Kids Win Missouri is a non-partisan, statewide coalition comprised of more than 100 members, representing child well-being, early childhood development, education, health, child safety and family economic security. They work to advance policies that support the well-being of Missouri children through education, collaboration, and advocacy.
State Allies:
Expand access to voluntary, effective home visiting programs and services for families from prenatal to age 5.
Protect state funding for early childhood programs and services.
Develop a statewide “North Star” policy agenda that builds a stronger early childhood system in Missouri and increases access to high quality, equitable, and sustainable early care and education.
$10.10B STATE BUDGET
Estimated FY20 State General Fund Expenditures
ALIGNED GOVERNMENT
House (R), Senate (R) Governor (R)
42% LOW-INCOME
279,247 Young Children (0-8) are Below 200% FPL
The COVID-19 pandemic shortened the time of the legislative session by about 30 percent, and its economic impact forced legislators to drastically change the proposed FY2021 budget. Within three weeks, budget leaders cut approximately $700 million from traditional revenue sources utilizing the budget proposed by Governor Parson in January as a baseline. The ally’s work during the session was a combination of defense and promoting relief for early learning stakeholders.
*Early childhood policy progress in a state is the result of numerous efforts — by those listed on this page and many others — who worked both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.
Missouri’s governor has announced the formation of the Office of Childhood, and advocates around the state celebrated the move as a monumental step towards creating a comprehensive vision and program alignment of Missouri’s early childhood system.
From 2012-2016, Missouri was the only state in the country to ban quality rating systems for early childhood providers. Alliance partner Kids Win Missouri catalogs the two years of progress since the state legislature lifted the ban — and how the state is finally righting the course in early childhood policy.
The Alliance for Early Success 2020 50-State Progress Report on Early Childhood Policy expands state data (disaggregating low-income young children by race) and provides high-level state policy trend analysis for the nation as a whole. Click the icon to download the report.
State Budget Data: National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), “Table 4: Fiscal 2020 State General Fund, Estimated (Millions); The Fiscal Survey of the States.” Spring, 2020
Low-Income Data (including disaggregation by race): National Center for Children in Poverty, “NCCP Analysis of ACS 1-year Estimates—Public Use Microdata Sample, 2019.”
State Action Data: Provided by state advocates, October-November 2020, with analysis and synthesis by Frontera Strategy for Alliance for Early Success, “Protecting Progress and Investing in Scale: The 2020 50-State Progress Report on Early Childhood Education Policy.”
Additional State Actions: Mincic, Melissa, Early Care and Education, State Budget Actions, Fiscal Year 2020. National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), October 2020.
Strategic, Outcomes-Focused Investments
Consulting and Strategy
Technical Support from National Expertise
Rapid Response Support
Connections/Access to Allies in Similar States
Roles in National Communities of Practice
