For far too long the early care and education workforce has been undervalued and underpaid, despite the essential care and services they provide to children and families. This historic undervaluation has created a crisis–wages are so low that approximately half of early educators qualify for public benefits. According to fiscal year 2021 salary data gathered by the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, this inadequate compensation helps explain why almost 70 percent of child care centers stated they had early childhood teacher turnover over the past two years. Simply put, the workforce is in crisis. Without significant financial resources, our early childhood system is at risk of crumbling.

We’re listening. Start Early has been busy urging the state to direct more funding to the early childhood system so that it can finally begin to stabilize and the workforce can be better compensated at a wage they deserve and that is reflective of the important work they do to educate and care for our youngest learners.

Every year, our legislative and administrative policy teams, along with external partners, work on budget advocacy to secure higher investment across the entirety of the early childhood field. Last year, we pressed Illinois state legislators for a 10 percent increase for every building block in Illinois’ early childhood system: the Early Childhood Block Grant, Early Intervention program, the home visiting programs Maternal Child Home Visiting (formerly Parents Too Soon) and Healthy Families Illinois through the Department of Human Services, and the Child Care Assistance Program. These investments would go towards areas like child care programs, services for children with potential disabilities or developmental delays, and programs for pregnant parents and their babies.

Recognizing the need to stabilize our early childhood system, state legislators provided $64.4 million in additional funds for early childhood programs for fiscal year 2023, which began on July 1st. Through administrative advocacy, we’ve pushed state agencies to funnel a portion of this money toward compensation.

But these financial resources aren’t nearly enough to create a conducive early learning environment that serves all children aged 0-5 and it certainly isn’t enough to ensure our workforce is well compensated.  Due to the complicated nature of our early childhood system and its reliance on the blending and braiding of various funding sources, providers and directors struggle to keep classrooms open and cannot meet the needs of all children and families across the state. Even with our wins in fiscal year 2023, we still need more resources so we can serve more families.

That’s why during the Spring 2023 legislative session, Start Early will continue to work with our partners to advocate for a 20% budgetary funding increase for early childhood. This increase would mean an additional $119.6 million for the Early Childhood Block Grant, $23.2 million for the Early Intervention program, $2.1 million for the Maternal Child Home Visiting program, $1.5 million for the Healthy Families Home Visiting program, and $82.1 million for the Child Care Assistance Program. Governor Pritzker has indicated his intentions to make preschool available for every family throughout the state and to provide economic security for families during his second term. Ambitious plans require sizeable appropriations and a compensated and valued workforce.

We’ll continue to push the Illinois legislature and state agencies to invest in and improve early care and education programs so more people can view working in the field as a career and not just a temporary job.

A Gorgeous Sunny Sunday in Olympia
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia!

What was the capstone event of Washington state’s yearlong centennial celebration in 1989?

Bill Hearings

House Human Services, Youth, and Early Learning Committee

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, the House Human Services, Youth, and Early Learning Committee held a hearing on a variety of early learning focused bills:

• The hearing on House Bill 1451, a child care workforce pipeline bill that would create a Child Care Worker Pilot Program for high school students interested in the field of child care, begins at the 46 minute mark. The bill also looks to increase the child care substitute pool and provide additional assistance to those interested in continuing to pursue a child care career.
• The hearing on House Bill 1525, which would provide child care subsidy for parents in state-approved apprenticeship programs and, according to Committee Chair Tana Senn, may have the most legislative co-sponsors for any piece of legislation this session, begins at the 25 second mark.

Both HB 1451 and HB 1525 are scheduled for Executive Session in the House Human Services, Youth and Early Learning Committee Tuesday, Feb. 7.

• Finally, the hearing on House Bill 1511, which aims to increase access to affordable child care by exempting social security benefits, social-security income and child support from being considered “income” when determining child care subsidy eligibility, begins at the 1:11 minute mark. This bill particularly supports low-income working families, single parents, parents with disabilities, grandparents and other seniors caring for children. It is slated for Executive Session in the House policy committee Friday, Feb. 10.

House Education Committee

• The House Education Committee hearing on House Bill 1550 Tuesday, Jan. 31, begins at the 42:30 minute mark. HB 1550 would create the “Transition to Kindergarten” program to be administered jointly by the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The bill analysis summarizes the bill’s key components, including outlining state agency, school district and program rules and requirements and plans to convert existing “Transitional Kindergarten” programs to the proposed new program.

The bill’s sponsors, Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos and Rep. Tana Senn, began the hearing by framing the bill as an opportunity to codify the new Transition to Kindergarten program as the current Transitional Kindergarten program is not explicitly authorized in law; to require coordination between school and community-based early learning programs; and to ensure the state is on track for meeting the existing ECEAP entitlement by the 2026-27 year.

Supporters of the bill, largely community-based early learning stakeholders, discussed the need for coordination between school districts and early learning providers to ensure child and family needs are met and expressed concerns that the current approach with Transitional Kindergarten may negatively impact early learning providers and may not provide developmentally appropriate education statewide. Groups that signed in with a position of “con” or “other,” mainly K12 system stakeholders, expressed concerns that certain provisions of the bill, in particular the loss of the current funding source for Transitional Kindergarten (Basic Education funding), could lead to fewer pre-K options for children and families, particularly in communities with fewer options for families.

HB 1550 is scheduled for an Executive Session in the House Education Committee Thursday, Feb. 9.

New Legislation Introduced This Week

HB 1676 (Senn). HB 1676 would modify the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers Program (ESIT) by increasing the funding allocation multiplier for the program. The bill would also require monthly reporting of children utilizing the program to occur at the end of each month for services provided within that month.

HB 1697 (Walsh). HB 1697 would eliminate requirements for child care and other learning providers participating in the Early Achievers Quality Rating Improvement System. It would also bar linking the Core Competencies for Early Care and Education to licensing standards.

HB 1716 (Rule). HB 1716 would create a tax credit for employers supporting employee child care needs. The bill would require the Department of Revenue to report details on the tax credit and provide an opening to extend the tax credit if proven successful in increasing access to child care for families.

HB 1739 (Dent). HB 1739 would require the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to create an instructional handbook for child care providers. A child care provider would be exempt from obtaining an early childhood certificate if they signed an attestation indicating the handbook had been read.

