Stinson Liles, Author at Alliance for Early Success

Alliance for Early Success Early Childhood State Policy Advocacy

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.

Montana’s Push to Improve Early Education Includes a Partnership to Protect Tribal Languages

October 9, 2023

Zero to Five Montana is improving early education by helping to protect the languages of the state’s 12 Native American tribes. It’s an effort to enrich children, support early educators, and draw on the experience and expertise of the larger community. Young children experience a better understanding of their own cultural identity when they can learn their tribal language, and this cultural knowledge helps heal some aspects of generational trauma that many indigenous families live with.

Alliance Webinar on Maternal Mental Health

October 5, 2023

In this webinar, the Alliance and RH Impact (formerly the National Birth Equity Collaborative) dive into the issue of maternal mental health and explore how states and communities can provide stronger and more equitable support to expecting and new parents.

Alliance Webinar on Supporting the Perinatal Workforce in Policy and Practice

September 13, 2023

The perinatal workforce plays an indispensable role in ensuring the well-being and survival of pregnant people and their babies throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. However, systemic issues and social disparities continue to persist, leaving many birthing people, particularly Black and Indigenous communities, without access to the quality maternal health care they deserve. The Alliance and co-host Black Mamas Matter Alliance will explore strategies to better equip, support and advance the Black maternal, reproductive, and perinatal workforce.

Nisha G. Patel Joins Alliance for Early Success Board of Directors

September 4, 2023

The Alliance for Early Success (the Alliance) announced today Nisha G. Patel has joined the organization’s Board of Directors. Patel is a well-known national voice on social and economic mobility and philanthropy in the United States and will bring her deep expertise in supporting thriving families to the organization’s governance.