Chester County Intermediate Unit 24

Chester County Intermediate Unit 24, doing business as Child And Career Development Center, is a U.S. state government entity that acts as a sub-recipient on federal grants in education, child nutrition, workforce development, and environmental literacy, with 94 percent of recent awards in sub-recipient roles and 6 percent as prime recipients. Headquartered in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, the organization operates as an Intermediate Unit (IU) — a Pennsylvania state-level educational service provider — and does not hold federal contracts as a prime contractor.

The organization's federal grant footprint centers on K–12 education and early childhood development. As a prime recipient, Chester County IU holds three active federal grants: a three-year cooperative agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (awarded July 1, 2026, completing June 30, 2029) for the Chester County Water Fellows Initiative, a professional learning program supporting K–12 teachers in environmental literacy and place-based learning across Delaware Bay watershed districts; a project grant from the Office of Head Start (awarded September 1, 2024, completing August 31, 2029) for Early Head Start and child care partnerships; and a project grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (awarded October 1, 2022, completing September 30, 2027) for behavioral threat assessment training and suicide prevention in Chester County school districts through an evidence-based e-learning platform.

As a sub-recipient, Chester County IU receives 226 federal grant sub-awards routed primarily through the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. The overwhelming concentration sits with USDA Food and Nutrition Service programming (121 sub-awards): the Child and Adult Care Food Program, School Breakfast and Lunch Program reimbursement, Summer Food Service Program, and commodity cash value reimbursement for facilities unable to receive USDA commodities. The Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education accounts for 76 sub-awards, spanning Title I school improvement, special education (IDEA Part B), English language learner services, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, migrant education, career and technical education, and Safe Schools initiatives. Additional sub-recipients work includes Title I (ELECT) parenting youth assistance, special education staff training, and executive functioning skills coaching in schools through a research partnership with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Award volume has grown consistently: 30 awards in 2022, 26 in 2023, 41 in 2024, 51 in 2025, and 55 in 2026. Only two awards face completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating limited recompete exposure in the near term. The organization's federal customer base spans 19 distinct agencies; the top five — USDA Food and Nutrition Service, the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, and the Department of Education Office of Career Technical and Adult Education — account for 91 percent of recent awards. A single NASA Glenn Research Center cooperative agreement for education and training carries the only measurable potential-value award in the source ($757 thousand), with the balance of USDA and Department of Education sub-awards representing obligated federal passthrough dollars flowing from state-level prime grantees to CCIU for program delivery and administration in Chester County schools and early care settings.