Administered by the CDE, the California State Preschool Program (CSPP) Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) Block Grant (BG) awards site QRIS block grants at quality rating Tiers 4 and 5 to address the additional costs associated with reaching and maintaining high levels of quality. At Tier 3, the CSPP Block Grant can provide training and technical assistance (T&TA) support to help programs improve their quality and tier rating.
The CSPP QRIS BG is supported annually by $50 million in state education funds (Prop 98 general funds, which by law are required to be administered by a local education agency) for the support of local CSPPs that increase the number of low-income children in high-quality state preschool programs that prepare those children for success in school and life.
The CSPP QRIS BG is part of the State of California quality system – Quality Counts California (QCC). The funds are used to support local counties in maintaining and improving CSPP classroom quality under the QCC system.