Caseload Forecast Update

On Friday, Feb. 10, the Washington state Caseload Forecast Council will meet to receive updated caseload numbers for entitlement programs such as ECEAP, Working Connections Child Care, Early Support for Infants and Toddlers, K-12 enrollment and Corrections (prisons). These caseload numbers will inform the biennial budget that is currently under development. Increases in caseloads will drive further state investment and decreases in caseloads will do the opposite.

The final “revenue report” that informs how much the state will have to spend on these entitlement programs, as well as Collective Bargaining Agreements with represented labor groups and other state investments will be released March 20.

Bill Tracker: Key Early Learning Bills

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker. Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.

Washington State Capitol Building
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia!

In 1954, the Washington State Supreme Court narrowly ruled in favor of a group of Olympia businesspeople who sued the state for what reason?

Highlights of the Week

Capital Gains Tax Oral Arguments Commence. On Jan. 26, Crosscut published a thorough review of the capital gains tax background and issues, including a bit about the expected timeline of the Supreme Court’s actions.

Unexpected Free Food Giveaway. One of the best ways to turn a Monday frown upside down is the offer of free, warm cinnamon rolls. People throughout the Capitol campus were downright giddy to learn the Washington Association of Wheat Growers was on campus with smiles and offers of warm cinnamon rolls. The rolls, coupled with Wednesday’s Dairy Day giveaway, helped many a Capitol dweller through another long week.

Cinnamon Roll Station
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Of course, Dairy Day did not disappoint. Along with the expected ice cream, they offered chocolate milk and selfie-inviting cut-out cows!

Dairy Day Selfie Station
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

New Legislation Introduced this Week

As we near the end of week three and approach the Feb. 17 policy cutoff, the introduction of new bills has slowed a bit and committees are squarely focused on bill hearings and executive sessions (a fancy term for votes on bills).

Please check out Start Early Washington’s bill tracker on our State Policy Resources page for a more complete listing of early learning-related legislation and their status. Below is a summary of some bills in play. Inclusion is not meant to indicate Start Early Washington’s position, but instead meant to provide a flavor of issues under consideration.

HB 1451 (Senn). HB 1451 directs OSPI to create the Child Care Worker Pilot Program that will provide high school students credit for working in and exploring pathways in early childhood education programs. The bill also creates a grant program to support technical assistance for new child care providers, directs DCYF to create a web-based manual for youth caring for younger siblings when parents are not home, and calls for the expansion of the substitute pool.

HB 1511 (Reeves). HB 1511 ends the use of social security benefits, social-security income, and child care support as income for families applying for child care subsidy or ECEAP. This bill supports low-income families that may have limited work capacities such as parents with disabilities and single parents.

HB 1550 (Santos). HB 1550 creates the “Transition to Kindergarten” program administered jointly by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The bill outlines state agency, school district, and program rules and requirements as well as plans to convert existing “Transitional Kindergarten” programs to this new program.

Following are some key components:

Funding

• Removes basic education funds as the primary funding source for the program and designates the source as State General Fund. Also explicitly removes the ability to fund the program with basic education dollars.
• Requires the program to be free of charge to eligible children.
• State funding for the program must be based per enrolled eligible child and must not be higher than the amount per child allocated by the legislature for ECEAP.

Eligibility

• Program eligibility must be coordinated with existing early learning providers. Eligibility requirements include:
  • Children on an ECEAP waitlist, but not yet enrolled in an ECEAP program.
  • Children screened as needing additional preparation before entering kindergarten (screening process must be submitted to the state).
  • Children that have not participated in a formal early learning program.
  • Children with families earning up to 100% of the State Median Income adjusted for family size.

Program Administration

• The “Transition to Kindergarten” program would be jointly administered by OSPI and DCYF.
• Programs would be authorized by school districts and program sites would be limited to common schools.
• Districts applying for the funds must:
  • Describe the process to determine if a child needs support from the “Transition to Kindergarten” program.
  • Outline recruitment and enrollment plans with early learning providers in the school catchment area.
  • Wait one year between application submission and the program’s start date.
  • Describe the assessment tools used to screen children for program eligibility.
  • Outline a plan for coordination with existing early learning providers.
  • Not deny entry to the program based on a student’s disability.
•  Provides OSPI administrative responsibility for parts of the program, including:
  • Providing eligibility and enrollment data.
  • For the 2024-25 school year, prioritizing program funding to districts currently offering “Transitional Kindergarten.” These program dollars are subject to the availability of funding appropriated for this specific purpose.
  • Requiring OSPI to work with DCYF on program monitoring, quality and teacher certification.
  • Directing school districts to work with the existing early learning provider ecosystems in their catchment area.
• School districts must have their programs reauthorized every five years and districts must notify the state if any program discontinues one year before closure.
• Clarifies DCYF has monitoring and rule-making authority.
• Requires OSPI and DCYF to develop a plan to convert existing “Transitional Kindergarten” programs to the new “Transition to Kindergarten” program outlined in this bill.

Program Standards

• Requires school districts with the “Transition to Kindergarten” program to participate in Early Achievers.
• Requires alignment of the “Transition to Kindergarten” program licensing standards to child care and ECEAP licensing standards and the use of developmentally appropriate curricula.
• Requires each program to be staffed with a teacher holding a valid Washington teacher certificate with either an early childhood education endorsement or an early childhood special education endorsement.

Senate hearing on Working Connections Child Care Bills. On Wednesday, Jan. 25, the Senate Early Learning and K12 Committee held public hearings on several child care and early learning-focused bills. The committee heard SB 5225, which would: 1) increase access to child care by authorizing care for families involved in therapeutic court; 2) prohibit the Department of Children, Youth and Families from considering the immigration status of a full-time student parent enrolled in certain education programs applying for Working Connections Child Care; and 3) authorizes child care subsidy eligibility for dependents of child care employees with incomes up to 85% of State Median Income. Senators heard from parents directly impacted by the current policies, including a parent who had to leave her job at a preschool due to the cost of child care for her own child.

The committee also heard SB 5316, which eliminates the requirement for applicants of child care and foster care entities to pay state and federal background check fees.

