Stinson Liles, Author at Alliance for Early Success

Alliance for Early Success Early Childhood State Policy Advocacy

Serv and Return: Tools for Communicating the Broken Economics of Child Care

February 2, 2024

In January, an advocate from Texas put out a request for good resources for educating lawmakers about the child care system. Both state and national allies were quick to respond with a variety of tools that help explain the costs of child care businesses, the impact the system has on the economy, and strategies advocates can use to push for a substantial public investment in the system.

Aaliyah Roulhac Joins Alliance for Early Success as First-Ever Community and Network Associate

January 16, 2024

The Alliance for Early Success announced today that Aaliyah Roulhac will become the organization’s first Community and Network Associate. The Alliance is a national nonprofit that advances strong early childhood policy in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by supporting state advocates with strategic investment and powerful peer engagement. Roulhac will support the Alliance’s community-building mission by working to strengthen relationships across state lines, and to accelerate progress by documenting successes and challenges.

Alliance for Early Success and ZERO TO THREE Launch a New Community of Practice on Trauma-Informed Approaches to Engaging Family Advocates

January 16, 2024

In partnership with the Alliance for Early Success, ZERO TO THREE (ZTT) has launched a new community of practice on trauma-informed approaches to engaging family advocates to support state advocates as they continue strengthening their engagement with families to better inform their understanding of the hardships families face, co-design policy solutions and advocacy priorities to address those hardships, and support families to build their own leadership capacity.

California, Connecticut, and Oklahoma Among the States Taking Action to Support Family Child Care Providers

December 13, 2023

Family child care providers typically must navigate an incoherent and often conflicting set of regulations, as well as frequent opposition from landlords, homeowners associations, and condo associations. The good news is that states across the political spectrum are beginning to take action to address these difficulties.

New Child Care Roadmap Shows States Are Transforming Child Care While Advocating for New Federal Investments

November 29, 2023

In our new report, Child Care Policy Roadmap 2023, we highlight policies enacted in states – red, blue, and purple – that serve as building blocks for a transformative child care system. It builds on a policy roadmap released several years ago that laid out the major areas of work that all states need to take on to transform our child care system. It turns out that the ideas included in that report were not pipe dreams, and many states have put them into action.

Marijuana Tax Is Now a $5 Million Win for Alaska Child Care and Early Education

November 9, 2023

Anchorage, Alaska will soon benefit from an additional five to six million dollars per year in funds for child care and early education thanks to voter approval of Proposition 14 in April, also known as the “Care for Kids” measure. The five percent sales tax on marijuana purchases has existed for years, but the funds will now be used for the benefit of young children and their families rather than going into the city’s general fund.

Kentucky “Fragile Ecosystem” Report Helps Advocates Win Child Care Stabilization Funds

November 1, 2023

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prichard Committee and a team of statewide partners released data capturing the pandemic’s impact on Kentucky’s child care sector. The latest report on the survey results, “Fragile Ecosystem IV: “Will Kentucky Child Care Survive When The Dollars Run Out?,” played a big role in spurring the state to commit additional stabilization funding to the sector.

Minnesota Early Childhood Policy Advocacy

Minnesota “Coalition of Coalitions” Turns Years of Work into a String of Big Wins for Children and Families

October 31, 2023

From a new nation-leading child tax credit that will cut child poverty by a third, to $1.3 billion for expansion of mixed-delivery child care, to continuous medicaid coverage for children to age 6, to a long list of other wins for young children and their families, there were almost too many advancements to count in the 2023 legislative session. The secret to all these wins? A long-standing “of coalition of coalitions” in the state the centers communication, equity, cooperation, and authentic power sharing.

Idaho Providers Get Loud to Reverse Child Care ARPA Funding Cuts

October 27, 2023

When Idaho’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to strip away $36 million in ARPA funds and another $43 million in additional federal dollars, child care providers panicked, then organized, and then made their voices heard. The committee restored the funding, and the issue of child care is much more visible going into the 2024 legislative session.

West Virginia Advocates Develop a New Tool for Analyzing and Communicating the State’s Child Care Needs

October 13, 2023

TEAM for West Virginia Children, the West Virginia Association for Young Children and Child Care Aware of America have rolled out a new West Virginia child care dashboard — an interactive map illustrating the gap between child care supply and demand. The tool is already proving effective for communicating the issue to policymakers and broader community.

Stinson Liles