Parents know their children better than anyone. They are experts in their child’s well-being, understanding not only their daily needs but also what brings them joy, their dreams, and their potential. When it comes to advocacy, however, that confidence does not always carry over. Some parents are hesitant to speak up, often prefacing their perspectives with “I’m just a mom,” or “I’m just a dad.” Others feel excluded from important conversations altogether. Increasingly, early childhood advocacy groups across the country are working to change who gets heard and help parents step into their power. State allies in Wisconsin and Louisiana have developed new strategies, aimed directly at fathers, seeking to close long-standing gaps and bring other compelling voices to the table.
Like many other states, Wisconsin faces an untenable situation in which child care is increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible for families, while child care workers simultaneously struggle to make ends meet and providers operate on razor-thin margins. Without sustained public investment, the entire system is at risk. Yet lawmakers have repeatedly failed to prioritize child care in the state budget. Last year, advocates offered a new approach to change how policymakers think about child care by recruiting fathers as messengers.
In June, Kids Forward teamed up with advocacy groups across Wisconsin to organize “Dads Care for Child Care,” a rally that brought more than 60 fathers to the state capitol to call for historic state investments. The idea came from Winnie Karanja, Board President of the Kids Forward Foundation, who saw a strategic opportunity to reach Wisconsin state legislators, most of whom are men and the vast majority of whom are fathers. Timing was central to this strategy. Held in the midst of budget negotiations and just ahead of Father’s Day, the rally was designed to resonate with policymakers, particularly fathers in the legislature, and apply pressure before a looming budget deadline.
Ultimately, advocates did not secure all the funding they sought, but they did move the needle. Thanks to the tireless efforts of child care providers, parents, and legislative champions, the final state budget included $330 million to keep Wisconsin’s child care system afloat and help lower costs for families. The package includes $110 million in the first year of the biennium to continue direct payments to child care programs, helping to keep doors open.
Beyond helping to secure these budget wins, father-led advocacy is also laying the foundation for future change. Kids Forward is now working with a member of the state assembly interested in launching a bipartisan Wisconsin Dads Caucus, modeled after the Congressional Dads Caucus, to create a space for fathers in the legislature to collaborate on family issues, including child care.
For Daithi Wolfe, Senior Policy Analyst at Kids Forward, the success of father-focused advocacy can be credited to long-standing relationships and trusted partnerships. “Wisconsin is all about collaboration, coalitions, and partnerships,” said Wolfe. “Everybody is connected and rowing in the same direction, and that is just so important.” To mobilize fathers, Kids Forward leaned on relationships built over decades, working with partner organizations to reach their members. The result was a powerful sense of shared purpose. Fathers, grandfathers, and children, including a three-generation family of advocates, rallied at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to address the state’s child care crisis by prioritizing early childhood education and protecting key programs from federal attacks. “It was really galvanizing for people to feel empowered, that they belong there, and that we should always have men, fathers, and grandpas speaking up,” said Wolfe.
While Wisconsin offers one example of how father-focused advocacy can shift policy, it is not an outlier. Geaux Far Louisiana, a coalition with funding from Alliance for Early Success’ Child Care NEXT initiative, offers another window into what father engagement looks like in practice. There, advocates have taken an approach shaped directly by listening to dads.
Although parents and providers make up a majority of Geaux Far’s leadership and Steering Committee, advocates repeatedly heard calls for stronger father representation. At its 2024 retreat, Andre Aparicio, a father serving on Geaux Far’s Steering Committee and the founder of Dad-A-Port and A’sani Heartbeat Foundation, led a “fatherhood fishbowl,” inviting dads to speak candidly about where they feel excluded within early childhood systems. The conversation was emotional and eye-opening. Fathers described how they are actively involved in their children’s lives, yet systems designed to support families often overlook their presence and rarely make room for them. From medical portals that default access to mothers, to pediatric spaces designed with only one parent in mind, dads shared how institutional practices can exclude them from their children’s care. Many spoke about wanting clearer signals that fathers belong. The fishbowl experience reinforced the need for intentional father engagement and prompted Geaux Far leaders to envision a “Dads Day at the Capitol” as a way to elevate these voices.
The inaugural Dads Day brought hundreds of fathers to the Louisiana State Capitol. While Geaux Far provided partners and fatherhood organizations with the resources and infrastructure needed to support the event, fathers themselves led the advocacy effort, setting priorities and driving the agenda. Central to their demands was the passage of a Senate concurrent resolution introduced by Senator Royce Duplessis to establish a state fatherhood task force.
According to Libbie Sonnier, Co-Chair of Geaux Far and the Chief Executive Officer at the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC), the resolution “sailed through” the legislature. Since then, LPIC has supported the task force with a consultant who ensures fathers are the ones leading this work, and that there is an active, sustained dialogue between state agencies, fatherhood groups, and Louisiana dads. The task force’s mission is to identify policies, processes, and systemic barriers, particularly within judicial and social service systems, that limit fathers’ ability to play meaningful roles in their children’s lives, and to recommend reforms that give fathers a stronger role in decision-making.
This work is especially important because of misconceptions and stereotypes about fathers, particularly Black and Brown dads, that continue to drive discrimination and exclusion. Rochelle Wilcox, Co-Chair of Geaux Far and the Chief Executive Officer at the Wilcox Academy of Learning and Founder of For Providers By Providers, described encountering persistent beliefs that fathers of color are not involved in their children’s lives or that they do not care. In her experience, these beliefs could not be further from the truth. “I’m an early learning center provider. I see father figures every day. They are going to make sure that their little girl’s bow is correct, they are going to ask questions, they are the ones that when school starts and it’s their little person’s first time being in group care or in an early learning space that are crying big crocodile tears,” said Wilcox. She added, “fathers play a major role and they want to be here…This is an effort to say we need to make sure their voices are heard and taken seriously, and let people know how policies impact them and what needs to change.”
Sonnier hopes that policymakers take these lessons to heart and dispel long-held myths. “Dads are part of maternal child health, creating access to early childhood education, and making sure that we have family-friendly workplaces. They want to be in decision-making bodies, and they want to help figure out how we have a net that works to support them and their children, to learn, change, and grow, and to support parents being the best version of themselves.”
These efforts in Wisconsin and Louisiana signal a broader shift in early childhood advocacy, one that recognizes the importance of engaging all parents and centering those most impacted by policy decisions. “Parents are living the day-to-day realities of early childhood policies. If we do not center their experiences, we risk missing what families actually need,” said Jacy Montoya Price, Senior Director of Advocacy and Issue Campaigns at the Alliance for Early Success. “This work takes time and trust. It’s about authentically listening to parents, sharing the tools and resources necessary to advocate for themselves, and recognizing their lived experience as expertise. These states are showing what is possible when organizations commit to inclusive, parent-driven advocacy. The Alliance is proud to support our state allies who are leading this work and modeling how to translate lived experience into action.”
Working directly with fathers has undoubtedly strengthened advocacy efforts in these states. For Wilcox, the experience has also shaped her day-to-day practice as a provider. “It’s changed how I look at things, and it’s changed how we show up for our families,” she said.
Importantly, advocates emphasize that father-focused engagement is not about sidelining mothers or not recognizing the foundational role they play. Rather, creating space for dads is about inclusion and helping them work in lock-step with moms to create a better future for all children.
Learning from other states helps advocates see what is possible and think bigger. Wolfe shared a few wise words for other groups considering similar initiatives. “Dads are your allies, and they are ready to speak up. So, go for it. You don’t have to wait until Father’s Day.”