Great news, everyone! Congress has extended funding decisions for child care until Feb 2, 2024. Now is the time to make your voice heard and emphasize how crucial child care is for families across the nation!
🌟 Utilize the form provided by Child Care Aware of America to email your lawmakers and urge funding.
At Otter Learning, we firmly believe in access to high-quality early childhood education for children and families of all backgrounds. Join us in supporting our families by asking Congress to consider additional support.
✨ Creative Solutions in Action! ✨
Many states are taking innovative approaches to address the unique challenges faced by early education teachers and families. From supplementing wages for teachers to covering tuition for educators with school-going children and expanding income eligibility for subsidy amounts, creativity is the name of the game!
Let's ensure every child has access to quality education. Together, we can make a difference! #EarlyChildhoodEducation#ChildCareAdvocacy#OtterLearning#SupportOurFamilies
Congress extended funding decisions for child care until Feb 2, 2024. The time is now to tell your lawmakers how crucial child care is for families! Utilize the form provided by Child Care Aware of America to email them & urge funding. We need every voice to #SaveChildCare
Act today: https://lnkd.in/gpgj5GYP
If you are a parent needing accessible and affordable child care, an employer needing employees, or a child care professional needing to earn what you are worth "Become an Advocate!" See Child Care Aware's post to learn more about the way to do it.
Today marks the end of critical funding made available specifically for child care under the American Rescue Plan Act.
That means we may see changes to states’ subsidy programs that limits family access to child care, including returning to pre-pandemic eligibility and family copayment policies, as well as maintaining a waitlist for new applicants.
Your voice matters. Stay up to date with the latest information and resources by becoming an advocate with Child Care Aware of America. https://hubs.li/Q02RxktV0
As Child Care Aware of America continues to learn more about the impact of the historic Stabilization Grant funding for child care, we need your help! Use our ready-made tools to record your story, or share this link with child care providers you know and encourage them to share theirs. https://hubs.li/Q02h3sq-0
Decisions for annual child care funding are happening right now in Washington, D. C. Congress needs to hear from you as soon as possible. Parents, Employers, and Business and Community Leaders, we are asking you to urge Congress to use the Senate numbers from the approved Labor-HHS- FY24 appropriations bill as a baseline for funding levels. Using this baseline to set FY24 Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funding levels will:
*continue to build a child care system that helps families, child care providers, businesses, and our economy to succeed; and
*provide a $1 billion increase for child care programs from FY23.
Sustained increased CCDBG funding would allow Missouri to build upon progress made with federal relief funds and continue to close the gap between existing supply and unmet needs. It will also help make child care more affordable for more families and help get families back to work, and be present at work because they have access to safe, quality child care in their community.
Please share this post and take action now. Congress will vote on or around March 4th!
https://lnkd.in/eA4RZdv
Kinship care is more common than you think! For those who have stepped up to care for a child related to them, Arms Wide is here to help. Learn more about how we support kinship care providers at armswide.org/kinship-care
As the parent of a child in early education I often think to myself, why is it so hard….
To want teachers to be paid well without having my family break its own budget?
To make teachers and parents feel rewarded for investing in their kids, not financially cursed?
To positively contribute to the overall well-being of educators without having to hurt my family's own financial well-being?
For our society to value the investment in young children by setting BOTH teachers and parents up for economic success?
For the #appreciation of our teachers to be embedded as a societal value and not just as a value for a week?
Why is it so hard to see change in early education?
In the affordability of it?
In how we invest in teachers?
Why is it so hard?
It's stressful, frustrating, and sad. We still have so much work to do within this system to give you-teachers, and us-parents, the economic support to have our children and their village the ability to thrive.
I thank you for continuing to champion and serve the minds of our young ones. It’s hard, it’s thankless, and it’s one of the most important things you do for our world.
