As Congress continues to push historic reforms to early childhood education towards the finish line, Start Early president Diana Rauner joined Drew Furedi, president and CEO of Para Los Niños and Alejandra Barraza, president of HighScope Educational Research Foundation for a conversation about early childhood development moderated by Mark Oppenheim.

All families need support

The panel also spend time talking about how every family needs foundational supports. Discussion included how families have never raised children by themselves—they’ve always relied on friends, supports and family to help them during this exciting and exhausting time.

But not every parent and caregiver has these supports, and children shouldn’t be punished. In our full-employment society, we must find a way for all children to be cared for in quality educational settings regardless of their location — be it a church basement, a child care center, an in-home provider or a preschool — so that parents can choose from developmentally appropriate, affordable and quality options.

Investing in what works

The panel ended with a great sports analogy by Drew Furedi, who shared that sports teams spend millions of dollars on scientific approaches that train and develop individual athletes. If we applied the same approach to develop each young person, we could gain so much—and we’re not talking millions of dollars per child.

We know what works. We have the answers. We just need to do it.

Funders understand it’s past time for the U.S. to create and support a quality early education system. In her latest piece for Inside Philanthropy, reporter Connie Matthiessen takes a look at the Educare Learning Network and Start Early as a model for change, including the Educare model’s focus on parent engagement, the importance of public-private partnerships and providing parents and families with comprehensive, prenatal-to-five supports.

In the piece, Jessie Rasmussen, president of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, calls Educare “an initiative by private and public partners to do two big things: change the life trajectories for the children who come into our care, and change the way America approaches and funds high-quality early care and education. By doing what science tells us we need to do in terms of providing quality, we are narrowing and even closing the achievement gap. By working with peers across the country, we’re showing what it takes to deliver such high quality, including a well-prepared, well-compensated workforce, a reliance on data-driven practice, and care that partners with families and nurtures the healthy growth and development of every child.”

In-person conferences are back! This August, Start Early president Diana Rauner and I joined leading minds in technology and education from across the country in San Diego for the 2021 ASU+GSV Summit. With awareness of the importance of early childhood education and the care economy at an all-time high, more than a dozen sessions at this year’s conference explored critical issues facing our field, including kindergarten readiness, equity and workforce development.

Start Early is pleased to announce Clarissa Love as our first Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB). In her role, Clarissa will lead the organization’s continuing journey in becoming an anti-racist organization that creates systemic improvements in early childhood education so that equitable access for all becomes a reality.

“Clarissa is well-positioned for this critical role within our organization, bringing more than a decade of knowledge, tangible experience and demonstrated effectiveness in leading DEIB strategy,” says Michael Hoffman, Chief Operating Officer at Start Early.

Previously, Clarissa served as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultant at Michigan Medicine’s Office for Health, Equity and Inclusion. In this role, she enlisted over 5,000 voices (students, staff and faculty) to develop a DEIB strategic plan that created opportunities for individual growth and development, enhanced team culture and strengthened networks to build internal and external community equity. She managed DEIB leads across Michigan Medicine to build momentum and change at the department level. During her tenure she created relevant courses to build leadership capacity and some of the topics included cultural humility and daring leadership. She also co-led the design of implicit bias, anti-racism, belonging and well-being tools that supported self-reflection and the evaluation of team and organizational practices and policies and ran a weekly community engagement program open to the Michigan Medicine community. She has also spoken nationally to bolster awareness of DEIB practices that engage the community. Her interests include organizational engagement, leadership development and uplifting voices to build change.

Start Early believes a critical component of advancing racial equity is creating an organization where the presence, voices and ideas of staff and the communities we serve are represented, heard, valued and acted upon. The organization is a proud participant of StriveTogether’s Equitable Recovery Pledge, supporting the development of more just, equitable systems that align resources to youth, families and people of color. In 2017, Start Early staff established an Advancing Racial Equity (A.R.E) Taskforce to promote racial equity internally and externally.

“I’m excited to build on this strong foundation by leveraging my experience in collaboration with our staff, Board members, families and external partners to continue to elevate Start Early as a national leader in centering parent and community voice,” Clarissa shares. “I believe DEIB will continue to be at the forefront of organizational transformation and societal change, particularly during this pivotal time.”

Learn more about Clarissa’s professional journey in her leadership bio. You can also follow her on LinkedIn.

