Neighborhood Villages Hosts Event with Early Education Leaders from Across the Country to Discuss Government Solutions to Child Care Crisis

Change-Makers Discuss What Local Governments Can Do Now to Transform Early Education and Care

BOSTON, MA (April 26, 2022) - Yesterday, Neighborhood Villages – a Boston-based non-profit that advocates for solutions to the greatest challenges faced by the early education sector – hosted a virtual event with change-makers from across the country to discuss what local governments can do now to ensure that all children have access to a high-quality early education and all families have access to the care solutions they need to thrive.

The conversation highlighted what’s being done in cities across America to invest in equitable access to high-quality early education and care. As children, families, educators, and providers wait for meaningful reform at the federal and state level, many cities and local governments have stepped up to implement innovative solutions aimed at transforming access to and delivery of early education and care.

The event was moderated by Sarah Muncey, co-founder of Neighborhood Villages, who was joined by panelists Elliot Haspel, Program Officer, Education Policy & Research at the Robins Foundation and author of “Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It”; Elsa Holguín, President and CEO, Denver Preschool Program; and Sara Mead, Assistant Superintendent of Early Learning, District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education. Nearly 90 child care providers and advocates tuned into the event. 

“Millions of families, children, educators, and providers across the country are being adversely impacted by the national child care crisis and the lack of action at the state and federal level to address it,” said Muncey. “While we will continue to call on state and federal officials to take immediate action to overhaul the early education and care sector, change absolutely cannot wait. We applaud the cities and local governments that have taken initiative to help the people in their communities who are struggling under the weight of this broken system.”

“Federal, and in many cases, state legislation around child care reform has stalled and there is a real need for local innovation,” said Haspel. “A lot of localities and jurisdictions, like Denver and D.C., are stepping up in really impressive ways and leading the nation on how they're thinking about child care. I commend this local progress and hope that more communities follow this path to help address the child care crisis across our country right now.”

“Throughout the health, social justice and economic pandemics we have been experiencing, the Denver Preschool Program has been able to pivot to serve the ever-changing needs of our community,” said Holguín. “In addition to the tuition credits we offer to all 4-year-olds in the City and County of Denver, we are now supporting even more families by piloting an equity-based tuition credit program to serve 3-year-olds, as well as providing full scholarships to cover 100% of tuition costs for families that need it most. We are proud to say that while times are certainly challenging for Denver families and providers, by focusing on how to more deeply serve our children and how to help our early childhood educators to feel equipped to provide the highest level of care and education, we can ensure that our children will enter kindergarten ready to reach their full potential.”

“Many of the changes that happen in the early education and care field are the result of years of advocacy and hard work by people on the ground,” said Mead. “We are proud of our work in D.C. but we know that there is more to be done — including building a national system that prioritizes long-term investment in the sector — to ensure children and families have access to quality early education.”

###