WeVision EarlyEd’s Post

Empowering Providers. Advocating for Change and Enriching Futures! There has been a tremendous need over the last several years to bring together and connect the 500+* licensed family child care providers in San Mateo County with each other and with the broader systems infrastructure. Oftentimes family child care educators work individually with very little outside guidance or support. When Covid 19 hit, it became abundantly clear that the lack of CONNECTION, infrastructure, information, the fragmented funding streams, poor compensation and the challenges of running a home-based business needed to be addressed and tackled, and that those individuals best suited to finding solutions to these challenges are the family child care educators themselves. Current research indicates that family child care educators who engage with their local family child care organization have been shown to have more confidence in their ability to provide quality care and support to the children and families they serve. The San Mateo County Family Child Care Organization is critical to stabilizing and expanding family child care programs by providing the connection that joins individual family child care educators to each other and the broader systems infrastructure, such as funding, policy making, resources and community programs.

The Growing Opportunities for Family Child Care (GOFCC) in Maryland represents a pivotal response to childcare challenges intensified by COVID-19. As the pandemic exposed the system's vulnerabilities, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided essential support with $40 billion funding. However, the sector faces a potential crisis with the recent expiration of these funds in September 2023, threatening the closure of 70,000 childcare programs and disproportionately affecting women and families relying on these services. GOFCC prioritizes high-quality, family-oriented childcare, resonating with parents' desire for accessible, culturally aligned care. This approach is key to nurturing children's development through their cultural and ethnic traditions. To tackle the looming crisis, a systemic, long-term investment strategy is needed, focusing on universal, affordable, high-quality childcare. The strategy includes: Professional Development for Providers: Create tailored programs for family childcare providers, addressing their unique challenges and schedules. Financial Model Overhaul: Reevaluate and redesign financial models for workers, exploring sustainable options like public-private partnerships. Culturally Responsive Quality Measures: Develop quality measures that incorporate diverse cultural, linguistic, and social backgrounds, with input from varied stakeholders. Collaboration among policymakers, educators, and community leaders is vital to ensure the sector's resilience and growth. This collective effort can lead to quality, inclusive care for all children, and a brighter future for the professionals in this field. Maryland's GOFCC demonstrates the societal benefits of such investments. For more details, refer to the following sources: For more details, refer to the following sources: Training Family Child Care Providers in Baltimore - The Annie E. Casey Foundation: https://lnkd.in/eMpXVGce Child Care Cliff: 3.2 Million Children Likely to Lose Spots with End of Federal Funds - The Century Foundation https://lnkd.in/eqF3vRtc A Program That Saved Child Care For Millions Is Expiring. What Now? - Vox https://lnkd.in/evyDQWed

120+ Texas groups endorsed this child care package for next session! Here are the policy proposals: 1. Strengthen the Child Care Services (CCS) program to better serve Texas parents and the providers who serve them. ✔Address the long waitlist (about 78,000 children in fiscal year 2024) by funding more scholarships for eligible families. ✔Ensure reimbursement rates to CCS programs are at the state’s established reimbursement rate for the provider's quality and not limited by published tuition costs. 2. Build up the supply of child care programs that meet urgent needs. ✔ Provide competitive grants through a pilot program that empowers communities to expand affordable care in high-need areas, (e.g., infant & toddler care, alternative hour care, care for children with disabilities, child care deserts, proximity to major employers). ✔ Address unintended zoning barriers to expand the supply of licensed child care homes. 3. Ensure programs can recruit and retain qualified and effective staff. ✔ Help low-income educators access high-quality care for their own children through the Child Care Services program. 4. Increase access to public pre-k by expanding opportunities for partnerships with community-based child care settings. ✔ Streamline processes and build supports to enable the creation and expansion of pre-k partnerships that deliver high-quality pre-k in a full working-day setting to meet the needs of families. We're thankful to have so many Texas organization signed on, including chambers of commerce from around the state, faith-based groups like Texas Impact/Texas Impact Foundation, children's advocacy partners like CHILDREN AT RISK and United Ways of Texas, and so many others.

