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.
The New England Regional Early Childhood Advocate Convening brought together advocates and funders to facilitate cross-state learning, align advocacy and policy goals, and build relationships. Topics included coalition building, family economic security policy, healthy families policy, and case studies of early childhood advocacy by New England states.
In the early, crushing days of Covid, early childhood advocates in Massachusetts began to talk to each other daily on Zoom about making a way through the pandemic. These meetings were small at first, but grew over time. Four years later, “The 9:30 Call” is still happening and has an invite list of more than 2,000. More important, it is now a powerful, statewide conversation and a tool for ongoing and unprecedented advocacy.
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.
Virginia advocates have have turned the Child Care NEXT principles and support into a string of wins for children, including, in the 2024 session, an historic commitment by the governor and legislature that means $1.1 billion will be available for child care services for low to moderate income families over the next two years.
State allies in the Alliance for Early Success network recently gathered to discuss how they approach “community engagement” in their work. The group considered a range of questions as they shared their community engagement experiences and explored the nuances of authentic partnerships.
In Massachusetts, early childhood advocates across the state are collaborating like never before to build a new, stronger early childhood system. This historic project, called The Early Childhood Agenda, is a first-of-its-kind effort to bring together “hundreds of parents, providers, advocates, and community partners to discuss the state’s pressing early childhood challenges and propose effective, family-centered, sustainable solutions.”
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.
The Alliance for Early Success is launching a second cohort of the Centering Parent and Practitioner Power (CPPP) Community of Practice aimed at strengthening the capacity of state grantees seeking to build authentic and impactful partnerships that are rooted in lived experiences and values of racial equity and shared power. The eight-month cohort experience creates the space for courageous conversations necessary to deepen the understanding, appreciation, and skills to equitably center the expertise of community members in policy and advocacy work.
New Futures learned that many coalition partners did not engage in advocacy because many of their funding sources prohibited advocacy or gave unclear guidance on allowed activities. To overcome this barrier, New Futures developed their Advocacy Field Grant program with support from their Alliance for Early Success grant.
New Mexico’s Constitutional Amendment 1 passed with 70% of the vote. Advocates at OLÉ—part of the Alliance’s New Mexico Child Care NEXT coalition—worked with field partners at Vote Yes for Kids who had never worked on early childhood education issues before. But the staff and members understood what a victory would mean for the state’s communities and the country. The Constitutional Amendment authorizes a 1.25% increase in the annual appropriations of the fund, with 60% of the incremental revenue to support programs for children age 0-5.
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The Alliance for Early Success does not endorse or advocate for specific legislation or candidates.
