Child Care Workforce Archives - Alliance for Early Success

Alliance for Early Success Early Childhood State Policy Advocacy

New Alliance 50-State Report Shows Progress and Power Building at State Level in 2024

January 27, 2025

Each year, the Alliance for Early Success surveys early childhood policy advocates representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia to create its annual 50-State Early Childhood Policy Progress and Landscape Report. The 2024 report, released in January, shows that support for state early childhood policies and funding continued to be strong, with policymakers from every region and political landscape acting to improve their early childhood policies.

Advocates Gather in Washington State to Discuss the Voice of Educators in ECE Advocacy

December 10, 2024

We talk about centering lived experience and sharing power, but what does that look like in action? The Alliance for Early Success hosted a convening on November 13-14 in Seattle, Washington that showcased how advocates from Child Care Aware of Washington (CCA) “flipped the script” by facilitating a process that puts early childhood educators in the decision-making role.

To Learn How to Best Advance Equity in Child Care, Wisconsin Advocates Ask Practitioners

October 21, 2024

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.

Alliance Grantees Huddle to Discuss the Rising Cost of Liability Insurance

October 9, 2024

State allies in the Alliance for Early Success network recently gathered to discuss the challenges the family child care workforce is facing. The group focused on two growing challenges: the rising cost of liability insurance and the availability of coverage. Allies were joined by NAEYC who shared findings based on recent surveys conducted with child care providers.

In DC and Louisiana, Advocates Unite to Avoid Damaging Funding Cuts

September 12, 2024

In lean budget times, successful advocacy can often take the shape of avoiding deep cuts or even planned eliminations to vital programs. This year, early childhood advocates in the District of Columbia and Louisiana leveraged grassroots voices and strategic messaging to defend investments in child care programs.

In Effort to Entice Child Care Staff, More States Follow Kentucky’s Lead

April 2, 2024

While Kentucky was the first state to make child care staff automatically eligible for subsidies, about a dozen states have followed the lead of the Bluegrass State and either implemented a similar policy or are actively considering it. It is estimated that about 234,300 child care workers with children under the age of six and 294,000 children would benefit from the Kentucky model if all 50 states plus D.C. implemented a similar policy.

Serv and Return:
Providers Using Child Care Subsidies to Care for Their Own Children

February 16, 2024

A few weeks ago, the Alliance network responded to a question from a peer in peer in Nebraska on regulations covering caring for one’s own children through CCDGB assistance programs. Advocates from across the country responded with the latest guidance.

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.

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.