Child Care and Early Education

Takeaways from the White House Summit on Working Families

Posted on by Lauren Stillwell

obama-working-families-summittYesterday, I had the privilege to attend the White House Summit on Working Families.  The White House hosted the Summit along with the Department of Labor and the Center for American Progress, to highlight and discuss some of the most pressing issues facing workers and families in our 21st century workplaces.

The Women’s Foundation will have a series of blogs on the Summit, but for now, here are my immediate takeaways:

1. Expect to hear more about paid family leave, especially parental leave; fair pay; and early learning. These were several policy areas the President explicitly mentioned in his speech. He also mentioned many more and announced new and greater flexibility for federal workers.

2. Get engaged at the local level.  National change is slow and, as the First Lady encouraged when she spoke to the Summit, we have to be okay with incremental progress of 20%, stacked on another 20%, and so on.  It is this steady – albeit slow – progress that can help us push forward.  On the local level, mayors and governors can enact change much sooner in their cities and states.  Likewise, CEOs can enact change in their own companies, and show others how these policies support workers and improve the bottom line.

3. Women everywhere, at all levels, are making sacrifices and choices.  As some women ascend, it is our responsibility to mentor the next generation and set “the tone from the middle” or “the tone from the top” – depending on where we are in our careers – and take it upon ourselves to create workplace cultures and policies that are fair, supportive and productive.

4. These are not just women’s issues.  These are issues for all working people, of all family types, and they can’t be pigeon-holed.  Whether it is a working dad, who wants to care for his infant in the first days of parenthood, or a childless worker that needs to take an elderly parent to a doctor’s appointment, issues like paid leave affect the ability of all working people to provide and care for their families while they earn a living and contribute to the economy.

Stay tuned for more in depth coverage of the Summit from The Women’s Foundation! In the meantime, you can find more information on http://workingfamiliessummit.org or check out the conversation on Twitter using #FamiliesSucceed.

Reflections on the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative

Posted on by John "Skip" McKoy

Editor’s Note: Fight For Children was a part of the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative for four years before leaving in 2014. Skip McKoy, Fight for Children’s Director of Programmatic Initiatives, shares his reflections in this guest blog post.

Fight For Children, SkipAt the end of June, Fight For Children will transition off of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative to focus our attention on Joe’s Champs, our early childhood, school-based education program. We developed Joe’s Champs to provide principals, assistant principals, and teachers with professional development and mentorship opportunities focused specifically on students ages 3-4, a period sometimes overlooked by educators but vitally important to a child’s academic and social development. Without the extensive discussions with funders of the early childhood space—including those we met through the Collaborative—we would not be as confident in the success of Joe’s Champs as we are today.

When Fight For Children joined the Collaborative in 2010, we were primarily a grant-making organization.  The Collaborative provided us with an opportunity to engage with and learn from other local organizations interested in supporting early childhood development. As Fight For Children shifts from a grant-maker to an organization that designs and runs its own programs, the Collaborative remains a valuable resource for us, other local funders, and early childhood education leaders.

As I reflect back on our four years as a Collaborative member, I am grateful for the many opportunities and lessons learned. Here are a few that stand out to me:

  1. On the Collaborative, Fight For Children has had the opportunity to join forces with other organizations to leverage our impact on local children. For example, in 2013, as a member of the Collaborative we contributed to the support of ten early childhood education projects, in addition to the projects we support on our own.
  2. Fight For Children has a small staff that goes into the community throughout the year to research potential organizations with which to partner. Being part of the Collaborative exposed us to projects otherwise unfamiliar to us, given our limited resources.
  3. As a non-profit focused on children within DC City limits, Fight For Children staff do not readily have opportunities to learn about innovative approaches occurring elsewhere in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia region. The Collaborative has facilitated our experiences with early childhood education and development projects outside of DC, which we were then able to reference during our development of Joe’s Champs.

