PUBLIC POLICY & ADVOCACY
Many families in New York State and right here in Oswego County share concerns about child care,
which can be difficult to find, too costly to afford, or of questionable quality.
The Child Care & Development Council (CCDC) recognizes the link between quality child care and school
readiness, and economic development. The services we provide are critical to the improvement of
the quality of care available to the children in the community. We are committed to engaging the
public in supporting the continued funding for child care services at the local, state, and national
levels.
The CCDC is partnering with a statewide network of Child Care Resource and Referral agencies, as well as
the Early Care and Learning Council to raise awareness about the importance of quality early learning
experiences through the Quality Investments for Children (QIC) campaign. Take a few moments to view
the United to Promote Quality video to learn more about our efforts to educate parents, providers, business
and community leaders, and our elected officials and funders about what quality means and why it is so
important.
Policies and funding that support high-quality, affordable child care for all children fosters school readiness
so that children are prepared to learn and succeed. The greatest development of a child's brain occurs in the
first five years and the quality of care a child receives during those years can last a lifetime.
As a member of Child Care Aware of America and the Early Care and Learning Council (ECLC), and Winning Beginning NY, the Child Care & Development Council supports their public policy agendas and initiatives. These organizations are leaders in state and national early care and education.
Parent Survey - Why Quality Matters
Child Care is an increasingly burdensome expenditure for many families. All parents want their children to be in a safe, clean, and engaging environment with trained professionals. Unfortunately, due to the high cost, too many families are forced to send their children to facilities with low standards and limited quality.
Children enrolled in high quality child care programs are proven to enjoy greater success down the road. Quality child care is the essential groundwork needed to promote the success of millions of young Americans and strengthen the economy.
Parents from eight economic regions in New York State were surveyed in 2016 regarding child care. Their responses indicate that the high cost of child care across upstate New York has repercussions across our entire economy. See more of the results here:
ACTION CENTER: DO YOU WANT YOUR VOICE TO BE HEARD? YOU CAN HELP.
Community stakeholders include everyone who values early childhood education and understands the risk of not making it a priority in our society. To become more involved and to learn more about the issues we encourage you to contact your elected officials. The link to the left provides a listing of elected officials covering Oswego County.
Visit the Early Care and Learning Council's Get Involved pages to access Advocacy Resources, its Action Center, as well as Advocacy Partners. Do you have a child care story you would like to share? ECLC wants to hear from you on its Share Your Story page. ECLC uses these stories as testimonials when advocating with policymakers for better early education and child care policies.
Visit Child Care Aware of America's Take Action page to view current campaigns to strengthen the quality of child care, join their Action Network, and stay informed about current legislation and Congressional activity.
NEED MORE INFORMATION? WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Current Public Policy Agendas:
2016 Child Care Aware of America Agenda calls for more work to be done to ensure that Congress and states are implementing all of the CCDBG requirements effectively, and expanding access to child care for all—regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or location. Child Care Aware® of America has worked closely with child care stakeholders to establish a list of policies that it believes are of most importance—and of highest value—to children and their families.
Early Care and Learning Council 2016 ECLC Executive Ask and 2016 ECLC Legislative Ask call for more funding to beinvested into child care. It also calls for access to quality child care for all children with equitable and transparent distribution of funding. It further seeks to ensure that the social and emotional health, as well as the physical health and well-being of children in care is supported through increased quality of care options and programming available.
Winning Beginning NY promotes access to high quality early learning and care, from the prenatal period to school-age designed to improve outcomes for children and support the needs of working families. They support investments and policies that move the state toward a comprehensive early learning system that promotes children's healthy social, emotional, cognitive and physical development known to promote success in school and later in life.
National Policy Blog - follow this blog where the Policy Team from Child Care Aware of America posts about child care in an effort to significantly improve the quality of child care across the nation.
Child Care Public Policy Reports
Early Childhood Education: Frozen Funding Leads to Cracks in the Foundation details the drastic reductions in funding for Universal Pre-kindergarten and why increased funding would support it resulting in an increase in likelihood of a child going to college, earning higer income, and avoiding incarceration.
Leaving Children to Chance: 2012 Update Ranking of State Standards and Oversight of Small Family Child Care Homes details the Child Care Aware of America's assessment of state policies for small child care homes, where up to six children are cared for in the home of the providers for compensation.
We Can Do Better: 2013 Update Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight details Child Care Aware of America's assessment of child care centers based on 11 program requirements and four oversight benchmarks.
Public Policy
This video provides an introduction to the United to Promote Quality Campaign, which is a state-wide initiative to raise awareness about the importance of quality early learning experiences.
