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In quotes: moving to $10/day for child care in Canada

Posted in Child care, Cost and affordability, Funding, International, Quotes, tagged #Canada, #ChildCare, #InvestInChildCare on April 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

We’re making child care more affordable for families across the country. Here in New Brunswick, child care fees will be cut in half – on average – by the end of the year. For parents with toddlers like Marie-Ève, Marie‑Claude, Dominik, Annik, and Jeremy, that’s good news. pic.twitter.com/7G5TeRaMq8
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 19, 2022

“With the signing of today’s agreement, we’re making $10‑a‑day child care a reality for families across the country. Today’s announcement will save Ontario families thousands of dollars each year – with fee reductions starting as of Friday this week – while creating jobs, growing the middle class, and giving our kids the best start in life.”

– Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

“Since last summer, the Government of Canada reached similar agreements with the governments of British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Yukon, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. The governments of Canada and Quebec also reached an asymmetric agreement to strengthen the early learning and child care system in the province.”

“In total, the Government of Canada is aiming to create approximately 250,000 new child care spaces through Canada-wide agreements with provinces and territories… These new spaces will be predominantly among licensed not-for-profit, public, and family-based child care providers.”

– “$10-a-day child care for families in Ontario,” News Release from Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, March 28, 2022

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In quotes: Congress sends a letter to the President

Posted in Child care, Cost and affordability, COVID-19, Federal, Funding, National, Pre-kindergarten, Quotes, tagged #ece, #InvestInChildCare on April 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

April 6, 2022

“Dear President Biden:

“We write to thank you for your commitment to cutting the cost and increasing the supply of high-quality child care for families across the country.”

“As you know, the high costs of child care and the difficulty of finding quality, affordable child care are challenges facing too many families across the country. The annual price of center-based child care for an infant exceeds the annual cost of in-state tuition at a public four-year university in every region of the country. In addition to overwhelming costs, approximately 460,000 families are without reliable child care because the child care sector has lost over 1 in 9 jobs since the start of the pandemic.”

“Now is the time to make additional comprehensive, long-term investments in affordable, high-quality child care to build on the critical but largely short-term investments made through the American Rescue Plan.”

“It is clear that child care and early learning investments are an integral part of our nation’s strategy for supporting a robust economy, lowering costs for families, and ensuring the long-term success of our children.”

Sincerely,
Katherine M. Clark, Member of Congress
Elizabeth Warren, United States Senator
Tina Smith, United States Senator
[And 150 other Members of the U.S. House and Senate]

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Massachusetts’ House Ways and Means FY’23 budget proposal

Posted in Child care, COVID-19, Early educators, Family engagement, Funding, Head Start, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children, tagged #earlyed, #EarlyEducators, #ece, #MABudget, #mapoli on April 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

Today the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee released its $49.6 billion state budget proposal for fiscal year 2023.

For early education and care, this budget includes several key provisions:

• $60 million in a salary rate reserve for providers who accept child care subsidies (line item 3000-1042). This line item also includes an additional $10 million for grants to early education and care providers for costs associated with personal childcare, a new initiative.

• $5 million for navigation support and outreach to families, including language continuing EEC’s recent policy of paying subsidies based on child enrollment instead of attendance (part of line item 3000-1000).

• Increases for: Access Management (3000-2000, for resource and referral agencies); Head Start (3000-5000); and Workforce Development (3000-7066)

• Level funding for the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (3000-6025) and early childhood mental health (3000-6075).

In total, the House budget proposal provides $91 million more for early education and care than the FY23 budget proposal that Governor Charlie Baker released in January.

(more…)

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The future of work… includes having a strong child care system

Posted in Business and economy, Funding, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Pre-kindergarten, tagged #ece, #FutureOfWork, #SolveChildCare on April 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels.

There’s a new report in town produced by the Massachusetts Legislature’s Future of Work Commission that says “Massachusetts will need to adapt its workforce training, public transit and child care systems to better support workers in a post COVID-19 economy,” a State House News story reports, adding:

“The report also warned that regional and racial disparities in income will also widen without intervention as white collar professions shift more easily to hybrid and remote work models, while service and manufacturing jobs offer less flexibility.”

As the report itself explains, “The Commission was formed in the spring of 2021 to investigate and evaluate the impacts of technological change and automation on work by 2030.”

The report takes into account old factors and new factors, including the impact of the pandemic.

Among the challenges the report points to, “Demand for greater access and flexibility in childcare is far outpacing supply.”

(more…)

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In quotes: a $7.1 million bond for a new child care center

Posted in Child care, Facilities, Funding, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Quotes, tagged #InvestInChildCare, #SolveChildCare on April 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Rendering of the new child care facility at 585 Andover St. in Lawrence, courtesy of Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc. and Davis Square Architects.

“MassDevelopment has issued a $7.1 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc. (GLCAC), which will use proceeds to demolish its outdated existing child care center at 585 Andover St. in Lawrence and build a new two-story, 28,790-square-foot child care center in its place. The organization will construct the new child care center in the existing parking lot of the current facility, and repurpose the land where the current building lies, once it is demolished, for a playground and parking.”