Any of these reasons alone would be a powerful incentive for an early childhood funder to join the Collaborative. But, there is another value-add to being part of the Collaborative: the group of funders* represented at the table are all well-respected and thoughtful. They represent a cross-section of foundations and corporations dedicated to improving early childhood care and education in this region. Having different organizations bring to light the multiple sections of the proverbial early childhood education elephant provides a better sense of the big picture, allowing each of us to be more thoughtful change agents and resulting in an even greater, systemic impact.

*The Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative currently includes: The Boeing Company, Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, PNC Foundation, Richard E. and Nancy P. Marriott Foundation, Washington Area Women’s Foundation, and Weissberg Foundation.

Advocacy for Early Learning in Northern VA: A Report from the Field

Posted on by Emily Griffey

Emily Griffey is a Senior Policy Analyst for Voices for Virginia’s Children, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner.

Much like your typical preschool classroom, activity, opportunity and challenge were in the air in Fairfax the week of April 7-11th.  That week happened to be the Week of the Young Child and public hearings on the Fairfax County budget, creating a perfect opportunity to rally early education supporters to demonstrate their impact on school readiness and ask for increased local support. Adding to the opportunities and challenges this year, Fairfax is faced with numerous requests for funding from different stakeholders groups and budget uncertainty. With proposed local budget increases for early learning opportunities on the table – a $714,000 package for additional mentors and professional development for child care providers and an expansion of the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) – advocates were needed to go on the record, along with these many other groups asking for increases, so that early learning would be included in the final budget.

Voices for Virginia’s Children is fortunate to have the opportunity to weigh in on early learning opportunities for Northern VA children through a grant from the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative. While it may seem that Northern VA is one of the more affluent parts of Virginia, Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax are home to 6,000 children under age 5 living in poverty (2012 ACS 1 year estimate). And Virginia’s early learning resources lag behind those provided across the metro area.

Calling the campaign #SchoolReadiness4Nova, Voices activated a network of local community leaders, early childhood program providers, and advocates to participate in a letter writing campaign, rally and public testimony to support the funding increase for early learning. (A report by Mission: Readiness, another  Grantee Partner of the Collaborative, notes that Fairfax falls short of the potential of VPI.)

Voices VA Children 2

Wednesday, April 9th became a Day of Action for Early Learning in Fairfax and kicked off with a rally at one of Fairfax’s 4-star rated early learning centers and a community-based VPI provider, Main Street Child Development Center. Details and video from the rally are available on Voices’ website and Facebook page.

Speakers urged the Board of Supervisors to include the proposed $714,000 investment for school readiness in the final county budget, and to look to the coming years with a plan for significantly expanding VPI participation.

WTOP news radio covered the rally and interviewed Carol Lieske, Director of Main Street Child Development Center and Mary Beth Testa, Voices’ local policy consultant. A clip of the interview ran throughout the afternoon commute that day, and an article was published on the WTOP website.

Advocates proceeded to the public hearing on the budget that afternoon, delivering art from children from Reston and Falls Church to the members of the Board of Supervisors.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is now in the final days of decision-making on the county budget. We think that the flurry of activity during the Week of the Young Child will help to make the case that strengthening school readiness opportunities are essential services in the Fairfax local budget.

You can take action now to show local leaders in Fairfax that early education matters; for more information on #SchoolReadinessforNoVa and how you can participate, visit Voices for Virginia’s Children.

 

Our Visit to Preschool

Posted on by Lauren Stillwell

As an adult, I have little memory of my preschool years.  What I do “remember” is mostly built upon the stories and photos that my parents share with me: the artwork I made; the school play about Thanksgiving; the bright green cast I wore on my arm in my very first school photos (I have been a klutz most of my life…).