Finally, the committee heard SB 5423, which provides qualifying applicants and consumers of state registered apprenticeship programs eligible for the Working Connections Child Care subsidy. A parent and ironworker apprentice described how trade apprenticeships are a great pathway to family financial stability and how unreliable and unaffordable child care can be a barrier.

Bill Tracker: Key Early Learning Bills

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker. Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.

Home visiting is about finding strengths in human connection, building trusting relationships – and all the messy stuff in between.

After a remarkable three decades of shaping the home visiting landscape, Quen Zorrah – Lead Facilitator and Co-Developer of NEAR@Home – is retiring.

Start Early Washington shares our collective love, respect and appreciation for Quen Zorrah and her lifetime of work supporting human connection and relationship building between children and their caregivers. Her expertise in supporting families has shaped how programs work with families to promote strong relationships.

Raising the Bar

Prior to her time with Start Early Washington, Quen was a public health nurse and one of the first nurses in the nation to provide home visiting services to families through Nurse-Family Partnership. Her work has integrated infant mental health and Neuroscience, Epigenetics, ACEs, and Resilience (NEAR) science into home visiting through teaching, coaching and reflective supervision. As the Lead Facilitator and Co-Developer of NEAR@Home, Quen has developed trauma-informed practices for building resilience and uniquely positions home visitors to safely and effectively talk with families during a critical period of development – the earliest years of a child’s life.

“I was fortunate enough to work with Quen for 20 years, as a teacher, supervisor, consultant, co-author and an esteemed colleague. I’ve never known anyone who got what reflective listening was, or who was freer of professional pretense, than Quen. She is so unpretentious that it would be easy to underestimate her real genius for this work.” — Dr. Marian Birch, DMH, Psychologist

The Journey

Like many staff on Start Early Washington’s home visiting team, Quen’s firsthand experiences as a mother led her to pursue a lifelong career devoted to children and their families.

At the age of 19, Quen distinctly remembers the first day she met a home visitor. “My child was only two days old when a woman from King County Public Health knocked on my door. She was so humble and respectful, but as persistent as a boot wedged in my doorway! Somehow, she knew how much I needed to hear words of compassion.” Seemingly, Quen’s home visitor intuitively knew that Quen was in need of positive reinforcement and support as a young, first-time parent.

Quen admired the compassion and hopefulness home visitors brought to her life, but she was still apprehensive at the thought of home visiting with her second child. “I wasn’t as put together and I was worried about what they would think of me, my mess and my reality.” Unsurprisingly, her home visitors lauded her efforts and bolstered her confidence, helping her tackle the many challenges of parenting. With each visit, Quen’s self-talk started to shift substantially, “College is achievable!” “My voice matters!” “I can do this!”

Quen’s home visitors changed the course of her life. “Not only my life but my kids’ lives as well. We take for granted the power of finding strengths and being human with each other.” After witnessing the power of home visiting support, Quen was determined to make a difference to others just as her home visitors did for her; she was determined to be a catalyst for change.

Quen completed her GED and carried her remarkable determination and fortitude as a young parent with her to nursing school at Seattle Central Community College. Upon graduation, Quen worked as a nurse for renowned medical centers and rural based community hospitals in remote mountain towns, before joining Nurse-Family Partnership, where she flourished for the next 20 years, supporting families with young children, pregnant women, grandparents, foster parents and fathers as primary caregivers.

Quen’s passion and perseverance to provide comfort, compassion and support led her to the creation of the highly successful, nationally acclaimed NEAR@Home toolkit, a tool providing home visitors with information and skills to talk about trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) during home visits, while building trust and hope.

“Quen reminds me that I do not always have to fix things; my presence alone can bring value to any given situation.” — Amy Houser, Consultant 

Finding Balancing

Home visitors often face their own challenges with trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). These lived experiences bring motivation and strengths to the field of home visiting, but they also add another level of strain. The exposure to challenges and trauma of others can contribute to burnout and poor mental and physical well-being. Quen notes gardening as her antidote to secondary traumatic stress or “compassion fatigue” inherent to those supporting families directly.

Quen appreciates the balance that gardening brings to the intensity of her work. Influenced by her great-grandmother, Quen cherishes time outside to slowly walk around her garden and admire each of her plants. “Gardening is a wonderful balance to all seriousness. It’s creative and offers exercise and most importantly, if I mess something up in my garden, I just compost it. But of course, it’s not that simple with humans. With plants, the worst that will happen is a compost pile.”

“Quen’s thoughtfulness, reflectiveness, kind, calm and peaceful way of being, is something I strive to incorporate into my work and personal life.” — Amanda Costello, Director of National Home Visiting, Start Early

Home visiting stories of success and triumph were also a grounding element for Quen. She recalled all the knowledge accumulated over the years: “That’s what kept me going for so long. When working long hours or flustered with bureaucracy, budgets and funding, I’d think about the stories we accumulated. My hope for home visitors is that they will share stories for inspiration and as a guide to move past challenges together.”

A Career to Remember

“Quen has shown me how to focus on people and building relationships before focusing on the work.” — Valisa Smith, Executive Director, Start Early Washington

While Quen may no longer be part of the thick of home visiting life, her profound impact has left a lasting legacy, disrupting the way we interact with each other by offering tools that will transform how we build and foster relationships for generations to come.

Start Early Washington is proud to be part of Quen Zorrah’s story. Her ability to reach parents and children at an intrinsic human level is immeasurable. We are honored to continue to share NEAR@Home with the world – a toolkit designed to allow users to rediscover hope and strive toward healing, fostering strong and healthy relationships.

We thank Quen for her incredible contribution to the field, honor her on all she has accomplished in her professional and personal life, and congratulate her on retirement and her future endeavors.

Washington State Capitol Building
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia!

The Capitol Campus is undergoing a great deal of construction. What major campus building is completely closed, necessitating a temporary move four miles away to Tumwater?

Highlights of the Week

A day in Olympia during the legislative session can often feel like a week as the days are filled with committee hearings, legislative meetings and sprinting across the Capitol campus to get to the next appointment.

I have to say the campus feels a tad quieter than usual – even during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, traditionally a very busy day. It appears people are taking advantage of the virtual option and testifying and meeting virtually rather than making the trek to Olympia. As previously shared, the Washington State Legislature does work on the federal holidays that fall during the legislative session. For the MLK holiday, the Legislature honored the life and legacy of Dr. King during their Floor session.

