Talbot County Government’s Post

Commerce, in partnership with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families, today announced $30.4 million in grants to early learning providers in 15 counties. These grants will create at least 2,422 new child care slots at 42 facilities. “Access to childcare is foundational for working parents and a critical component for equitable participation in the economy,” said Commerce Director Mike Fong. “Early Learning Facilities investments will bring high-quality childcare to Washington communities so that parents can work, knowing that their children are secure and thriving in a safe location.” Three project categories were awarded in this funding round: Pre-design, minor renovation and pre-development, and new construction and minor renovation. Commerce and DCYF evaluated key project criteria, such has the number of early learning spaces for kids from low-income families, the project location relative to other facilities, and projects located in rural locations and low-income neighborhoods. Read the full news release: https://bit.ly/3IpAkbN 📷: Little Stars Early Learning, Pasco

A new funding initiative is now available for primary schools across England to establish nurseries, providing a valuable opportunity to expand early years provision and support local families. This is a significant step forward in addressing the growing demand for quality early childhood education. https://lnkd.in/gmwrBPDz #EducationNews #PrimarySchools #NurseryFunding #EarlyYearsEducation #UKEducation #SchoolLeadership #IntegrityEducationSolutions

Who are we? We want the young living in Shelby County to grow up in a community of opportunity! For most Shelby County families, finding a high-quality early learning opportunity is not just a desire but a pressing need. Parents are in search of safe environments with loving and trusted caregivers where their children can learn and where their whole family is welcomed. However, the reality is that accessing these opportunities is a challenge for too many families. The facts are stark-Shelby County’s families urgently need more accessible and higher quality care. There are 3 main reasons for this: 1. Childcare and early learning are in limited supply, meaning options can be hard to find and even harder to afford. Nearly 60% of the county’s children are not yet in kindergarten and need care that is not available. 2. The availability of licensed, high-quality care is also limited. Only 40% of the County’s licensed facilities have Paths to Quality Levels 3 or 4-designated seats. 3. Childcare is not affordable for many Hoosier Families. The average cost of the County’s childcare tuition ($7,048.00) is similar to one year's tuition at a public university. Early Learning Shelby County works to support high-quality early learning and healthy development for Shelby County's youngest children, from birth to five, by championing policies, promoting innovative and evidence-based practices, and building public will. If you want to learn more about how we’re working to bring affordable, accessible, quality childcare to Shelby County families, be sure to follow us here and check out https://lnkd.in/gtdS2rWU for more updates. 

Across the country and here in Connecticut, the early education industry is facing significant challenges due to insufficient funding. This lack of resources leads to understaffed centers and low wages for professionals, causing qualified teachers to leave. Without a qualified workforce, children are at risk of lacking the educational foundation necessary for success, and working families experience disruptions. Despite various childcare stabilization bills presented to the Connecticut legislature, more action is needed. It's crucial to urge state representatives to prioritize a stable early education sector for the future of both children and the state. Today, April 10, is a "Morning Without Childcare" in Connecticut, where early education sites close to participate in rallies pushing for transformational change. Rather than leave families without childcare this morning, Family Centers has chosen to remain open and mark this occasion in other ways. We hope you will join us in spreading the word on social media and reaching out to local elected officials to urge them to advocate for the passing of bills that expand funds to childcare. Let's create a future where every child has the care and early education they deserve. #MorningWithoutChildcare

CELA and Community Childcare Association have created a Federal Budget plan to ensure every child can benefit from high quality education and care, no matter where they live or how much their parents earn. This includes: ✔️ a government funded 25% pay increase to educators and teachers through multi-employer bargaining ✔️ creating new small and community managed services where they are needed most ✔️ ensuring all children can access quality early education and care ✔️ funding inclusion support services that reflect what’s actually needed by children and families. We know small and community managed providers will be central to delivering the full benefits of the Federal Government’s early education reforms for children and families. We are raising our members’ issues with decision makers in the lead up to the 2024 Federal Budget, particularly on strengthening support for educators, supply side funding, inclusion and expanding community-led services. You can read our submission here: https://lnkd.in/gGZ7kaQb #preschool #daycare #ozearlyed