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And although I can’t recall the exact lessons learned during my earliest schooling, research shows these years had a tremendous impact on my life. In addition to forming the basis for literacy and numeracy, preschool is also likely where I learned how to behave in a classroom – how to raise my hand, follow instructions, and interact with my peers.  Research shows that high-quality early education builds the academic, social and emotional foundation for success in K-12, college and the workforce.

Last week, The Women’s Foundation and our Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative hosted a tour and conversation with AppleTree at their early learning public charter school site in the Shipley neighborhood of Anacostia, in Southeast DC.  We visited classrooms of three and four year olds, going about their morning activities.  In one class, students were “excavating” dinosaur bones, painting and drawing dinosaurs, or working with dinosaur vocabulary words.

A recent unit on dinosaurs and paleontology has been building up to a field trip to the Museum of Natural History.  AppleTree  uses “play to learn” principles as part of their Every Child Ready curriculum that’s deployed in all of its classrooms.  Every Child Ready is a comprehensive instructional model that drives how to teach, what to teach, and how to tell it’s being done to increase teacher effectiveness and children’s learning in early childhood classrooms.

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The Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative has invested for several years in AppleTree’s professional development for early childhood teachers, helping to disseminate the Every Child Ready curriculum.  This year, the Collaborative is supporting the organization’s local communications and advocacy efforts, through which AppleTree aims to define quality early education in terms of child outcomes that result in school readiness.

On the occasion of the Week of Young Child, our visit to AppleTree last week was a great reminder of all the ways that individually and collectively our Grantee Partners are striving to provide high-quality early education for our region’s youngest residents.  Whether these children remember learning about dinosaurs – or are reminded later in life by photos and craft projects – these earliest experiences will have a lasting impact on each of their lives, and the vitality of our community as a whole.

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Established in 2008 as a multi-year, multi-million dollar collective funding effort, the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative brings together corporate funders and local and national foundations, with a mission to increase the quality and capacity of, and access to, early care and education in the Washington region.  Click HERE to learn more.

Funders Work Together to Influence Local Early Childhood System

Posted on by Jessica Zetzman

By Stacey Collins, PNC Foundation and Karen FitzGerald, The Meyer Foundation

sponsorship-fpo-2Six years ago, Washington Area Women’s Foundation launched the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative, an effort to bring together local and national funders to increase the quality and capacity of, and access to, early care and education in the Washington region.  We – Stacey Collins of PNC, and Karen FitzGerald of The Meyer Foundation – are pleased to serve as the Collaborative’s current co-chairs.

Many of us on the Collaborative have focused on the value of investing in early childhood for many years. However, early childhood issues have recently taken center stage in national conversations.  As a group of funders investing locally, we know that high-quality early care and education can help close the “readiness gap” for low-income children entering kindergarten.

We invest together through the Collaborative to influence systems-level change.  We seek to influence the quality and capacity of early care and education options, and to ensure that low-income families in our region have access to these options.  This year, our grants include local advocacy investments to preserve and increase public support for early care and education, and investments in the professional development of early care and education providers (to increase the quality and capacity of programs in our region, and to support the career advancement and earnings of the predominantly female workforce).

Beyond our grantmaking, how does working as a collaborative influence our individual approaches as funders and investors?

From my perspective, at PNC…

The collective voice is greater than our individual voices, even on the same topic. From feedback and advocacy to funding, the impact is greater when we work together.

As a collaborative effort, by design, we keep early childhood at the center of the conversation. We focus our investments around programs that create the biggest impact. It is not just about making more dollars available for quality childcare in the region, although that is important. It’s also about getting to know what influences, how trends and policies shift the way early childhood education (ECE) happens, and which organizations are on the cutting edge of driving those changes. Often, that means defining quality and really understanding what the programs we fund are doing to change the trajectory of ECE in the region.

I personally have learned so much from being a part of the Collaborative. It’s a group of smart and passionate advocates. Our discussions about program effectiveness, and how to assess that when no universal quality standard pre-K assessment tool exists, are a great way to learn from others. It’s an opportunity to delve into the “why” behind each other’s focus areas.