In many ways, we are readjusting to an in-person legislative session. It is a bit like riding a bike; some days, we may be missing a wheel! Note that despite fewer people on campus, parking can still be challenging as a staff parking lot has been converted to a temporary building and the DASH shuttle is not in service this year.

Senate Early Learning and K12 Committee Work Session on Early Learning. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Senate Early Learning and K12 Committee held a work session on a number of early learning topics, including the implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act, the Recommendations from the Child Care Collaborative Task Force, and recommendations for child care workforce and compensation (starts at the 1:00 mark).

The presentation kicked off with Allison Krutsinger from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) providing updates on the implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act (starts at 1:01) and COVID-related grants (starts at 1:08 mark).

Next was an update on the Child Care Collaborative Task Force, which was housed at the Washington Department of Commerce and co-convened with DCYF. The Task Force was charged with developing recommendations to improve access to child care, a new approach to the child care subsidy model and strategies for businesses to support child care (starts at the 1:11 mark). Co-Chairs Ryan Pricco (Child Care Aware) and Amy Anderson (Association of Washington Business) presented the most recent recommendations focusing on the true cost of quality child care, including background on the cost estimation model (starts at the 1:13 mark) followed by the four recommendations. An interesting discussion on the future of Early Achievers starts at the 1:22 mark.

Finally, Meka Riggins (Child Care Aware) presented on the Liberatory Design Process undertaken to develop recommendations related to workforce recruitment and compensation recommendations (starts at the 1:30 mark). Child Care Aware convened a diverse set of child care providers to discuss challenges and opportunities in the field and design recommendations and advocacy priorities for the workforce. The design team’s recommendations start at the 1:36 mark. Finally, the committee heard from providers Desiree Hall from Stay and Play Child Care Learning Center in Seattle, Nicole Sohn from the Discover Journey Center in Spokane, a family home provider Holly Lindsey in Longview, and Lupe Mendoza, a parent from Walla Walla, on field experiences (starts at the 1:38 mark).

Sen. Patty Murray Holds Capitol Early Learning Press Conference. U.S. Senator Patty Murray, new Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, hosted a press conference on child care at the Legislative Building Wednesday, Jan. 18. Susan Lee, Director at the Refugee Women’s Alliance, spoke along with Lauren Hipp from MomsRising. Child care champions State Senator Claire Wilson and State Representative Tana Senn also spoke and were joined by Sen. Jesse Solomon, Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, Rep. April Berg, and Rep. Monica Stonier.

Sen. Murray described the challenges in child care today, such as providers lacking sufficient funds to stay open; limited child care options; the need for facilities particularly in rural areas; child care staff leaving the workforce for better paying jobs in the retail and food service industry; and the lack of affordable options for parents.

Sen. Murray noted that the recent federal spending bill increased federal child care investment by over 30% or $1.8B. This increase is expected to provide additional funding for child care access to an estimated 130,000 more children. However, Sen. Murray was clear that bold action is needed and we are still a long way from saying “mission accomplished.”

State Sen. Claire Wilson and State Representative Tana Senn spoke to the increased state investment in child care over the past several years. This included the passage of the 2021 Fair Start For Kids Act, which provided an additional $1.1B in investments, including reduced family co-pays, bonuses for non-standard hours, increased home-based services such as home visiting, and grants to early learning providers to remain open.

What’s on Deck for Next Week

Dairy Day! Who doesn’t love free food? Particularly when that free food involves ice cream and cheese!

One of the biggest highlights of the legislative sessions is the “food days.” The food days involve various food-related associations coming to the Capitol to demonstrate the value of their product to the state of Washington. These “food days” generate an unbelievable level of excitement. It is kind of like when you were in elementary school, and there was an assembly with a person doing all of the yo-yo tricks. We are all giddy!

If you are on campus on any of these days, you will witness long lines of people patiently waiting for free potatoes, beef or ICE CREAM! The first food day is scheduled for next week on Jan. 25 with Dairy Day. The mezzanine around the third floor of the Legislative Building will be filled with representatives of the Washington State Dairy Association handing out free ice cream, cheese and yogurt. It will be a very good day.

Photo proof that I have been enjoying ice cream giveaways at capitals for decades (June 1992, Washington, D.C.)
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Oral Arguments Before State Supreme Court Jan. 26. On Jan. 26, the Washington State Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of a capital gains tax in its temporary building in Tumwater.

The Supreme Court has already acted to allow the State Department of Revenue to begin collecting the tax prior to the Court’s final ruling and all the revenue forecasts assume receipt of this revenue. The funding is primarily designed to support the implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act.

Helpful Legislative Engagement Tips and Legislative Cutoff Dates

I am all about not reinventing the wheel. On Sunday, Jan. 15, the Spokesman Review’s Jim Camden had an informative column compiling resources to help stay engaged with the legislative process. Check it out!

Legislative Cutoff Calendar. The 105-day “long” legislative session moves really fast and it won’t be long before we are facing “cutoff” deadlines. These cutoffs are designed to serve as a filter, reducing the number of bills considered throughout the process. The first cutoff is scheduled on day 40 (Feb. 17), when all bills must be approved by their respective policy committees. From that point, the cutoff dates come at a quicker clip, with the fiscal cutoff scheduled for day 47 (Feb. 24).

This cutoff calendar is particularly important to review if you are planning to visit the Capitol as there is always a swirl of activity around these cutoff dates.

Bill Tracker: Key Early Learning Bills

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker. Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.

Early Morning at the Capitol Building
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia!

You will not be surprised to see this week’s trivia relates to the tradition of “swearing-in” of elected officials. In Washington state, how many mother-daughter combos have served in either the State Senate or House of Representatives?

Highlights of the Week

Governor Inslee’s State of the State
(Photo Credit: Inslee delivers State of the State: “Bold actions for building a stronger Washington”)

State of the State

On Tuesday, before a Joint Session of the Senate and House of Representatives, Governor Jay Inslee provided the first in-person State of the State in three years. Prior to the Governor’s remarks, the Lt. Governor introduced many distinguished guests, including the members of the State Supreme Court and other statewide elected officials. I had forgotten that dignitaries representing partner countries also attend. The Ukrainian Consulate General received a prolonged standing ovation, conveying Washington state’s support for the people of Ukraine.

