• Cover All Kids: Provide RIte Care health insurance coverage to all eligible children who are residents of Rhode Island, regardless of immigration status (in Governor’s budget) H-7484 / S-2187 #RIghtStartRI
• Postpartum RIte Care Coverage: Provide 12 months of continuous postpartum RIte Care coverage to new mothers, instead of the current 60-day postpartum coverage, as a key strategy to address maternal mortality/morbidity (in Governor’s budget). H-7290 / S-2202 #RIghtStartRI

• Multilingual Learners (MLLs): Provide at least $5 million in additional funding to support MLLs for a total of $10 million.
• Out-of-School Time: Pass the Quality Enhancement in Afterschool and Out-of-School-Time-Act and provide adequate funding to support high-quality afterschool, summer learning, and workforce development programs across the state. H-7915/S-2190
• School-Based Mental Health Support: Provide funding for school-based mental health professionals, including school social workers (H-7546) and school psychologists and other school-based mental health professionals (S-2440). 

• RI Works Benefit Increase and Program Improvements: Increase the monthly benefit for very low income families to $959 for a family of 3 (50% of the federal poverty level) and add a cost-of-living adjustment for future years. Allow parents to attend CCRI for 2 years so they can get and keep a job that provides a family-sustaining wage and extend the lifetime benefit limit from 48 months to 60 months to match the federal limit, reducing stress for families and simplifying the administrative process for DHS staff H-7789 / S-2316
• Affordable Housing: Increase state investments in affordable housing and housing stability using $500 million in federal ARPA funds.as the HomesRI coalition recommends.

• Child Care: Pass the Child Care is Essential Act and include $50 million in state and federal funding to increase Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) rates to meet or exceed federal standards, lift family income limits so more families can get help paying for child care, and remove the child support requirement for CCAP eligibility. Continue CCAP payments based on children’s enrollment and make investments to improve the quality and expand the supply of child care statewide.  H-7177 / S-2681 #RIghtStartRI
• Early Educator Investment: Pass the Early Educator Investment Act H-7283 / S-2235,  continue the ARPA pandemic retention bonus for all child care educators, provide $2 million to expand the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood model, provide $5 million in ARPA funds to launch the Child Care WAGE$ model to provide additional compensation to child care educators with post-secondary credentials, and include $1 million for the child care registry. #RIghtStartRI
• Early Intervention and First Connections: Pass the Early Educator and First Connections Act and provide $4.5 million in state funds to allow for permanent Medicaid rate increases for both the Early Intervention and First Connections programs. Permanent rate increases are needed to offer competitive wages to recruit and retain qualified educators, nurses, social workers, and clinicians to deliver essential services required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. There are close to 600 infants and toddlers on the waiting list for Early Intervention H-7628 / S-2546  #RIghtStartRI 

• Address the Workforce Crisis: Provide a significant rate increase to address the workforce crisis for community-based programs serving children in the care of DCYF and other community-based programs serving children and families, including children with disabilities, that prevent escalation of health, mental health, and other issues before they require much higher cost crisis services and inpatient hospitalization.
• Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility: Provide adequate funding to support at least one psychiatric residential treatment facility for female youth with complex mental and behavioral health needs that are currently being treated out-of-state, in a hospital, or at the Rhode Island Training School.