Read my latest blog post on the unmet child care demand in Delaware: new analysis conducted by my team at Rodel shows that there are three children for every available seat. 👪 ⭐ Some other highlights: * A new mapping dashboard, updated in real time, visualizes Delaware child care supply by legislative district. * Across the state, demand far outpaces supply, resulting in tens of thousands of children without access to care. * In districts with the greatest gaps, there are ratios of seven children to one seat. 📚 Read the blog post here: https://lnkd.in/e6mw-sYF

Today is Child Care UnAffordability Day in Minnesota! Today marks the day when a Minnesota family of four earning the median income has already paid 7% of their annual income towards child care, when started to calculate on Jan 1st. Paying no more than 7% is what’s considered affordable by both State and Federal standards. Think Small® , along with our partners in advocacy, want to raise awareness of the critical need to FULLY fund child care in the United States. On a personal note, as a family of five earning well below the median income at the time my children attended a child care program, my husband and I paid upwards of 50% of our income for child care! That was with a staff discount (I worked where my children attended) and an in-house scholarship! Make it make sense. Even today, with significant increases in our income over the past 18 years, when using the Child Care Calculator linked below to determine what we should pay today, the recommendation is only 5% of our current income. That amount is HALF of what we actually paid 18 years ago. This is why we must advocate for affordable child care and pay equity for early childhood educators. https://lnkd.in/gYAsVY-J https://lnkd.in/guP7BnX2.

Today is #WorthyWageDay2024, a national day of advocacy held annually since 1992. Worthy Wage Day is designed to raise public awareness of: • The low wages earned by early childhood educators—teachers and staff that work in child care and pre-kindergarten programs; • The impact the educator retention crisis has on young children; and • The chronic public underfunding for child care, pre-k, and early childhood education. In addition to raising awareness, Worthy Wage Day calls on lawmakers, advocates and communities to commit to finding solutions to address the chronic underfunding of child care, pre-k and early childhood education programs. Research continues to tell us that the most important component of high quality child care and pre-K is the quality and consistency of the educator. How can you help? Contact your legislators and ask them to support funding for sustainable programs that help child care providers and child care centers remain in business.

This article gives a great explanation as to why we’ve launched Together We Grow—to address the urgent child care crisis in Southern West Virginia. Our task force is key to finding sustainable solutions, and we need your voice, your ideas, and your support. The children, parents, and communities are relying on us. Read more in the article below to learn why your involvement matters now more than ever! 🌱 https://lnkd.in/gyK6tyht

Moms shouldn’t feel alone in figuring out how to afford child care — or feel ashamed to talk about it. Too often, we think child care is a 'me problem' when, in reality, it's a failure of our society to provide the support we deserve.⁠ ⁠ Child care is not a luxury—it's an economic necessity. Without it, parents can't work.⁠ ⁠ Ahead of tomorrow's debate, let’s make sure ABC News hears us loud and clear: Ask the candidates for their plan to make child care more affordable for American families.⁠ ⁠ Moms, let's parent out loud. Tag ABC News below & tell them what you pay for child care. Together, we can make our voices impossible to ignore. 💪

The decisions you make about early child care and education are pivotal. A great provider will understand children’s needs at each age and stage of development, and will provide an enriching experience for your child and peace of mind for you. 🔍 Explore the Maryland Family Network's tips for choosing child care that meets your family's needs: https://ow.ly/585Z50QFFJz

Today is a Day Without Child Care. Over this last session, Wisconsin Democrats have advocated for efforts to make child care more affordable and accessible for working families and bolster child care providers statewide. 54% of Wisconsinites live in a child care desert—where there are few to no high-quality options for child care in their neighborhood or community. Even if there is a nearby child care provider, it still might not be affordable or accessible for a working family. The hardworking families across our state deserve better. Child care is crucial for Wisconsinites to grow their families, grow our workforce, and sustain our local businesses. Funding child care is the right thing to do for our families, our kids, and our economy.