A summary of the speech themes and pictures from the event can be found on the Governor’s Medium page.

Governor Inslee spent much of his time focusing on the related challenges of housing and behavioral health. He stated the fundamental, underlying challenge is that our state does not have enough housing supply for all Washingtonians. He cited the need to build another 1 million housing units within the next 17 years to meet demand.

The Governor utilized the “faces in the gallery” tradition started by President Ronald Reagan in 1982, where a politician invites people impacted by programs or policies to be their guest in the gallery, and then they are called out in the speech. In this instance, Governor Inslee included a mom and daughter who benefited from the state’s housing investments and noted the need to meet the needs of so many other families.

While promoting his proposed $4 billion housing referendum that would need to be approved by voters, he urged swift action rather than addressing the housing crisis “bit by bit.”

Representative Peter Abbarno of the 20th legislative district provided the Republican response to the State of the State. He focused on Republican priorities of affordability, public safety, education and housing/homelessness. He also spoke to the challenge of securing child care throughout the state. He shared his family’s stress with finding affordable child care when his children were born.

Budget Hearings

This week’s major committee focuses were public hearings on the operating, capital and transportation budgets. On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Chair noted 175 individuals were signed up to testify on various parts of Governor Inslee’s proposed budget. I did not get the number from the Senate Ways and Means Committee, but I would guess their list was just as long.

Both operating budget public hearings opened with an overview of Governor Inslee’s proposed budget by the Director of the Office of Financial Management, David Schumacher. Some challenges that will impact the budget include:

• The transition from COVID-19 infusion of federal dollars in prior years to more “typical” budgets. We are seeing the ramp-down of many of these federal investments
• Inflation is driving up costs
• The state (and nation) is facing continued economic uncertainty
• Recruitment/retention concerns with the workforce

Given these realities, Governor Inslee’s budget prioritized what he considered the most pressing needs and to continue working on what is currently in motion, rather than starting new programs.

After watching two long nights of public testimony, a clear common priority arose – workforce. Almost every person testifying identified needs to address the workforce recruitment and retention concerns throughout nearly every sector.

Following this public process, much of the budget discussions will shift behind the scenes. It is certainly not too early to weigh in with budget writers about your priorities.

A procedural note – these budget hearings were my first experience participating in hybrid committee hearings and the switch from virtual to in-person testimony throughout both evenings was rather seamless. Kudos to the staff for their preparation to continue this accessibility.

House Brain Development and Early Learning Work Session

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the House Human Services, Youth, & Early Learning Committee held a work session on brain development and early learning. As with all committee hearings and floor action, this work session can be rewatched on the TVW website.

The early learning section of the hearing starts at about the :22 minute mark in the recording with Dr. Patricia Kuhl from the University of Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (ILABS). Dr. Kuhl provided the committee with an overview of the critical and extensive research on infant brain development and the Labs’ “science to practice” philosophy that provides a “what do we do about it” approach to what they have learned from their research. This includes programming related to the importance of “baby talk” and “parentese” on brain development (:39 minute mark). Rep. Jamila Taylor asked a critical question about the inclusion of parents of color, specifically black mothers, in the research and potential differences in “parentese” in black communities (:45 minute mark). Dr. Kuhl also provided insight from their bilingual brain studies (:52 minute mark) and reading group programs (:55 minute mark). Slides from the ILABS presentation can be found here.

Following Dr. Kuhl’s presentation, Allison Krutsinger and Genevieve Stokes from the government affairs team at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) provided an overview of early learning programs and funding streams for the committee (1:04 minute mark). The presentation starts with an overview of child care, Early Achievers, ECEAP and Head Start. There were interesting discussions about the coordination between DCYF and OSPI and family supports, (1:30 minute mark) followed by family support and services including home visiting (1:38 minute mark) and a Fair Start for Kids update (1:41 minute mark). Slides from the DCYF presentation can be found here.

The DCYF materials contain a treasure trove of valuable data and a wonderful overview of early learning. It is another one I am going to file away for future reference.

What’s On Deck for Next Week

The agenda for week two includes continued “work sessions” to educate and expose lawmakers to issues before their committees as well as a ramp-up of bill hearings.

Early Learning Work Session. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee will hold a work session focused on:

• Implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act
• Recommendations from the Child Care Collaborative Task Force
• Workforce and compensation recommendations
• Perspectives from child care providers and families

Hearing and Vote Expected on HB 1199. Summarized below, HB 1199 (Senn and Eslick) would prohibit certain limitations on the provision of center-based and family child care by various homeowner and other associations. It is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Housing Committee on Monday, Jan. 16, with a vote expected Thursday, Jan. 19.

Bills

Following is a brief summary of early learning related bills:

HB 1199 (Senn and Eslick). HB 1199 prohibits associations of apartment owners, homeowners associations, and associations of unit owners from restricting or limiting the use of a unit within the association for licensed family home or center-based child care. These associations may enforce other association regulations for child care providers that are identically applied to other residences and structures. Associations willfully violating this act may be subject to paying the provider a civil penalty up to $1000.

SB 5225 (Wilson, C.). SB 5225 aims to increase access to child care through several strategies. First, the bill provides child care subsidies for employees of child care centers or family home providers and caps copayments for these employees. The bill also provides access to child care subsidies for parents participating in a specialty or therapeutic courts and prohibits immigration status as a barrier to qualifying for child care subsidies for student parents.

SB 5316 (Wilson, C.). SB 5316 repeals statutes requiring applicants to child care and foster care entities to pay state and federal background check fees. Previously, applicants to child care and foster care facilities had to pay the costs for the Washington State Patrol and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check fees. Last session, those fees requirements were eliminated and the state covered the costs. This bill would make state funding of those fees permanent.

SB 5332 (King). Prohibits cities, towns, and counties from authorizing or through inaction allowing for sanctioned or unsanctioned homeless outdoor encampments near schools and early learning facilities.

Child Care Development Block Grant (CCBDG) Increases. The Omnibus National Spending Bill signed into law by President Biden Dec. 29, 2022 provided a $1.9 billion (or 30%) increase to the CCDBG. The state of Washington is expected to receive an increase of approximately $27.5 million from Grant Year 2022 to Grant Year 2023.

