Child Care Advocacy
Early Care & Learning Council Policy Vision
Early Care & Learning Council and our statewide network of Child Care Resource Centers (CCRCs) are leaders in promoting equitable access to high-quality early care and education that benefits and supports New York State’s children and families.
We support policies, regulations, legislation and investments that:
- Promote equitable access to affordable quality child care for all families who need it;
- Respect and reflect the many strengths, languages, cultures and regions of New York State;
- Promote a coherent, integrated child care system, that is responsive to the diverse needs of parents, including those who work nontraditional hours;
- Facilitate collaboration between child care, PreK, Head Start and other programs that serve young children and their families;
- Ensure high-quality by supporting the child care workforce and building a strong, effective and streamlined professional development infrastructure
- Fund financial assistance programs, including child care subsidies and tax credits;
- Support a vibrant, dynamic and adequately funded CCRC system.
These policies provide a framework for enhancing young children’s learning and development, supporting parents’ participation in the workforce and strengthening economic development and success in all of New York State’s communities. We believe the time has come for policymakers to prioritize access to high quality child care for all children.
Working toward a better system of quality care
From the beginning, the work of the Early Care & Learning Council has been focused on public policy and education. For 50 years, the Council has worked to secure millions of dollars in funding for quality, affordable child care services in New York State. In the mid-1990s, the Council launched the Child Care that Works campaign. The campaign later merged with efforts surrounding Pre-K to formally convene as the Winning Beginning NY coalition in 2005. The coalition included a broad representation of individuals and organizations from child care, education, the medical and academic communities, unions and many others.
In 2017, the Empire State Campaign for Child Care (ESCCC) was founded in the wake of threats to cut up to $27M from the New York State child care subsidy program. ESCCC is a powerful grassroots movement with the capacity to educate and motivate our elected leaders to increase New York’s investment in child care so that all New York families can access safe, supportive, quality child care so that parents can work and children thrive.
Today ECLC continues to work with partners through ESCCC, as well as the Raising NY coalition coordinated by The Education Trust–New York to impact funding and regulation of child care at the state level. The Council also collaborates with national groups such as Child Care Aware of America, Early Learning Policy Group and National Women’s Law Center to influence child care at the federal level.
The Early Care & Learning Council has an important presence in the Albany public policy landscape and continues to inform policy makers, business leaders and the public about the benefits of a high quality, affordable early care and education system to children and families. We do this through spotlighting the incredible work of the Child Care Resource Centers and encourage them to join us to tell their story to lawmakers.