The Alliance for Early Success is a 50-state resource for early-childhood advocates as they pursue the big, sustained impact that will ensure every child in every state, birth through age eight, has an equal chance to grow, learn, and succeed.
Successful advocacy helped Missouri buck a trend among many Republican governors who opted not to participate the federal Summer EBT program—and helped ensure that children who would have otherwise received food benefits through schools or child care programs continue to receive nutritious meals.
EDITORIAL Alliance Executive Director Helene Stebbins shares the findings of the Convergence Collaborative on Supports for Working Families—a cross-partisan group of 32 leaders representing different political, ideological, and industry perspectives. Their final report, In This Together: A Cross-Partisan Action Plan to Support Families with Young Children in America, is a blueprint for consensus action.
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.
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.
Information about availability, eligibility, and applying for publicly funded state services is often time-consuming to find, and antiquated systems are difficult to navigate. A new federal executive order, however, might just change that with a simple notion: requiring state governments to treat families like customers. Join us as our partners at the New Practice Lab will share their recently released research on complexity in early education programs across the 50 states and will share updates on federal efforts to simplify access to early childhood programs.
We’ll also hear from South Carolina, a state meeting this challenge head-on with their recently unveiled First Five SC portal, which aims to transform the way families access publicly funded early childhood programs and services in the state.
As 2023 legislative sessions are underway, advocates have been preparing to ensure that legislators understand the strong opportunity to equitably support young children, their families, and communities through policy and budgetary investments. Take a look at some of the leading 2023 state policy priorities in early childhood.
Alliance allies at Texans Care for Children have launched a new school readiness dashboard that is more than just a tool for gathering and communicating the expected data about the state’s young children. It represents an expansive new way of thinking about school readiness.
After a three-year break, the Alliance for Early Success hosted CONNECT22—a three-day event that brings together state advocates, national early
Alliance allies gathered to learn from national and state partners about the impact of federal safety net policies and what levers states have to support families’ economic security.
Federal and state child tax credits have historically received bipartisan support. These tax credits for families with children under age 17 provide financial relief for low-income families and their children and support economic mobility. New Jersey, Vermont, and RI have recently chosen to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to enact state-level child tax credits.
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The Alliance for Early Success does not endorse or advocate for specific legislation or candidates.
