Facility Planning Overview [California Preschool Planning Toolkit, Section 4a]

A complete plan for expanding preschool services includes a strategic approach to addressing facilities. Facility planning is critical to realizing full implementation of a preschool system and has implications for every element of the system including educational outcomes for children, staff recruitment and retention, and equitable access for the target population. Building on lessons from existing preschool initiatives, this section provides the framework, resources and tools to include the facilities needs in comprehensive planning of any preschool system.

Part of preschool planning includes assessing the target population and estimating anticipated demand. In this section, the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) and Karen Hill Scott and Company (KHS) will offer a process to plan for the facilities that will be needed to support program expansion. More specifically, the section will include information and tools for:

• Assessing the number of facilities needed;
• Involving community stakeholders with identifying appropriate facilities;
• Evaluating the readiness of identified facilities; and
• Finding resources to support facility planning, financing and development.

This document is part of the California Preschool Planning Toolkit.