#teacherappreciationweek#earlyeducation#childcare#whyisitsohard
Our country’s fragile, underfunded child care system is falling short of what babies, families, and child care providers need to thrive and our economy needs to stay strong. Robust federal funding is needed to prevent the child care system from collapsing entirely, and to strengthen it so that:
👶🏽 All families have access to high-quality programs where and when they need them
👶🏽 Providers are well compensated for their skills and receive the supports that they need
👶🏽 Babies and toddlers arrive at school ready to learn and prepare for future success
See how you can help: https://bit.ly/2ICvwAZ
Our country’s fragile, underfunded child care system is falling short of what babies, families, and child care providers need to thrive and our economy needs to stay strong. Robust federal funding is needed to prevent the child care system from collapsing entirely, and to strengthen it so that:
👶🏽 All families have access to high-quality programs where and when they need them
👶🏽 Providers are well compensated for their skills and receive the supports that they need
👶🏽 Babies and toddlers arrive at school ready to learn and prepare for future success
See how you can help: https://bit.ly/2ICvwAZ
For Ohio to thrive, families and businesses need solutions to the child care crisis.
Together, we can amplify the growing calls for significant investments in the broken child care system through child care policies.
Be a #BIGVOICE for little kids. Give today: https://ow.ly/GfKW50ROGeH
Transforming the behavioral health system through collaboration, innovation and vision to ensure equitable access to the best treatment for all who need it | Licensed Clinical Psychologist
With the NYS Child Care Assistance Program, most families of four pay no more than $15 a week. Hundreds of thousands of New York families are eligible for this program, and now there’s an online portal to make the application process easier. Learn more, find out if you are eligible, and begin your application now: https://lnkd.in/ew2gVMbe.
For those who do not believe the struggle of families and childcare providers is real, here is one more example. I can point to a plethora of stories right here in Lucas County.
We need a long-term sustainable funding source and we need it NOW. HOPE Toledo continues to not only do the work of developing a comprehensive, community-based approach to early childhood education and care, but also advocate for sustainable funding. Having public investment is a significant part of the answer.
An available workforce is crucial to our region's long term economic success and vitality. When Moms and Dads cannot go to work or be productive at work EVERYONE suffers. We must do better!
Our local school districts will continue to struggle ensuring children are reading proficiently by 3rd grade if we continue to allow children to enter kindergarten not ready to learn.
Here is some data related to kindergarten readiness. Children at the top level on KRA in the entire county of Lucas is 29.7%, which is a drop of 3 percentage points from the prior year and is 5 percentage points below the state of Ohio. There is a direct correlation between KRA scores and 3rd grade reading proficiency, with Lucas County having approximately 65% of its children reaching proficiency. This means less students graduating on-time and pursuing postsecondary degrees, credentials and certifications. And this directly impacts the workforce.
By school districts in the county, here is the KRA data:
📚 Toledo Public Schools is at 16.6%
📚 Washington Local is at 17.4%
📚 Springfield is at 24.1%
📚 Maumee is at 37.7%
📚 Oregon is at 46.3%
📚 Sylvania is at 55.9%
📚 Anthony Wayne is at 62.2%
📚 Ottawa Hills is at 67.5%
We must join together NOW and ensure families have access. Did you know...
💡 It costs on average $13,000 to provide high quality early education and childcare to one 4-year-old annually
💡 In some cases families pay more than a mortgage payment to ensure their child(ren) have access to care
💡 Average pay for a person working in the early childhood sector is $13/hour. That is less than $30,000 per year
💡 Most childcare centers cannot afford the exorbitant cost of benefits, meaning most workers are left to fend for themselves to access healthcare or hope they can get on Medicaid or some sort of assistance.
We have a plan and we have been in a demonstration project for 3 years. Now is the time to fund this work, to move toward scale in this region, and we will need your help.
To learn more about our work and how you can help you can email info@hope-toledo.org or click the link, www.hope-toledo.org#JoinUsOnTheJourney#YearOfTheChild#EducationMatters#HOPEisReal#HopeToledoPreK#November2024#CHOOSEwisely
CEO | Board Member | Strategic Planning, Innovation, Organizational Leadership
This piece on last night’s CBS Evening News illustrates so well the constant struggle facing both child care providers and the families who need that care. Providers are struggling to stay afloat with the expiration of pandemic relief funds, but families can’t afford to pay more. Federal and state support has helped, but it isn’t enough. I’m glad to have lent my voice to the story, and that they used National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)’s polling to show the magnitude of the problem. The government simply needs to do more to #savechildcare and help working families.
