About ADECE

The mission of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education is to innovate, support, and deliver cohesive, equitable systems of high-quality care and education so that Alabama children and families thrive and learn.

The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECE) is a state agency working to provide young children throughout the state of Alabama high-quality care and education. The ADECE serves children from birth to age 8 through a variety of services and programs.

The Department is home to the nationally recognized Alabama First Class Pre-K program. First Class Pre-K has been awarded the highest quality rating by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) for 18 consecutive years.

The Department operates many other programs that provide support and education to children and families, including the Alabama Pre-K-3rd Grade Integrated Approach to Early Learning (P-3), First Teacher Home Visiting, and the Children’s Policy Councils. The Children First Trust Fund is also administered by the Department.

Helpful Resources

The Alabama Children’s Policy Council (CPC) system originated from the Alabama Juvenile Justice Coordinating Councils. The CPCs are vehicles for collaboration throughout the state. The work of the Children’s Policy Council system is to address community needs by facilitating children and family service providers collaborations to develop a comprehensive service plan that focuses on health, early care and education, parent/family engagement, safety, education (K- 12), and economic security needs of children from birth to 19.

The ADECE supports the work through grant funding and staff involvement in collecting data, facilitating meetings, and supporting efforts to address community needs.