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.
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.
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.
Momentum for accessible and high-quality child care is gaining steam, and advocates say technical assistance from he Alliance for Early Success has played a big part in their ability to seize the opportunity.
With the passage and signing of S690 in 2021, New Jersey universal home visiting became a reality. The legislation establishes a statewide newborn home visitation program in the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, making the state the second in the nation with this level of home visitation.
Advocates in DC pivoted their 2020 goals to respond to the challenges of the pandemic. Despite obstacles, they preserved funding for early childhood services and secured additional funds to help struggling child care providers. They did this all through the work of a coalition formed specifically to advocate for early childhood funding.
Securing state funding to grow the reach and impact of home visiting programs was a top priority for Alliance for Early Success ally Idaho Voices for Children. Advocates working with the legislature have secured a third year of state funding for home visiting that not only doubled the state’s investment to $2 million, but directed the state to pursue billing Medicaid for home visiting services.
Our Allies in Michigan have been working hard to highlight racial disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes and to build urgency around the need to achieve birth equity. Last year, their work paid off with several crucial wins, including $23.5 million in funding for a comprehensive plan to address disparities and an executive order that requires health professionals to undergo implicit bias training.
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.
In a keynote presentation and then in a smaller discussion group with state early childhood advocates, nationally recognized birth-equity voice Dr. Joia Crear-Perry spoke powerfully on structural racism as a key driver of high rates of Black infant and maternal mortality.
With the inauguration of the state’s new Early Childhood Education and Care Department, New Mexico has become the fourth state in the nation to have a cabinet level department dedicated to early childhood. The creation of the department reflects the Governor’s focus on improving the lives of New Mexico’s youngest children.
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