What are continuity of care (COC) seats?
When preschools become part of Preschool for All (PFA), the hope is that no families lose care as a result of a provider joining the program and new children being placed at that location. Continuity of care allows providers to reserve seats for currently enrolled children.
Continuity of care seats are Preschool for All (PFA) seats that are held for eligible children currently attending a PFA site, but not yet enrolled in PFA. This includes children who are already attending preschool at the site as well as rising 3 year-olds who will be joining the preschool class in the upcoming year. Currently, participating providers can reserve up to 100% of their PFA seats for children already enrolled at their site during their first year of participation and in subsequent years.
Why is Preschool for All changing how continuity of care seats work?
Preschool for All is committed to creating equitable access to families in our priority populations. Continuity of care seats are limiting access at some of PFA’s locations that are most in demand. At 3 out of the 5 centers with the highest number of people on the waitlist (more than 100 children), there were 1 or 0 seats left for new families for 2024-25. This does not include centers in their first year with PFA.
The application and enrollment data for the 2024-25 preschool year also showed significant disparities between families who applied for and enrolled in COC seats compared to families in PFA’s general application pool. Families who applied for and enrolled in COC seats were much more likely to be higher-income earners and less diverse. The Preschool for All Plan includes an explicit focus on creating access for families who currently experience the most barriers to high-quality preschool. PFA is growing to universal preschool for Multnomah County families in 2030 and as we grow, we need to ensure that families in our priority populations have equitable access to all Preschool for All locations.
Are continuity of care seats going away?
No. Preschool for All locations will still be able to have continuity of care seats. In the first year of participation, new locations will be able reserve as many of their PFA seats as needed, up to 100%, to ensure that families don’t lose care. Starting in a location’s second year of participation, there will be a limited percentage of open PFA seats that can be reserved for currently enrolled families.
What is changing about continuity of care seats?
The biggest change is that there will be a limit on the percentage of open PFA seats that can be reserved for continuity of care in a site’s second and subsequent years of participation in Preschool for All. Open seats are PFA seats for the next school year that become available when children transition to kindergarten or families choose to leave that preschool location. Open seats do not include seats where eligible children who are currently enrolled with PFA are turning 4 and continuing for a second year.
In 2025-26, the percentage of open PFA seats that can be continuity of care seats will be capped at 50%. This percentage does not apply to locations that are in their first year of PFA participation. Preschool for All plans to decrease the maximum percentage of continuity of care seats over time. Each year, the application and enrollment data will be reviewed in order to finalize the percentage for the upcoming year. This change will ensure that more families in PFA’s priority populations have equitable access to seats at all locations.
How are families chosen for continuity of care seats when there are a limited number available at a specific location?
If PFA receives more applications for currently enrolled children than the number of COC seats at that location, decisions will be made using the automated process built into our application software. This matching process is based on the 2012 Nobel Prize-winning work of Dr. Al Roth and is implemented across a number of pre-k and K-12 systems around the country. The matching process is based on multiple factors to arrive at placement offers we make to families. This includes:
- Family choices and their ranked order of preference
- A randomly assigned lottery number
- Prioritization factors based on our priority populations
- The number of seats available in each program
Can a provider change the number of Preschool for All seats at their locations because they have concerns about this policy?
Yes. Each year, providers submit a request for the number of PFA seats that they would like to have for the upcoming preschool year. Providers will have time to adjust their PFA seat allocations if they have concerns about their continuity of care seat numbers.
I have questions or concerns about the changes to continuity of care that aren’t answered here. Where can I send those?
If you have additional questions about continuity of care, please reach out to preschoolforall@multco.us. We will continue to update this webpage with new questions and answers.