Overlooked but Essential: Language Access in Early Childhood Programs
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Highlights
Weak mandates and poor data collection leave millions of Limited English Proficient (LEP) families underserved in U.S. early childhood programs, despite federal civil rights requirements.
- One-third of U.S. children ages 0–5 are Dual Language Learners (DLLs). Nearly half have at least one Limited English Proficient (LEP) parent, yet most federal early childhood programs lack robust language access requirements.
- Head Start enrolls DLL families at roughly proportionate rates, demonstrating what stronger, uniform mandates can achieve.
- Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs show persistent gaps: in 2017, only 23 percent of MIECHV-served children primarily heard a language other than English, far below the 33 percent DLL share of young children.
- Programs should collect and report home language data, integrate language access into quality rating systems, build regional interpreter hubs, and partner with trusted community-based organizations.
One-third of U.S. children ages 0 to 5 are Dual Language Learners (DLLs), meaning they have at least one parent who speaks a language other than English at home. These children speak an increasingly diverse range of languages and have the potential to thrive as multilingual and multicultural individuals, given the right support. But while years of research have shown that DLLs benefit disproportionately from early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs, the evidence also shows they enroll in such programs at lower rates than other young children.
Related Resources
Other resources produced by MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy as part of this project include:
- A set of state fact sheets exploring the characteristics of DLLs and their families in the 25 states with the largest DLL populations
- An infographic highlighting key facts on DLLs.
Language can play an important role in a program’s accessibility. Nearly half of all DLLs have a parent who is Limited English Proficient (LEP), and LEP parents may find it difficult to identify and enroll their children in ECEC programs and communicate with staff on a day-to-day basis. Language access policies and services that facilitate these families’ participation in a language they speak are a prerequisite to promoting DLLs’ equitable participation.
This policy brief explores federal and state efforts to implement language access policies in major ECEC programs: the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG); the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program; Head Start; and state pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs. It also discusses evidence of disparities in access to these programs and highlights opportunities to improve language access across early childhood services.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Linguistic Diversity among Families with DLLs
3 Language Access Requirements Affecting ECEC Programs
A. Child Care Development Block Grant
B. Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program
C. Head Start
D. State Pre-K
4 Evidence of Disparities in Access
A. Child Care Development Block Grant
B. Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program
C. Head Start
D. State Pre-K
5 Recommendations and Conclusion
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
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