From my perspective, at The Meyer Foundation…

Pooling resources and focusing on the entire ECE system – rather than on individual child development centers – helps Meyer have a bigger impact in ECE than we would have through our individual grantmaking.  We fund some ECE work in our education program area, but we don’t focus on it.

The Collaborative gives us the chance to learn more about ECE from funders who know more about the issue than we do. We especially value the opportunity to work alongside corporate and family foundations, who share our commitment to the issue and whose different perspectives make for rich discussions and grant deliberations.

The Collaborative has elevated for us the issue of ECE quality so that it is now an important priority of our grantmaking in this area.

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Click here to learn more about the Collaborative.

The Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative currently includes: The Boeing Company, Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, Fight for Children, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, PNC Foundation, Washington Area Women’s Foundation, and Weissberg Foundation.

2014 Grants Will Help 6,000 Women & Girls

Posted on by Lauren Stillwell

4-sq-GPFor me – as for many others – January is my “clean slate.”  No, it’s not about New Year’s resolutions.  For Washington Area Women’s Foundation, it’s a chance to celebrate the over $1 million in grants our board approved in December, and to exhale and plan for the work all of these Grantee Partners will be leading in our community this year.

This year’s Grantee Partners are employing a variety of strategies to help increase the economic security of women and girls in the Washington region.

  • Our workforce development Grantee Partners are providing a range of services along a continuum: adult basic education, post-secondary education and training, occupational credentials, job training programs, job placement, retention and advancement strategies. Grantee Partners are also continuing to provide intensive case management and supportive services that are critical to the success of low-income women.  And they’re targeting jobs that are high-demand and high-wage, with opportunities for advancement.
  • Our asset building Grantee Partners are working to help women build their collective income and assets.  They’re helping women access the Earned Income Tax Credit, learn the basics of credit, savings, and how to budget, and build assets through homeownership and matched savings accounts.
  • Our early care and education Grantee Partners are increasing the quality and capacity of, and access to, early care and education in the Washington region.  Grantee Partners are providing professional development, training and coaching for early care and education professionals (family child care providers, child care center staff, and pre-k teachers), to improve the quality of care available for low-income children ages 0 to 5.  They’re also mobilizing important advocacy efforts, to preserve and grow investments in early care and education – so that low-income children will be prepared for kindergarten, and parents can access this important work support.

Last – but not least!! – we’re very excited to have three new Grantee Partners, working to develop two-generation strategies that will serve middle school girls and their mothers.  You can brush up on our issue brief here for more on the thinking behind this work.  We’ll keep you updated as this new work in our community unfolds.  Until then, check out all the great work we’re supporting in 2014:

Academy of Hope
To support low-income women in Washington, DC with adult basic education, as well as connections and preparation for post-secondary education or advanced career/vocational training.  Funding will also support the launch of Academy of Hope Public Charter School as a resource for adult learners in the District.

AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation
To support AppleTree Institute’s increased communications and advocacy efforts in Washington, DC, aimed at defining quality early education in terms of child outcomes that result in school readiness.

Capital Area Asset Builders
To support financial education and coaching for low-income women referred through partner nonprofit programs.  A cohort of these women will also have access to Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), to provide matched savings opportunities.

CASA de Maryland
To support the Women’s Workforce Initiative, which increases economic outcomes among low-income, immigrant women through industry-recognized vocational training, work readiness supports, job placement assistance, and other support services.

CentroNia
To support the CentroNía Institute’s work linking bilingual coaches with Early Head Start/Head Start teachers, center-based teachers, and parents to develop and implement evidence-based strategies for child development, language development, and second language acquisition at home and in the early childhood classroom.

College Success Foundation – District of Columbia*
To support planning for two-generation work that serves middle school aged girls and their mothers or female caregivers.

