Communities across Illinois have recognized the value of completing a formal assessment of their child care and early education needs, and of developing coordinated plans for building a stronger system of care.

BBCA is a free, interactive tool designed to help Illinois communities complete a quantitative assessment of their need for child care and early education services and to initiate a community-wide process to evaluate the availability, accessibility, quality and community awareness of local child care and early education programs.  The Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM) is used as the primary data source for this site and contains data for Illinois communities only.  Communities outside of Illinois are welcome to use the site if they have alternate data sources that include their communities.

Child Care and Early Education Programs
BBCA examines four child care and early education programs:

• Child care available to families of all incomes
• Child care available to families qualifying for Illinois’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)
• Head Start and Early Head Start
• State-funded preschool (Preschool for All and Pre-Kindergarten At-Risk)