The Alliance for Early Success is a 50-state resource for early-childhood advocates as they pursue the big, sustained impact that will ensure every child in every state, birth through age eight, has an equal chance to grow, learn, and succeed.
Advocates in Denver, Colorado recently asked their peers if any states, cities, or counties have included child care educators who are paid through state or federal funds such as Head Start, child care subsidies, or local pre-K—in state or municipal employee health care pools. The Alliance Listserv community jumped in to share a variety of resource.
West Virginia passed a sweeping child care package this spring, and it was not an opportunistic bill that was introduced spontaneously. The legislation was the product of years of relationship-building, two close calls, a strategic retreat held in October 2025, a contracted lobbyist who knew which doors to knock on, and thousands of West Virginians who picked up the phone or typed a message to their legislators and their governor.
Vermont’s educator-led effort to license early childhood education could create clearer career pathways, stronger standards, and greater professional recognition.
Advocates at Children Now believe families of children with special health needs should have a say in the policies that affect their kids. That belief drove the creation of the Caregiver Advocacy Circle, an organizing hub created by and for caregivers of children with special health care needs, designed to provide resources, advocacy support, and policy mentoring to caregivers and to fill a critical gap in the advocacy ecosystem.
Our Native Communities Learning Project has explored Native histories, community systems, and meaningful collaboration. In this final interactive session, we move beyond theory and into application. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own work, learn from one another’s experiences, and identify practical strategies they can bring back to their organizations and communities.
Nevada’s SB 165 creates the nation’s first child mental health credential, funding training programs and Medicaid coverage to fight youth crises early. More than two years before SB 165 was introduced, the Children’s Advocacy Alliance of Nevada (CAA) began the process of gathering providers, families, youth, and elected officials to talk honestly about what was happening on the ground.
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.
This webinar explored what it truly means to move beyond performative partnership and toward accountable relationship-building with Native Nations and communities. While many organizations and systems express a desire to support Native children and families, genuine collaboration requires shifting power, centering Tribal leadership, and rethinking how decisions are made within early childhood systems.
Alaska Children’s Trust is rethinking how advocacy happens. Since beginning in 2023, a microgranting strategy is redefining who gets to participate in advocacy and is helping to build the collective power necessary to elevate children and family issues across the state.
Colorado has become the first-in-the-nation to expanded its paid family and medical leave program to include paid NICU-specific leave. The benefit became available in January of 2026.