Community Tax Aid
To help low-income women increase assets by reducing tax liabilities and receiving tax credits for which they qualify, and by avoiding tax penalties, high fee preparation services and predatory products.

DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative*
To support planning for two-generation work that serves middle school aged girls and their mothers or female caregivers.

Doorways for Women and Families
To support the intensive Financial Independence Track (FIT) for women experiencing homelessness and/or domestic violence who live in shelters or transition-in-place housing programs. The program includes one-on-one financial education and employment counseling.

Fairfax Futures
To support the Neighborhood School Readiness Project, a community model that links early care and education stakeholders to elementary school administrators and teachers. The project includes outreach to families to increase awareness and activities that support school readiness and one-to-one mentoring for family child care providers implementing curriculum.

Goodwill of Greater Washington
To support job training and placement services for low-income women in the region, with a focus on hospitality and security/protective services.

Latino Economic Development Center
To support the financial capability initiative, which will provide coaching and financial tools to low-income women.

Mission: Readiness
To support a “grasstops” media, public, and policymaker education campaign to expand early learning opportunities for children in the Washington region, with particular emphasis on Northern Virginia.

Montgomery College Foundation
To support training, coaching and job opportunities within the Apartment Industry and commercial driving industries for low-income Montgomery County women.

National Black Child Development Institute
To support T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood DC, a nationally-recognized, research-based program that improves the quality of teachers serving children birth through age five, while also supporting systemic change in the early care and education system.

Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington
To support the Capital Area Foreclosure Network, a joint initiative with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, that supports housing counseling agencies in the region.

Northern Virginia Community College Educational Foundation*
To support the educational attainment of low-income women in Northern Virginia, including both early care providers and mothers of young children, through the Early Childhood Education Initiative.

 Northern Virginia Family Service
To support the Training Futures program, which will help low-income women complete education and training, and secure entry-level office or health care jobs.

Prince George’s Child Resource Center
To support Joining Voices, an advocacy project for Prince George’s County that empowers parents and child care providers to articulate the importance of quality child care for family stability, school readiness and economic growth.

Prince George’s Community College Foundation
To support the Women of Wisdom program, which will provide coaching and supportive services to low-income women at the college pursuing a degree or occupational credential.

So Others Might Eat (SOME)
To support the Center for Employment Training, which will prepare low-income women for careers in the health care and building maintenance industries by providing job training, basic education, career development assistance and supportive services.

The Training Source
To support Hospitality Express 4 Success, a partnership of The Training Source, Prince George’s Community College, and the Community Services Agency of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, to offer training, education, job placement and retention services focused on the hospitality sector for a cohort of low-income 18-26 year old women in Prince George’s County.

Voices for Virginia’s Children
To support efforts to promote public policies and investments that ensure all children in Northern Virginia, particularly those who are disadvantaged, enter kindergarten ready to succeed.

YWCA of the National Capital Area
To support planning for two-generation work that serves middle school aged girls and their mothers or female caregivers.

Year Up National Capital Region
To support young women, ages 18-24, with education and workforce development training, including up to 18 college credits, job skills development, and a six-month internship.

Urban Alliance Foundation
To support young women in the High School Internship Program, which provides work experience, mentoring and life skills training, and is the only year-long employment program for high school seniors in Washington, DC.

* First-time Grantee Partner

Lauren is a program officer at The Women’s Foundation.

The Year in Review: Top Legislation Impacting Women in 2013

Posted on by Jessica Zetzman

It seems that women have been the center of many policy debates this year, both nationally and locally. We’ve been keeping an eye on important legislation affecting women and their families in 2013 and have put together a list of the top bills, policies and legislation of the year, plus a few to keep tabs on in 2014:

1. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts:

In November of this year, automatic cuts to SNAP took effect as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) expired. The cuts amounted to $29 a month for a family of three and reduced SNAP benefits to an average of less than $1.40 per person per meal in 2014.