Start Early was recently awarded a 5-year Head Start grant to provide quality early childhood programs and services to more than 2,100 children from birth through age 5 and their families in Chicago. Diana McClarien, vice president of our Early/Head Start Network and Claire Dunham, senior vice president of programs & training recently spoke with the Chicago Tribune and Chalkbeat Chicago about how our new grant will double the number of children and families we serve, as well as increase provider pay and create professional development opportunities for the early childhood workforce.

Start Early is pleased to announce it has been awarded a 5-year grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families Office of Head Start to provide quality early childhood programs and services to more than 2,100 children from birth through age 5 and their families in Chicago.

Start Early will use this award to bring quality early learning and care opportunities to 19 new under-resourced communities in Chicago, doubling the number of young children and families it serves. We will also improve salaries of the early childhood workforce, in each program area, and create career advancement and professional development opportunities, long-standing workforce issues highlighted by the pandemic.

The grant will expand Start Early’s Healthy Parents & Babies doula and home visiting program and work with current partners, SGA Youth Services and Family Focus. It also includes partnerships with four new agencies and organizations: Asian Human Services, El Hogar del Niño, Academy for Global Citizenship and Marillac St. Vincent Family Services.

“We are thrilled to expand our presence here in our hometown and bring new partners and perspectives to our work serving families and communities in need of quality early learning and care,” said Diana Rauner, president of Start Early.

Start Early and each of its partners bring deep community relationships, unique perspectives and strategies to strengthen the early childhood field. Families will have access to a range of program options — center-based, home-based and family child care — each providing a continuum of quality early learning care from birth through age 5 and promoting school readiness. With the addition of two public charter schools to the network, parents and children can engage in a school community for an extended period, with staff participating in professional development across grade levels to support better transitions from one year to the next.

“Working together with our partners and families, the grant offers new opportunities to create seamless experiences for our children and families during the critical early years of their education,” said Claire Dunham, senior vice president of programs and training.

Start Early, as the grantee, will work alongside each partner to provide critical program supports, in key service and system areas, including implementation guidance, training, curricula, screening and assessment tools, data systems, monitoring and research-to-practice continuous quality improvement.

Start Early will also engage leaders, staff, and parents in a robust network of shared learning, innovation, and mutual support and work to identify and advocate for changes to the local, state, and federal policies and systems that impact the families and communities we serve.

Diana McClarien, vice president of the Early/Head Start Network at Start Early will lead the grant. Diana brings over 20 years of experience in early childhood serving as a family advocate, teacher, home visitor, education coordinator, program manager and grantee director.

About Start Early

Start Early (formerly known as the Ounce of Prevention) is a nonprofit public-private partnership advancing quality early learning and care for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to help close the opportunity gap. For nearly 40 years, Start Early has delivered best-in-class doula, home visiting, and Early Head Start and Head Start programs. Bringing expertise in program delivery, research and evaluation, professional development, and policy and advocacy, Start Early works in partnership with communities and other experts to drive systemic change so millions more children, families and educators can thrive. 

Millions of children will enter kindergarten this fall having never experienced the routines of preschool because of the pandemic. Many will likely have trouble following directions, playing cooperatively, and self-regulating through the stresses of new group settings with strangers. Quite a few will have developmental disabilities that were not identified or treated during the pandemic lockdown, which will make them even more likely to act out. Without intervention, past research tells us we can expect far more suspensions, expulsions and referrals to special education for behavioral challenges — especially for Black boys, Latino boys and Black girls, whom research has shown are far more likely to be identified as behavior problems by teachers than white children.

In a commentary in the Chicago Tribune, Start Early president Diana Rauner writes about how an entire cohort of children, disproportionately low-income children of color, are at risk of exclusion from the opportunities of education because of the circumstances of the past year and a half. It’s on all of us, the adults in these children’s lives, to help to ensure they are not unfairly stigmatized because of events beyond their control.

For me, Juneteenth represents a day of connection past, present and future — all existing in one day. I think of my grandparents who were part of the Great Migration from the South in the early 50s. They left Mississippi with seven children, in hopes of finding a better life and future for their family. Conditions of economic hardship, segregation and discrimination in the South had made it necessary to seek out better and safer places to live. I stand in the present thinking of all the opportunities that have been afforded to me through the blood, sweat and sacrifices of all the people who came before me and have fought for the rights and privileges I have. I look to my son, as the future, in hopes his generation will be the first to completely dismantle systems of injustice. Juneteenth is a day of hope, where the worries of yesterday are gone, and the burden of tomorrow has not quite come. It is the moment in time where the impossible suddenly feels possible.

