Kids are Priority One Coalition: Make Your Voice Heard!
Kim Friedman
Organizing Director, Kids are Priority One Coalition
The Kids Are Priority One Coalition was established in 2000 to create an effective statewide network of well-trained advocates committed to advancing specific policy recommendations that help ensure every child in Vermont gets a good start. This highly collaborative coalition is led and staffed by six Vermont-based non-profit organizations:
Mama Says
Parent to Parent of Vermont
Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children
Vermont Child Care Industry and Careers Council
Voices for Vermont’s Children
Windham Child Care Association
These lead organizations work with numerous groups and individuals around the state to advocate together for changes in public policy that will improve the lives of Vermont’s young children and their families.
Last June, the Kids Are Priority One Coalition worked hand in hand with the Child Care Fund of Vermont (which has since closed its doors) to win passage of Act 62, which permits schools to contract with community-based early care and education programs that meet the quality standards envisioned in the legislation. This infusion of public education dollars into Vermont’s early childhood system has been a real boon for families and providers.
Last October, the Coalition launched its child care subsidy campaign. This decision was driven by our belief that every child in Vermont should have an equal opportunity for healthy development. Children in early care and education programs need high-quality early learning experiences in order to thrive. We know from scientific research that early experiences affect the emerging architecture of a child’s brain. Ensuring a strong foundation today sets the stage for children to become the productive citizens, parents, and community leaders Vermont needs for a prosperous tomorrow.
Changing demographics and the reality of Vermont’s economy make child care an economic imperative for both parents and employers. Approximately 70% of children in Vermont are in out-of-home care during the workweek. Our society has shifted to one where families have multiple jobs and many single parents are the sole supporter of their children. Having one parent at home with the children is the exception. Furthermore, low-wage jobs in the service and retail industries are a growing part of Vermont’s economy. Low wages make it difficult for children of low- and moderate-income families to have access to quality early learning experiences.
Vermont’s Child Care Subsidy Program, which is funded through a combination of federal and state dollars, is an important strategy for increasing access to affordable, quality child care for children birth through age thirteen from low- and moderate-income families.
Over the next several years, we will need to work together to win legislative approval of the approximately $18 million needed in state funds to bring the program’s eligibility guidelines to current levels and subsidy rates to the 75th percentile (the federally-recommended level). By fully funding the subsidy program, we will:
- Contribute to children’s healthy development by increasing children’s access to regulated early care and education, which is generally of higher quality care than unregulated care;
- Increase parents’ access to more early care and education programs (when subsidy rates more closely reflect actual costs, more programs are likely to accept children who receive a tuition assistance);
- Prevent cost-shifting to parents not receiving a child care subsidy from the state, which currently occurs in an attempt to make up the difference between subsidy rates and actual costs;
- Guard against the current trend whereby providers absorb the difference between the subsidy rate and what parents can pay, thus putting added pressure on an industry so crucial to our workforce and employers.
- Make a significant economic investment in Vermont. “If properly funded and managed, investment in ECD [early childhood development] yields an extraordinary return, far exceeding the return on most investments, private or public” (Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald, “Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return,” fedgazette, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, January 2003, p. 3).
Will you join us in this effort? Here are some ways to get involved:
- Check out our web site.
- Join the Kids Are Priority One e-network to stay up-to-date on statewide and regional advocacy activities.
- Join other Kids Are Priority One activists in meetings with legislators about the subsidy issue.
- Be part of making a decision about holding a Virtual Strike in Vermont, similar to the one held in New Hampshire in 2001.
- Write an article for the Vermont School Boards Association newsletter about early care and education as it impacts public school administrators, school boards, and teachers.
- Submit a letter to the editor to your local newspaper about the need to fully fund the subsidy program.
For more information and to get involved, contact Kim Friedman, Kids Are Priority One’s Organizing Director, at (802) 348-9879 or via email. We look forward to hearing from you!
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