Keep an eye on this in 2014: Additional cuts could be coming in 2014. Cuts to SNAP are included in the Farm Bill, but the number varies depending on version. Though the conference committee tasked with reconciling the House and Senate versions of the bill won’t have an agreement by the end of 2013, it is likely the bill will pass in some form in early 2014.

2. Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013:

This bill was signed into law in March and expands protections for victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Among other things, it helps create a national prevention hotline, funds shelters, facilitates the prosecution of perpetrators, provides a temporary visa and pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants who are the victims of domestic abuse and greatly expands the housing rights of domestic violence survivors.

3. Raising the minimum wage to $11.50/hr in DC, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County:

Just in time to make our 2013 roundup, these three local governments all passed bills to raise the minimum wage in their respective jurisdictions. This is a huge step and very important for our region, but as the Foundation’s President Nicky Goren wrote in her Huffington Post article earlier this month, this increase is just a start. Still, there has been a lot of activism around raising the minimum wage lately, including President Obama supporting a bill to raise the federal minimum wage. We’ll be watching this issue in the new year.

4. Long-term unemployment insurance runs out December 28:

Recent statistics show that women are roughly 45% of the long-term unemployed. Right now, the length of time a person can collect unemployment benefits varies significantly by state, but it can be as long as 73 weeks in some places. Come December 28, 2013, 26 weeks will be the maximum length a person will be able to collect the benefit. At that time, anyone who has been on unemployment longer than 26 weeks will be completely cut-off (that number will likely be 1.3 million Americans). The Urban Institute has created a great resource for learning more about this important issue, here.

5. Sequester and Shutdown:

2013 saw both The Sequester and The Shutdown, with the Washington region being heavily impacted by both. The Sequester caused cuts to social services, furloughs for government workers, and serious hits to the Head Start program. The Shutdown nearly crippled the Head Start program altogether in November and caused many local non-profits and families to struggle as they went without funding and paychecks for 16 days. Sequestration has been devastating for housing assistance programs, causing significant shortfalls in housing vouchers for low-income families.

6. Affordable Care Act came online:

Though the rollout has had its issues, the Affordable Care Act officially came online this past year, and the implications for women and their families are huge. Already, almost 1.5 million people have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. All the women and children included in that figure will get free preventative care such as mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer and other services, along with coverage for other medical issues at reasonable prices and no co-pay for most birth control.

To watch in the coming year:

1. Immigration Reform:

This bill didn’t make it through Congress this year, but the implications of comprehensive immigration reform for families could be huge. It is estimated that there are between 11 and 20 million undocumented immigrants in America, many of them living away from families for years or decades. Many undocumented immigrants forgo public assistance they could legally obtain for fear they will be deported. There is a lot of momentum for this bill, and we’ll be watching what happens in 2014.

2. Strong Start for America’s Children Act:

On November 13, the Strong Start for America’s Children Act was introduced in the House and Senate. This legislation would provide universal access to high-quality pre-kindergarten for low-income children and expand child care for infants and toddlers through a federal-state partnership.  This bill has bipartisan support and would be a huge early care and education win if it passes. A summary on the bill from the National Women’s Law Center is here.

 3. The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act (the FAMILY Act):

This bill was introduced in December of this year. While the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (widely known as FMLA) currently requires employers to provide leave for qualified medical and family reasons, it only requires unpaid leave. The new bill that has been introduced would provide federal family leave insurance that would provide workers with up to 12 weeks of partial income for qualified leave. This is certainly something that could be a huge boost for women and their families, and we’ll be watching it closely in 2014.

Was this review helpful? Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments section!

VIDEO: Families are Transformed When We Stand With Women

Posted on by Jessica Zetzman

We are so excited to announce the release of our new video from Stone Soup Films!  With your help, we are using strategic investments to create economic security for women and girls in the Washington region.

Great change is possible – when we make smart investments in our community.  Please share this inspiring new video with your networks!

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