When state funding passed for Oklahoma’s Teacher Recruitment & Retention Program (TRR) in 2025, the program became one of the first in the nation to appropriate a budget for free child care benefits to eligible employees working in licensed child care facilities. Advocates say it’s a big step in directly addressing the recruitment and retention crisis that has long destabilized Oklahoma’s child care workforce.
But they will also tell you getting here wasn’t easy.
The legislation failed its first session. The following year, the governor vetoed the bill, but the Oklahoma state legislature did something remarkable and overrode the veto—on the final day of the legislative session, when timing was critical and urgent. This milestone was made possible by bipartisan advocacy built on shared values—and a loud, focused voice that kept the issue front and center for legislators.
Oklahoma has historically underinvested in its child care system. Its child care subsidy rates do not cover the full cost of care, leaving providers operating in the red. The market cannot absorb the gap, placing providers in an unsustainable position while families struggle to afford the care they need. Early educators earn, on average, less than $12 an hour, fueling high turnover and persistent staffing shortages. These structural challenges have contributed to a deepening crisis. Roughly 55 percent of Oklahomans live in child care deserts, and in rural parts of the state, that figure climbs to 68 percent.
The Teacher Recruitment & Retention Program is designed to break that cycle. By providing free child care to eligible employees working in licensed facilities, the program offers meaningful financial relief to those already in the field while creating a tangible new incentive to attract others to it. The roots of the program date back to March of 2021, when Oklahoma became the first state in the nation to pilot a categorical eligibility program for child care providers, offering free child care to the children of workers employed at licensed child care facilities, through funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The pilot ran from 2021 to 2024.
When pandemic-era federal funds began to wind down, advocates at the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness (OPSR), the Alliance’s lead Oklahoma ally, went to work making the case for a permanent program. OPSR partnered with a legislative champion to introduce a bill establishing categorical eligibility in statute and preserving the program as a long-term workforce benefit, both to reduce barriers for child care professionals and recognize their essential service to the state.
Although the bill did not pass that year, advocates returned in 2025 with strong support from House leadership. When a budget crisis stalled progress in the Senate, House leaders elevated the proposal through Oklahoma’s Joint Committee on Appropriations process—an uncommon pathway typically reserved for executive agency requests and state budget proposals—underscoring the priority lawmakers placed on the measure. House Bill 2778 was ultimately approved by the legislature but vetoed by the governor. The setback did not last long. Lawmakers, unwilling to abandon the program, voted to override the veto on the final day of the legislative session. It was a rare outcome for any bill, and an extraordinary one for child care legislation.
Advocates credit much of the bill’s success, and its broad appeal across the aisle, to a new emphasis on the workforce and economic impact of child care—a significant concern on both sides of the aisle. “Workforce, workforce, workforce became a rallying cry,” says Jon Trudgeon, Director of Communications at OPSR. “We were able to shift and pivot the discussion to the economic issue, and that seemed to really change the narrative at the Capitol.” That shift is even reflected in the bill’s title, “Workforce Recruitment and Retention,” a deliberate signal that child care access drives labor force participation.
That reframing was paired with a relentless ground game.
Inside the statehouse, Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, the bill’s Democratic legislative champion, worked closely with the Republican supermajority. OPSR sustained dialogues with four key Republican legislators, including the deputy leader, who helped guide the program through Health and Human Services oversight. OPSR also worked directly with both the deputy speaker and budget chairman, who championed its advancement through the Joint Committee on Appropriations process.
Outside the Capitol, advocates, families, and educators made their voices heard. Advocates were present at the legislature weekly during the session, and they encouraged lawmakers to visit child care facilities in their own districts. Through one large Advocacy Day, OPSR and its partners brought roughly 250 early childhood advocates to the Capitol, making statewide demand for child care investment visible and impossible to ignore. Then, on the final two days of session—when the push to get HB 2778 across the finish line was most urgent—OPSR brought back a core group of roughly 10 trusted advocates whose tailored messaging and established relationships with legislators proved essential.
Providers and educators showed up at legislative offices, wrote op-eds, and engaged constituents directly, keeping the program front and center through every obstacle. In the final weeks of negotiation, they took on an especially hands-on role, engaging directly with legislators and tracking support vote by vote. “They were literally going into offices with a sheet and counting up their tallies, working to make sure we had not just a passing majority, but a veto-proof majority, which it turned out to be,” Trudgeon says.
Trudgeon also credits the Alliance network as a valuable resource throughout the process. Connections with other states, particularly Kentucky, where a similar state-funded model had already gained traction, gave OPSR a practical roadmap for what worked and how to navigate implementation challenges. The Alliance’s Right for Kids Coalition provided additional support, helping sharpen the messaging around child care as workforce and economic infrastructure that proved so central to moving the bill forward.
Since launching in November 2025, the program has enrolled over 630 providers and more than 1,000 child care professionals, covering the cost of care for nearly 1,400 children and awarding more than $2.3 million in benefits. OPSR did not wait for the official launch date to start helping workers. The program allowed applicants to apply for benefits retroactively to July 1, 2025 since the legislative session ended last May, meaning child care professionals were issued refunds or credits for care they paid out of pocket.
“We think we put money back into the pockets of some of these families, as well as not just paying for their child care moving forward,” says Trudgeon. “It’s been a really rewarding experience. Of course, like with any new pilot program, there are always challenges, but we’re working through those, and we feel strong about the future of the program.”
While it is still too early for formal data, given how new the program is, the early signals are encouraging and stories from on the ground are exactly what advocates hoped for. “We have had several people say, ‘I was leaving the child care field, I couldn’t afford to do it anymore, yet this program allowed me to do what I love,’” Trudgeon says. Providers are reporting similar wins on the recruitment side, now having something concrete and meaningful to offer prospective employees.
The passage of HB 2778 marks the first time Oklahoma has committed state dollars to its child care system beyond the minimum required to draw down federal funds. It is a significant shift toward sustained public investment in a system that has long been left to fend for itself. While this is an important milestone, advocates are clear that it is only the first step.
The Teacher Recruitment and Retention Program was initially launched using federal funding secured through Oklahoma’s Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5). As those grant funds approached expiration in the spring of 2026, OPSR worked with lawmakers and state partners to secure continued funding for the program. As a result, OPSR successfully obtained a special state appropriation to cover program costs during the transition months of April, May, and June until the start of the new fiscal year.
In addition, OPSR secured $4.5 million in new state funding for the TRR Program in the FY 2027 budget. These state funds will be complemented by an additional $4.5 million in federal funding that OPSR secured through the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) initiative, providing a total of $9 million to support the program moving forward.
For advocates in other states watching Oklahoma’s path, Trudgeon’s advice is straightforward. “Don’t give up. Keep advocating, keep pushing, and keep fighting,” he says. “Child care is much bigger than just supporting families, it’s also supporting the entire economy of the state…Put those two together and you can create a powerful movement.”