Recent State Policy Advances
Expanded investment. Restructured agencies. New caucuses, committees, and coalitions. Read about all the ways our allies on the front lines are making their state a better place for each and every child to reach their full potential.
State By State:
In Michigan, Early Childhood Champions Across the Aisle Are Advancing Cash Assistance for Families
Rx Kids, the nation’s first citywide cash assistance program for families, started in Flint and is spreading across Michigan. Proponents across the political spectrum agree the program gives parents choices, builds trust, reduces stigma, and eliminates administrative barriers.
Alliance West Virginia Grantee Providing Stipends to Community Organizations
TEAM for West Virginia Children is offering the community advocacy stipends to help partner organizations keep up the pressure and urge legislators to support funding for child care and other early childhood policies. Hundreds of community members and more than 50 policymakers have already participated in local events supported by the community stipends.
Four States Showcase the Power and Impact of Engaging Families and Valuing Their Stories
Statewide engagement is vital to building a strong early childhood infrastructure that is responsive to families’ diverse needs and where educators are recognized and supported. Advocates who want to see what this looks like in practice need look no further than North Carolina, Florida, Missouri, and Louisiana—where coalitions and organizations are transforming new statewide learning and relationships into tangible plans.
Tennessee Advocates Leverage Alliance Network to Launch Powerful New Dashboard
Alliance for Early Success convenings, connections, and community fueled the Bright Start Tennessee Dashboard–Tennessee advocates’ new, highly tailored early childhood data portal. Now that each of the Bright Start regions has access to the regularly updated dashboard, they’re better equipped to measure progress and champion state policies with regional and local data.
Work Continues to Include Family Child Care Providers in Public Pre-K Systems
In an effort to extend the reach of publicly funded pre-k programs, policymakers and advocates are turning toward a strategy of increasing pre-K enrollment spots beyond school and center-based classrooms, such as in family child care homes. A new national initiative aims to help family child care providers in Alabama, Michigan, Nevada, and North Carolina integrate into publicly funded pre-k programs.
Nebraska Advocates Use Innovative Financing and Engagement to Expand Home Visiting
After working with Alliance Responsive Support providers at the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, advocates uncovered a new funding stream for home visiting, which ultimately nearly doubled the state’s available home visiting funds.
Years of Advocacy and Coalition Building Are Fueling a Bold Child Poverty Approach in New York
New York is one of the wealthiest states in the nation, yet nearly one in five children lives in poverty. But recent legislative wins have brought New York closer than ever to solving it. The landmark Child Poverty Reduction Act established the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council (CPRAC), whose recommendations are coming to life and bringing the state closer to its goal of cutting child poverty in half in ten years.
Oregon Coalition Successfully Pressures Legislature to Reverse Position
Advocates are celebrating the state legislature’s reinvestment in Oregon’s Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) subsidy program, a successful program that has been a difference-maker for Oregon families for years.
Maryland Pilot Program to Expand Family Child Care Showing Results
A pilot program in Maryland aimed at reversing the family child care decline, Growing Opportunities for Family Child Care (GOFCC), has seen promising results so far. As of November 2024, the program has facilitated the opening of more than 100 programs across the state and has increased the number of family child care slots available to children by more than 1200.
Advocates in Wyoming Tap Shared Values to Win New Funding for Developmental Preschools
Child care advocates in Wyoming are celebrating a major legislative victory. After years of setbacks, the state secured the most funding for developmental preschools in over a decade. The passage of SF 19 marks a significant shift. The Wyoming Women’s Foundation, who advocated for the bill’s passage, credits a new messaging approach and strategy to its success.
Years of Constituency Building in Vermont Continue to Pay Off as Legislature Rejects Governor’s Child Care Cuts
Vermont became a national model with the passage of Act 76 in June 2023, which resulted in an annual commitment of about $125 million to the state’s child care system. The win—and a 2024 defense of the funding—was the result of a broad and strong constituency for child care cultivated over a decade by advocates.
To Learn How to Best Advance Equity in Child Care, Wisconsin Advocates Ask Practitioners
It is no secret that early childhood educators face challenges in Wisconsin and beyond, and yet plans to make the system more equitable are often missing the voices of these practitioners themselves. In Wisconsin, a new study that centers the voices of Wisconsin early educators from traditionally marginalized groups is already having an impact on policy in the state.
