Childcare for Afghan Resettlement Programme

Under new Department for Education (DfE) guidance, Local Authorities are supporting the resettlement of Afghan families arriving in England who could be eligible to access the Free Entitlement funding for 2,3 and 4 year olds. We are currently working with the Communities Team, within West Sussex County Council, to broker Free Entitlement places for eligible children as well as places for those who require childcare in order to work.

There are a significant number of children under 5 who are looking to take up their Free Entitlement places. This is in addition to some families who require places for younger children/ineligible children in order to support them to work.

We are working to proactively support these families into provision and to broker places in order to:

• manage the expectation of families,
• prioritise children, and
• ensure settings in the area are supported.

We know that there are significant challenges for Early Years and Childcare providers at this time and we would like to hear from you on anything that would be helpful to support you to offer places to these children. We also hope that for those of you reporting lower numbers that this could help support the sustainability of your setting.

We are asking you to complete this short survey to assist us in gauging the availability of childcare places, as well as any potential barriers and support required. We have developed a set of FAQs for providers, available here.

If you are not already signed up to offer Free Entitlement funded places and would like to consider joining the scheme, information can be found here.

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