Excuse my lengthy post, but this is something that affects OUR children and OUR community. Today the House Appropriations Committee has cut $24.3 million from the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) in the state budget, HB1. This is a 50% cut to the funds that were secured just last year. The full house will vote on the budget this Thursday, April 25th. Please take one minute to contact your representative today to tell them that those nearly 2,000 seats are desperately needed, and we cannot afford to lose them!  The CCAP waitlist already has 6,500 children on it, some of whom have been waiting over a year for care. We need more investment in this program, not less. If these parents lose their child care, they may be forced to cut back on their work hours or quit their jobs entirely, which leads to an unreliable workforce and can hurt our economy. Child care breakdowns already cost Louisiana $1.3 billion a year—how much productivity will be lost when thousands of seats are eliminated? How can we expect young families to stay in or move to Louisiana if there is not enough available care for their children?Additionally, St Tammany has a grant program called CCAP B-3 which provides free tuition to children ages birth - 3 years in order for their parent to work and/or attend school. This program serves over 250 children within OUR parish! These children could be your neighbor, your relative, or even your own children! This program will be affected by this budget cut as well. That means more families in OUR community struggling to pay for daily, basis needs and more businesses struggling to find employees to work (because many will have to quit or work fewer hours bc they lack child care).  Please contact our legislators and let them know that child care is a need for OUR families, OUR workforce, and OUR economy! Support St. Tammany Early Childhood Ready Start Network https://lnkd.in/gvkdRE9Z

Barry Finegold and Tram T. Nguyen - thank you for representing my neighbors and me here in the Baystate. As a passionate advocate for Massachusetts early education and innovative business, I urge you and your colleagues to approve the $40,218,027 in the House FY25 proposed budget for EEC Admin. IMO - the best business reason for this approval is that portions of this money are budgeted for childcare professionals to receive tuition relief for their own enrolled children. This would be a massive unlock for the industry and progressive business equalizer. Why? Not all providers can afford to offer free or deeply discounted tuition to their employees. Obviously, that puts family and independently-owned childcare centers at a significant disadvantage regarding employee experience and benefits. Solving the child care crisis starts with making child care careers sustainable and desirable (not simply fair or decent). Knowing that careers in child care could unlock tuition savings for their own children, regardless of which licensed provider they worked for, would be a great incentive to start and stay in the profession. In Massachusetts, families dedicate 30% of their household income to child care. Let's start by easing that burden on the working families who make up the frontlines of child care. #nosuchthingasotherpeopleschildren #practicewhatyouteach #takesavillage #massachusettsyouremyhome #wecandothis Neighborhood Villages JVS Boston Massachusetts Business Coalition for Early Childhood Education Maura Healey Office of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

A great example of how one PA city is trying to find solutions to child care: Gould's report lays out the argument and a plan for significantly improving child care for the youngest residents of the city. “Becoming a trailblazing American city offering child care to all desiring parents and guardians of infants and toddlers is tantamount to Erie's moonshot,” Gould writes in the report’s executive summary. Read the report, "Positioning Erie to Prosper and Compete: Child Care School for Infants and Toddlers is Key to Future of Workforce and Economy": https://lnkd.in/gMa97iW3

Quality childcare supports children’s healthy development, allows parents to provide for their families, and strengthens the economy both by getting parents back to work in the short term and supporting children’s success in the long term. It is well documented that the lack of affordable, available, and high-quality early childhood education and care has detrimental impacts on parents, children, the local community, regional workforce, and the regional economy. It should be gravely noted that the sudden removal of accessible daycare in Braidwood will have far reaching, deep impacts for not just individuals, but on the community and region. Women are more likely to be underemployed, work part-time or work fewer hours. Women’s lower levels of workforce participation mean many in New South Wales are missing out on the benefits of working at their full capacity, including the financial resilience, sense of purpose and independence that paid work can provide. Access to childcare enables parents to participate in the workforce. As women take on an unequal share of caring and domestic responsibilities, accessibility to childcare is a significant enabler of women’s workforce participation. Feminised industries are female-dominated and often associated with caring roles. These industries provide essential social infrastructure to individuals and communities. They also support economic growth, including by helping people providing unpaid care to engage in more paid work. A childcare crisis such as what has occurred in Braidwood, forces some parents, especially mothers, to reduce their working hours or drop out of the workforce entirely to care for their children. This, in turn, hampers workforce productivity and economic growth. Essential services in our community such as healthcare, education and emergency services are directly impacted by the loss of access to childcare. By having a disruption to their careers, women may miss out on promotion opportunities, pay increases, and skill development, which further perpetuates the gender pay gap with higher likelihood of financial insecurity and insufficient retirement funds. Disadvantaged communities, including rural and low-income areas, often suffer from even more limited access to quality childcare services. This inequality hinders equal opportunities for children and perpetuates socio-economic disparities. By having a parent unable to enter the workforce, and struggling to find suitable arrangements, puts immense stress on families, impacting their overall well-being and quality of life. Often these families experience significant financial burden, leading to increased economic insecurity and inability to meet daily costs of living. All parents and carers should have the same freedom to choose whether to remain employed as a parent. https://lnkd.in/g5maJi97