On June 19, 1865, Union Gen. Gordon Granger and 2,000 Union Troops arrived in Galveston, Texas issued an order officially freeing the slaves. I know you might think, “Wasn’t the Emancipation Proclamation signed in 1863?” Yes, it was, but unfortunately people who lived in more remote areas still lived as they were enslaved. After slavery ended, African Americans were inspired and empowered to transform their lives and their country. Juneteenth is about capturing this hope and renewing the energy of all the work that has been done and still needs to happen in this country. Juneteenth is U.S. history.

There are so many ways to celebrate and honor Juneteenth. Here are a few ways we all can get involved:

• Learn more about black history and Juneteenth. Read a book, watch a movie, listen to a podcast, listen to the Emancipation Proclamation on YouTube. Take time to learn more about the stories and experiences of black people in the U.S.
• Celebrate cook a big meal, have a barbecue, attend an event in your area or online.
• Shop support black-owned businesses or black causes.
• Connect with family, friends, people in your community this day is all about coming together.

When one story stops, another begins. While we all know that the end of slavery gave way to new atrocities and injustices for black people across the U.S., Juneteenth is an opportunity to take pride in how far we’ve come and recommit ourselves to the ongoing fight to end racial injustices.

Here are some virtual and in-person events that you can check out:

Virtual Events (all times Central)

Looking Ahead to Juneteenth: Centering Black Parents Voices in the Age of COVID-19 and Racial Reckoning, Thursday, June 17, 12 p.m.

Inaugural Juneteenth Reading Circle: Richard Wright Thursday, June 17, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

Virtual Juneteenth Celebration Eiteljorg Museum 

The Amistad Center for Art & Culture 30th Annual Juneteenth Celebration Saturday, June 19, 5:30 p.m. 

Step Afrika! Juneteenth Virtual Celebration Saturday, June 19, 7 p.m. 

A Juneteenth Commemoration Featuring Annette Gordon-Reed Saturday, June 19, 2 p.m. 

In-Person Events (Chicago Area)

Juneteenth Black to Life Celebration Saturday, June 19, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Location: Behind Museum of Science and Industry 

Juneteenth Ride Saturday, June 19, 12– 2:30 p.m., Wintrust Arena 

Juneteenth at Sculpture Park Saturday, June 19, 1– 4 p.m., Location Sculpture Park, Governors State University, University Park, IL (Limited Capacity – please visit link and RSVP if planning to attend) 

2nd Annual Rich Auntie Energy Juneteenth Bonfire Saturday, June 19, 6 p.m. – Midnight, Central, Promontory Point, Hyde Park 

Homewood-Flossmoor Juneteenth Festival Saturday, June 19, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Homewood-Flossmoor High School 

Start Early is pleased to announce Diana Sands, former Boeing executive and Start Early Board member of 11 years, has been appointed to lead its Board of Directors. Diana retired from the Boeing Company in 2020, where she was an executive officer and oversaw a diverse team including ethics & investigations, compliance risk management, corporate audit, security, and internal services.

“I’m honored to take on this role at such an exciting time for Start Early and a pivotal time for early learning more broadly,” Diana Sands shares. “Coming out of the pandemic and with the massive influx of federal spending, we have an unprecedented opportunity to transform early childhood and create a world where families are supported and prioritized when it matters most.”

Diana’s commitment to helping all children and families access quality early education began with her parents, who immigrated to the U.S. to attend graduate school. From her earliest years, her parents strove to provide Diana and her brother with a good education. As she has learned more about how children, families and communities benefit from quality early learning and care, her passion for the issue has only increased.

Diana succeeds outgoing Board Chair Curt Bailey, president of Related Midwest, who served from 2017-2021. Under Curt’s leadership, Start Early advanced its ambitious strategic plan to connect the early childhood field and build cohesion with colleagues and thought partners on a national scale. During his tenure the organization experienced significant growth and transformation, including our expansion to Washington State and our recent merger with the Early Learning Lab, as well as our successful rebrand from the Ounce of Prevention Fund.

“Diana is a distinguished professional and leader who brings a true passion for our youngest learners and their families,” says Diana Rauner, president of Start Early. “Start Early has always been fortunate to have the right leadership at the right time. We are grateful for Curt’s passion and vision, which has helped transform and grow our organization. As we move forward under Diana’s leadership, we are poised to continue to expand our reach and our impact in the coming years.”

