experts, 20 Degrees. This means that the tool was designed and tested by ECCE providers for ECCE providers.
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EO Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub
Case Study Early Educator Workforce Employers & Partnerships Facility Space Section 3. Leveraging Existing Resources

EO Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub

In the fall of 2024, the massive 87,000 square-foot EO Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub opened in Abingdon, Virginia. The complex operates as a Hub-and-Spoke Model where a centralized, high-capacity facility works with a network of community-based providers to expand access, strengthen quality, and improve sustainability across the region.
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Regional Certification

VBREE Regional Delegations are incentivized to strive to achieve Business-Forward/Child Care-Friendly Certification. This Certification recognizes the accomplishment of certain actions reflecting the region’s commitment to and progress toward addressing child care challenges that present a risk to Virginia’s economy, workforce competitiveness, and ranking as top in the nation for businesses. A Certified region has achieved the VBREE Regional Initiative’s goals of elevating child care as infrastructure, expanding the supply of quality child care, and strengthening the capabilities of the child care industry.