Facilities Resource Inventory [California Preschool Planning Toolkit, Section 4c]

Preschool facility shortages and equitable access can be a real challenge for a county whose goal is to ensure that all eligible children have access to preschool. A county may not know the full extent of its facilities capacity since the secondary data gathered from various sources is often dated or does not represent a complete picture of a particular locality.

One of the methods to assess a county’s facilities capacity and to locate potential new sites for preschool within its boundaries is the facilities resource inventory. The facilities resource inventory is a process which planners can use to engage community members and people in the field to gather input and information on existing and available preschool facilities. This resource inventory approach engages the people who live and work within a particular geographic area through interactive mapping exercises. Using maps of a county or subsection, participants work in teams to collaboratively identify potential sites or facilities that could be used for preschool services. In a parallel effort, information on potential capacity, an estimated development time frame, and potential partners can be gathered. This methodology was used in the Los Angeles Master Plan process, in which participants from each of the 16 hot zones identified 80 sites that could be ready to offer services within 6 months. Figure 1 shows an example output of the facilities community resource inventory called Building Sites and Insights conducted in Los Angeles. In addition, the facilities resource inventory tool can be used by city planners, supervisor’s office, and other elected officials to engage local community members in a proactive way to work together to develop much needed facilities.

This methodology is not meant to be a stand-alone activity for a facilities planning, and it is critical that it be used in conjunction with the needs assessment data, actual facilities cost estimation, and other related tools developed by AIR and Karen Hill-Scott as part of the Statewide Technical Assistance Project funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. In addition, the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) has developed numerous resources and tools relevant to facilities planning. These include, but are not limited to, a Child Care Facility Scan/Guide developed in conjunction with AIR/KHS; Guidelines for Assessment, Modification and Cost Estimating; Design Guidelines for Child Care/Preschool Facilities; and a Guide to Child Care Facility Lending. For a more complete list of LIIF resources related to facilities planning, please see LIIF’s website

This document is part of the California Preschool Planning Toolkit.