On Jan. 10, the Center for Law and Social Policy released a state-by-state analysis of distribution estimates for the increased funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).

This increased funding will become part of state budget considerations.

2023 Legislative Information is Live!

Now that the 2023 Legislature has been sworn in, the legislative website has been updated to include contact and background information on each Senator and House member. Also included is access to calendars and schedules; committee schedules, agendas and documents; and other detailed information on committee membership and more.

A really cool feature is the ability to sign up for bill tracking for specific bills of interest. And, there is the ability to sign-in to testify in person or remotely, provide written testimony or let your position be known for the record. Note that if you want to testify either in person or remotely, you must sign-in at least an hour before the start of the hearing. This gives the staff time to figure out logistics.

Finally, as noted last week, TVW is a great resource to catch all legislative activity live or after the fact.

Bill Tracker: Key Early Learning Bills

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker. Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.

This newsletter will be distributed every Friday morning during the legislative session. It is intended to keep you abreast of legislative activity, highlight important upcoming events, deadlines and share trivia with the help of our adorable Capitol Ambassador, Ollie.

Ollie, our Capitol Ambassador, eagerly awaits the start of Legislative session
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

2023 Legislative Session Awaits!

The 105-day legislative session kicks off Monday, Jan. 9. And while it is “go time” for all the players involved in the legislative process, I think I am not alone in experiencing a level of trepidation around what to expect. Think extreme Sunday “scaries” mixed with back-to-school anxiety.

We have not seen a “normal” legislative process for nearly three years, and I do not expect this year to be a full return to previous experiences. On the positive side, we know that most legislative committees will maintain some ability for people to testify virtually. As we saw during the 2021 and 2022 years, this virtual option greatly increased access to the legislative process (even for people on airplanes and ski slopes – two of the most memorable moments of the past two years). We know legislative staff and TVW have been hard at work to make the hybrid nature of in-person and virtual testimony as seamless as possible. Note, questions remain as to how committee chairs will navigate the virtual/in-person balance and we can expect variance among committees.

On the uncertainty side, there remains concern that the typical legislative session steady diet of close quarters, lack of sleep and stress will result in the spreading of illnesses. And while people used to “power through” being sick, hopefully our collective experience over the past three years will lead to people leveraging technology and staying home when ill!

Additionally, the legislative campus is undergoing a few major construction projects and a temporary building has been erected in the parking lot historically occupied by legislative staff. If you are coming to Olympia, acquaint yourself with Capitol campus parking information as many of the usual parking areas will likely be full. (You can fully expect I will don a hard hat and include an upcoming trivia question or two about capital construction!).

Finally, the House has instituted some additional security procedures and staff may need to escort visitors up to legislative offices for meetings. Also, expect a cap on the number of meeting attendees – no more stuffing 10 people in tiny offices. Keep this in mind if you are coming to the Capitol.

Patience and flexibility continues to be the themes!

What’s on Deck for the First Week?

The first day of the legislative session includes the requisite pomp and circumstance, with “Opening Day Ceremonies” slated for noon Monday. This will include swearing-in of newly elected members. Our House of Representatives will also vote to affirm the recommendation that current Speaker Laurie Jinkins continue in this role. Unlike the “other Washington” that is garnering great attention this week, this vote is expected to be procedural – she has the votes!

On Tuesday, Jan. 10 at noon, Governor Jay Inslee will present his annual State of the State Address to a joint session of the Senate and the House. This will be Governor Inslee’s first in-person State of the State since 2020. Expect Governor Inslee to reinforce his priorities laid out in his proposed budgets released in December. On Wednesday, there will be a Joint Session for the State of the Judiciary. Given the state Supreme Court plans to hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the capital gains tax, this could be an interesting State of the Judiciary.

Legislative Hearings/Work Sessions. Lawmakers in our state can begin “pre-filing” bills starting the first Monday of December. A quick perusal of the pre-filed bill list is a good reminder of the wide range of issues our Legislature considers. Among many others, there are proposed bills to establish a wine retailer’s sellers permit, related to the sale of cosmetics tested on animals and another about courthouse facility dogs. The magnitude of complex policy and budget questions reinforces the importance of being clear in your desired action and succinct in your talking points.

Some of these pre-filed bills are scheduled for public hearing in the first couple of weeks of session. Because the first weeks are a bit slower, it is common that legislative committees use this time to hold “work sessions” where they do a deeper dive on an issue of interest, without a specific bill before them for consideration. For example, the House Human Services, Youth and Early Learning Committee will hold a work session on brain development and early learning on 1/10 at 1:30 p.m., the House Finance Committee will hold a work session on the state’s tax system on 1/12 at 1:30 p.m. and the Senate Human Services Committee will have an overview of the Department of Children, Youth and Families on 1/10 at 10:30 a.m.

Public Hearings on the Budget. The hot ticket legislative committees during the first week of session are the public hearings on Governor Inslee’s proposed budget convened by the Senate and House fiscal committees. The schedule is as follows:

• Senate Ways and Means Committee Public Hearing on Operating Budget, 1/10 at 4 p.m.
• House Appropriations Committee Public Hearing on Operating Budget, 1/11 at 4 p.m.
• House Capital Budget Committee Public Hearing on Capital Budget, 1/12 at 1:30 p.m.
• Senate Ways and Means Committee Public Hearing on Capital Budget, 1/12 at 4 p.m.

These public hearings typically open with an overview of the proposed budget by the Governor’s Budget Director, followed by the opportunity for presentations by statewide elected officials like the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Commissioner of Public Lands Following these presentations, public hearings commence where individuals are invited to share brief (emphasis on brief) remarks on what is in – and more importantly NOT in – the proposed budget.

These hearings are always a tad chaotic as lobbyists hop up and down, speaking on behalf of their clients. This year will be particularly interesting with the added dynamic of virtual testimony as well. We lovingly refer to these evenings as “cattle calls.” (By the way, I just looked up the definition and apparently the phrase comes from the acting world where cattle calls were massive auditions to fill parts for plays or movies. I guess we are auditioning to be included in the final adopted budget!)

Note that if you want to testify, you need to sign-in via the leg.wa.gov website at least an hour before the hearing. Committees also accept written testimony and you can have your position noted for the legislative record.