Start Early’s Board of Directors is comprised of 30 champions for early learning who each bring a diverse range of experience and backgrounds together to ensure we’re taking an innovative and thoughtful approach to our work.

The Illinois General Assembly approved the state’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget (FY 2022) plan over the holiday weekend. We expect Governor J.B. Pritzker will sign the package into law in the coming days.

We are disappointed that the final budget reduces state funding for some early childhood programs and maintains existing funding levels for others.

Earlier this year, the Illinois Commission on Equitable Funding for Early Childhood Education and Care released its comprehensive report on the future of early childhood in Illinois. The Commission urged the State to “seize this moment to reimagine and adequately invest” in our early care and education system. Specifically, the Commission found that a fully funded system will require an annual public investment of no less than $12.4 billion, of which current funding represents just 14%. The report made clear that state investments must match our belief that quality early care and education is critical to our state’s economy and future well-being of our children.

Cuts and level-funding will not get us to where we need to go. While the federal government has provided important short-term funding as a stopgap to deal with the pandemic and its aftermath, the state has a critical role to play to ensure the health and sustainability of our early care and education system. And current funding falls far short of what is needed to provide the early learning system we need to support communities, families, educators and providers.

State funding in the FY 2022 budget (SB2800) includes:

• Level-funding for the Early Childhood Block Grant at the Illinois State Board of Education
• Level-funding for evidence-based home visiting programs through Healthy Families and Parents Too Soon at the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS)
• A $7 million (6%) cut in state funding for the Early Intervention program at IDHS
• A $20 million (4.6%) cut in state funding for the Child Care Assistance Program at IDHS

While the budget includes an important increase of $350 million in state funding for schools, this is the first year since 2014 in which the General Assembly increased its K-12 investment without approving a related investment in its state early childhood program. This is also the first time since Fiscal Year 2013 that state funding to the Early Intervention program has been cut by the legislature.

Start Early and its partners have strongly advocated all year for the need to increase compensation for the early childhood professionals working for community-based organizations. There is more work to be done.

We are pleased, however, that the plan provides the administration the authority to spend significant short-term federal resources on the early care and education system. The General Assembly did increase the appropriation authority for several early childhood programs to allow for the spending of significant American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars:

• $1.3 billion in child care funding to be spent over the current and upcoming fiscal years. While we expect to see more details emerge in the coming weeks on the proposed use of these funds, there have been commitments made to increase provider reimbursement rates, to stabilize further the provider network during COVID-19 recovery, and to work to attract more families back into the program.
  • $110 million from federal child care dollars will be directed to the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to support a package of early childhood workforce items recommended by the IBHE Early Childhood Transformation Group, including financial supports to students.
• Increased appropriation authority for anticipated Early Intervention and Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting ARPA funds. More details on use of those funds are also expected.

Several other important early childhood bills have been approved by the legislature, including:

• HB158 (Lilly, Hunter) – known as the Health Care and Human Services Reform Act (PA 102-4), a new law that, among other provisions, expands the state Medicaid program to cover home visiting and doula services
• HB3308 (Jones, Harris) – a bill that preserves the use of telehealth services and authorizes full payment parity for services covered by private insurance, including those offered in the Early Intervention program
• HB2878 (Stuart, Pacione-Zayas) – a bill to authorize further articulation for Associate of Applied Science early childhood students and to improve access to associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees and certificates, Gateways credentials and other licensure endorsements
• HB3620 (Collins, Pacione-Zayas) – a bill that codifies into state law the current income eligibility threshold (200% FPL) for the Child Care Assistance Program
• SB267 (Villanueva, Guzzardi) – a bill that, through improved data collection, helps colleges and universities better understand student parents and how to help them
• SB820 (Lightford, Ammons) and SB2088 (Belt, Davis) – two bills that makes technical changes to the Education and Workforce Equity Act, including the establishment of a new effective date (January 2022) for the law allowing children turning 3-years-old over the summer to remain in the Early Intervention program until the next school year, as well as the updating of the membership of the KIDS Advisory Committee
• SB2017 (Harmon, Harris) – the FY 2022 Budget Implementation bill, which includes language that reduces the matching requirements for Early Childhood Construction Grant applicants based on the Evidence-based Funding tier area in which their programs are located.