“ ‘Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc. is a community leader in providing individuals and families with the resources they need to live healthy and fulfilling lives,’ said MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera. ‘MassDevelopment is proud to help the organization further invest in Lawrence through the creation of a brand-new child care center that will serve nearly 60 additional children, create jobs, and support working families.’ ”

— ”$7.1M Builds Child Care Center in Lawrence: Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc. Uses Tax-Exempt Bond from MassDevelopment & Eastern Bank to Build New Child Care Facility, Expand Enrollment & Create Jobs,” by Matthew Mogavero, MassDevelopment, March 2, 2022

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Advocates make a hard-hitting case for child care at a U.S. Senate hearing

Posted in Child care, Cost and affordability, COVID-19, Early educators, Federal, Funding, NAEYC, National, Pre-kindergarten, tagged #Congress, #ece, #SolveChildCare on March 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »

When it comes to child care, things are not working for families at all—and they haven’t been for some time. I'm chairing a Senate HELP Committee hearing about cutting the costs of child care and preschool for working families. https://t.co/gMagrg7TrF
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) March 22, 2022

Ever feel like you would enjoy having inspiring, high-powered friends who believe fiercely in high-quality early education and care?

Look no further than U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) and the advocates and leaders from the field who testified last week at a special hearing on child care held by the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP).

The video and testimony transcripts are posted here.

Murray opened the proceedings with a smart, sweeping, we-have-got-to-do-better speech.

The economy, she said, “isn’t just about numbers on a page and whether they go up or down. It’s about people across the country and whether they can get what they need, whether they can take care of their loved ones, and whether things are working for them and their families.”

And one thing families – and the economy – need is child care.

“So in short,” Murray added, “we’ve got an affordability problem, child care shouldn’t be an extra mortgage; a wages problem, child care workers are leaving the field for higher paying work; and an options problem, there just aren’t enough providers… This is not just terrible for parents and kids, but for our economy as a whole.”

(more…)

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How the Legislature can take “immediate” funding action

Posted in Child care, Cost and affordability, COVID-19, Funding, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children, tagged #earlyed, #ece, #mapoli on March 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Screenshot: Website of the 192nd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Looking for excitement?

You might not think you’d find it in a fiscal year 2023 budget meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

But here’s the exciting part: Massachusetts is on the edge of greatness. This state could make wise, strategic investments in early education and care that could lead to powerful change. Residents of every city and town could have access to affordable, world class preschool programs that help young children thrive and grow into successful adults.

“This will take time,” Amy O’Leary, Strategies for Children’s executive director, said in her testimony to the joint committee.

It will also take visionary action.

Fortunately, Massachusetts has a blueprint for action, the final report from the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission, which explains that “Building a sustainable and well-functioning system for early education and care is critical and urgent, especially for Massachusetts’s most vulnerable families.”

There is a huge need for progress. As O’Leary explains in her testimony:

(more…)

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How the United Way’s fast philanthropy helped early childhood programs face the Omicron surge

Posted in Child care, COVID-19, Funding, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Philanthropy, Pre-kindergarten, tagged #earlyed, #ece, #philanthropy on March 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Photo: RODNAE Productions from Pexels

During the surge of Omicron infections, early education and care providers were once again feeling the crushing weight of the pandemic. Children were getting sick, and so were providers. Staffing shortages were chronic.

Stories of these struggles reached the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, where the staff came up with a plan that could be called rapid-response philanthropy.

“We talked about what we could do to support educators and staff at our partner agencies and the local child care industry in general,” Xavier Andrews, the United Way’s communications director, says. “We came up with the ideas of soliciting corporate support.”

“In January,” a press release adds, “United Way launched the Childcare Appreciation Fund to show appreciation for staff at area childcare centers.”

“To boost morale and cultivate needed equipment, United Way issued a call to action to corporate partners to ‘adopt’ a childcare center either with a financial gift or a gift of testing and protective supplies.”

The responses:

(more…)

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A legislative report charts a policy course for early childhood

Posted in Child care, Cost and affordability, COVID-19, Dept. of Early Education and Care, Funding, MA Legislature, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children, tagged #earlyed, #ece, #mapoli, #SolveChildCare on March 15, 2022| 1 Comment »

Photo: Yan Krukov from Pexels

A long awaited and welcome report from the Massachusetts Legislature has been released this week, and it charts a policy course for early education and care.

“Building a sustainable and well-functioning system for early education and care is critical and urgent, especially for Massachusetts’s most vulnerable families,” the report from the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission says.

The commission was chaired by Representative Alice H. Peisch (D-Wellesley) and Senator Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester), and was composed of “a variety of stakeholders… including legislators, providers, professional organizations, business leaders and employers, advocates, and state agency leaders.”

As Chair Peisch says in a press release, “Long a leader in K-12 public education, Massachusetts now has an opportunity to build on that success in the early education and child care sectors by acting on the recommendations contained in this report.”

“This work is critical to our goals of advancing racial justice and an equitable economy that works for all,” Chair Lewis adds.

Maria Gonzalez Moeller, CEO of The Community Group in Lawrence, Mass., adds:

(more…)

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Jenna Nguyen: A Strategies for Children intern on preschool expansion and local partnerships

Posted in Child care, Early educators, Funding, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children, tagged #ece, #SolveChildCare on March 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

This is a guest blog by Strategies for Children intern Jenna Nguyen. Jenna is a master’s student in the Human Development and Education program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and a Zaentz Fellow.

Jenna Nguyen

It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to be a Strategies for Children intern. Strategies has not only reinvigorated my passion for expanding equitable early education and care, but also opened my eyes to the urgency of this work at both the national and local levels. In order to create a coordinated, early childhood system that ensures access to quality programs for all children and families, we must be willing to address the huge disparities that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, the fragility of the child care ecosystem, the provider shortages, the need for pay parity, and the need to provide more supports to educators and families.

The common threads that connect my current internship with my academic and professional work are that I have an enduring investment in advancing equity in early childhood systems, thinking about ways to build and sustain relationships across the early childhood community (which the 9:30 Call does so well!), empowering and elevating family and educator voices, and in making information more accessible and engaging. (more…)