Legislative Preview with Legislative Leaders

On Jan. 5, the Allied Daily Newspapers/Washington Association of Broadcasters held a 2023 legislative preview.

The morning began with release of a recent poll of registered Washington voters conducted by Crosscut and the Elway Group focused on top priorities for legislative action. The poll found the top issues include the economy/cost of living (the only issue identified by both Democrats and Republicans as a top concern), housing/homelessness and public safety. After years of being at the forefront, COVID-19 dropped dramatically as a primary issue of concern for voters.

Following the overview of the poll, the Spokesman Review’s Laurel Demokovich moderated a panel of the four corners of legislative leadership – Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, Senate Minority Leader John Braun and House Republican Leader JT Wilcox. This session is an opportunity for the press to ask questions.

Before the panel was interrupted by a fire alarm that necessitated the building’s evacuation (don’t worry – there was no actual fire), the legislative leaders discussed their approaches to many of the issues elevated in the voters’ poll. The two issues that received the most attention during the abbreviated time were housing/homelessness and the need to address workforce challenges in a broad manner.

The legislative leaders noted there is bipartisan agreement as to what are the major challenges (e.g. behavioral health, housing, workforce), but their approaches to addressing them differ. Senate Majority Leader Billig discussed child care more than once and emphasized it is both a workforce and education issue. He also cited that workforce challenges impact child care as other sectors. When asked to identify strategies to address workforce, Senator Billig noted the issue is complex and will require multiple solutions.

Following the return after the fire drill, the lead budget writers from both parties outlined their priorities and challenges and Governor Jay Inslee wrapped up the morning doing the same, with a great focus again on housing. We can expect to hear many of Governor Inslee’s talking points at his State of the State next week.

The session ended taking up most of the morning. TVW has a link if you want to capture the remarks. It is a good grounding about what to expect next week, and how issues will be approached.

Legislative Leadership Preview 2023 Priorities
(Photo Credit: TVW Screenshot)

Legislative Resources

If you are wanting to follow Olympia activity, my go-to websites are TVW.org and the Legislature’s website, leg.wa.gov.

TVW is our state’s version of CSPAN. TVW covers every committee hearing, Floor session, press conferences and, since the pandemic, both the Senate and House Rules Committees. If you miss something live, you can go to the menu on the left and scroll down to media archives.

I serve as a member of the TVW board of directors and believe TVW is an invaluable asset. We truly could not have done our jobs during the pandemic without TVW and their ability to evolve to meet ever-changing needs is appreciated. Note that in addition to covering live activity, TVW also produces weekly shows such as “Inside Olympia” where decision makers discuss and debate hot topics. They also produce great documentaries. I recommend “Reforming the Juvenile Justice System in Washington State.”

Leg.wa.gov is a site that contains a mountain of information about our legislators and the legislative process. The website will be updated to include all of the newly sworn-in Senators and House members after Monday’s swearing in. (Helpful hint – all legislative emails are firstname.lastname@leg.wa.gov). Additionally, the website will include committee members and committee meeting times and all sorts of helpful information. I will include the updated links in next week’s Notes.

Other helpful government websites:

Office of Financial Management (Governor’s Budget Shop)
Fiscal Information (where to access the various budget proposals)
Governor’s Official Webpage

Federal Spending Bill Passed – Major Increases for Early Learning

Right before the end of the year, Congress passed, and President Biden signed, a $1.7 trillion spending bill. The numbers are still being crunched and details being unearthed, but we know the package made a number of positive investments in early learning, including:

• $8 billion investment in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) (a 30.1% increase over Federal Fiscal Year 2022)
• $12 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start ($960 million increase over Federal Fiscal Year 2022)
• Five-year reauthorization of the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program along with funding increases (bringing total funding to $1.4 billion over five years and a doubling of the tribal set-aside)

These increases are welcomed for Washington’s children and families and this additional federal funding will play into our state budget discussions. More to come here for sure.

Start Early Washington Resources

A reminder that Start Early Washington maintains and regularly updates a robust set of resources on our website.

These include an overview of Governor Inslee’s proposed budget, Fair Start for Kids Act analysis and a summary of federal investments in early learning. Note, we will produce a weekly bill tracker that will be included on our resource page (and linked in this newsletter). We will also include Senate and House budget analyses when that time comes.

In addition, our website includes an overview of Start Early Washington’s 2023 budget priorities, the Home Visiting Advocacy Coalition’s budget ask and a resource highlighting the importance of investing in the home visiting workforce.

Bill Tracker: Key Early Learning Bills

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker.

Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.

A note from the author: I took a tumble down my icy front steps and broke my wrist. It is a little challenging to write and type at the moment, so please be patient with this quick budget summary!

Governor’s Budget Summary

On Dec. 14, Governor Jay Inslee released his proposed $70 billion 2023-25 biennial budget. At the press conference announcing his proposed investments, Governor Inslee highlighted his priorities of housing and behavioral health.

Of course his budget includes a number of other worthy and needed investments, as outlined in his Budget and Policy Highlights. Note that page 30 includes a summary of the Governor’s ECEAP investments. Now that the Governor’s priorities have been released, attention turns to the Legislature as they will begin to build their budget when they gather in Olympia on Jan. 9.

Budget writers are closely following the state’s revenue picture. Also on Dec. 14, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released an update showing General Fund-State revenue collections for Nov. 11 – Dec. 10, 2022. Overall revenues came in $4.5 million lower than forecasted in November. Revenue Act collections (e.g. sales and business and occupations tax) came in $39.1 million higher than the November forecast. Conversely, non-Revenue Act Collections (e.g. property tax) came in $44.7 million lower than forecasted. Given this fluctuation, we will continue to monitor revenue collections closely as they influence state spending.

Governor Inslee’s proposed budget includes the following key early learning items:

Child Care

• Family Child Care Collective Bargaining ($231.165M). This funding would increase the Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) hourly rate to $3.85 in SFY 24 and $4 in SFY 25; increase the base subsidy rate to the 85th percentile of the 2021 market rate survey, increase the cost of care rate enhancement to $2,100 per month; pay for background checks and fingerprinting for licensed family home providers.
• Child Care Center Rate Increase Working Connections Child Care ($142.4M in new funding). This funding would ensure all providers are paid a rate that reflects at least the 85th percentile of the 2021 market rate survey. This includes a subset of providers who were paid at a rate that exceeded the market rate and will not receive a reduction in payment.
• Equity Grants ($18.69M).
• Working Connections Child Care Complex Needs ($15.396M).
• Background Check Fee Assistance ($897,000). This funding includes payment of background check application fees and fingerprint processing fees for FY 24.

ECEAP

• Rate Increase ($107.026M). This funding includes a 40% rate increase.
• Expansion ($83.583M). This funding supports 2,000 new slots per year; of these, 1,700 are school-day and 300 working-day.

Early Learning Facilities (Capital Budget)

• Early Learning Facilities Expansion ($40M).
• Facilities Minor Renovation ($5M).
• School District Funding ($5.4M). Funding for Bethel School District $1.08M; Highline School District $809,000; Issaquah School District $1.057M; Orondo School District $1.080M; South Bend School District $300,000; and the Toppenish School District $1.08M.

Home Visiting

• Contract Adjustments ($9.3M).
• Expansion ($1.5M). This funding would serve 160-200 new families.

Other Early Learning Investments

• Audit Resolution ($2.583M). This funding is in response to the State Auditor’s findings, which includes funding and FTE staff to allow DCYF to perform cost allocation at the child-level detail.
• Dolly Parton Imagination Library ($5.279M).
• Pierce County Prevention Pilot ($1.742M). This funding would continue the pilot in Pierce County for universal newborn supports and resource linkages.
• Tribal Early Learning Grants ($10.279M). This is one-time funding to provide early learning grants to provide culturally appropriate early learning opportunities for Tribal children.

Brenda Smith has taught at Educare Chicago, a program of Start Early, for 13 years. In that time, she’s seen first-hand how providing for the needs of families can uplift not only her students, but the communities in which they live.

The team at Educare Chicago worked to identify the family’s needs and address them as much as possible. Start Early’s quality early childhood programs often help families access community services that they might otherwise not be aware of or are otherwise unable to use because of systemic barriers.

“We made sure that she was able to get him here,” Brenda explains. “We provided her with carfare. We gave her gift cards to get things that she might’ve needed, that she wouldn’t have been able to receive if she wasn’t here.”

Mental health consultants and family support specialists on staff also worked with the student’s mom, connecting her to a wide range of supportive services.

“We had wonderful mental health consultants that took care of her, mentally and emotionally, in ways that us, the teachers, couldn’t,” adds Brenda.

After her son graduated from the program, the mother continued to occasionally visit Educare Chicago’s campus and provide the team with updates on her life.

“She has her own apartment now, and she has a job now,” says Brenda. “We provide our parents with so much information and so much family support.”

Partnering with parents and connecting them with services and resources to help understand their children’s developmental needs is a core component of Educare Chicago’s approach to ensure students grow up healthy, supported by their families and ready to learn.

“We have a program that links parents up with other organizations,” Brenda says. “These organizations help them if they want to go to school, if they have loans that are overwhelming them, if they need a car, if they need somewhere to live, if they need furniture… They provide that kind of help for our parents.”

The focus on providing for parents and families at Educare Chicago is indicative of the support that well-resourced early childhood learning programs can provide. Brenda, who worked at several daycare centers prior to her work with Educare Chicago, says that this approach makes a significant difference in the educational and social outcomes of its students.

“I’ve been in this field for a long time, and I have never been at a center that cared as much and had the same amount of compassion for its parents and families as Educare Chicago,” she says.

For over 40 years, Start Early has worked directly with families and children from before birth to entry into kindergarten. We provide doula and home visiting services and quality center-based care that ensures children are ready to reach their full potential in school and in life.

Five years ago, Start Early was honored to be one of 18 organizations that received a major investment from Ballmer Group, each focused on addressing economic mobility. Ballmer Group recently renewed its commitment to Start Early for another 5 years.

Our vision is that every community has a comprehensive, equitable prenatal-to-five system that delivers excellent programs through a stable, well-supported and compensated workforce. The flexible, multi-year funding grant from Ballmer Group has allowed Start Early to build new partnerships, advance core program priorities, and bring new capabilities to our work. For example, Start Early’s merger with the Early Learning Lab brought human-centered design approaches to build more equitable solutions, programs and policies informed by community voices.

Supporting the Early Childhood Workforce Is Critical to the Success of Young Children

Early childhood educators serve young children in their most critical developmental years and lay the foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing. They provide stable and nurturing relationships that promote brain development and build the social, emotional, and academic skills of our youngest learners who will become our future workers, innovators, and leaders. Yet they are often underappreciated and under-compensated. Unfortunately, low wages, combined with limited access to professional development and growth opportunities, created a workforce crisis, only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s important that educators get the training and support they need to grow their knowledge and skills and collaborate and share best practices with colleagues. Support from Ballmer Group allowed Start Early to expand professional development opportunities to prepare the workforce to meet the ever-changing needs of young children and families. Today, we support nearly 300,000 early childhood professionals and impact 1.5 million young children annually.

Our work is focused on creating virtual and face-to-face training and resources on topics of vital importance to our childcare and workforce, including family economic mobility, equity, recruitment, and family engagement. In 2020, Start Early was awarded one of four highly influential Office of Head Start National Centers — the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement.

Equitable Systems Create Endless Possibilities for ALL Children and Families

At Start Early, we are focused on driving forward a unified prenatal-to-five system. We have long believed that universal programs, with a common definition of quality, a shared measurement for assessing progress and the ability to scale innovation and best practices can have transformative and sustained impact on millions of children.

We’ve continued to grow our systems-building work and now partner with advocates and public sector leaders in 17 states, promoting more equitable practices and policies that benefit 6.5 million children. We recently supported states and communities in maximizing American Rescue Plan Act funds to advance their early childhood programs and services.

We are grateful for Ballmer Group’s continued support of Start Early’s mission. As champions of early learning, we are committed to helping families with young children thrive. We will continue to deepen our support for early childhood professionals. And we will stay relentlessly focused on driving forward an early learning system that’s seen as an integral part of our nation’s commitment to children, families and future generations.

Ballmer Group is committed to improving economic mobility for children and families in the United States. They fund leaders and organizations that have demonstrated the ability to reshape opportunity and reduce systemic inequities. To learn more, visit: www.BallmerGroup.org.