You've likely heard about the need to treat child care as infrastructure. Here's a good read on the literal infrastructure (building repairs, maintenance, zoning regulations) that needs our attention.

Quotable & Notable

Fact of the Week

The United States’ early enrollment ranking out of the 26 countries that participate in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is 23rd. The U.S. lags behind other countries in early education enrollment – but not for lack of need. New America describes the difficulty parents have navigating early childhood’s fragmented system, resulting in missed opportunities for children to participate in early education at the time they need it the most.

Policy Radar

Federal

Last month, Pres. Biden issued an executive order meant to improve child care access and affordability. New America provides a good explanation of the order and its limitations, namely that it doesn’t establish or direct any new funding.

A proposed bill in Congress would reestablish monthly cash payments for American families like what occurred through the expanded (but since expired) Child Tax Credit. It would go even further in combining the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit into one program – a universal child assistance program aimed at addressing child poverty. While the bill is unlikely to pass, efforts to mitigate child poverty in the U.S. through economic policy are worth understanding in greater depth. 

Events and Happenings

The Ohio Head Start Association is hosting its annual Kindergarten Transition Summit on Thursday, June 1.

SAVE THE DATE for the Crane Center’s 10th annual symposium on children scheduled for Thursday, October 19. 

Beyond the Buckeye State

Lawmakers in Hawaii are looking to pilot a wage increase for early childhood educators that would be subsidized through state dollars.

Illinois is considering a mandate that would require school districts to provide full-day kindergarten. Like Ohio, Illinois districts are currently required to offer half-day kindergarten – a somewhat odd reality when you consider many families’ modern day work schedules and the fact that extra coverage typically comes out of their own pockets. But mandating the districts offer it is only a small piece of the puzzle. As this article points out, “It’s just an issue of having space... They [schools] are going to have to build eight classrooms to be able to do this. That is not something they will be able to do in short order. Plus, it will be a million dollars a year to fund this, and they want to make sure they are doing it in a responsible manner.”  Without providing extra state funds, this is what folks mean when they talk about unfunded mandates. Either way, more robust (state-funded) kindergarten programming is an important part of a strong early learning system.  

What We're Reading

In recognition of May’s Mental Health Awareness month, we’re reminded of the importance of caring for children’s mental health. The Ohio State University Inspire podcast recently interviewed experts on the student mental health crisis. We know all too well that the pandemic increased experiences of anxiety and depression among students. This blog from the Children’s Funding Project reminds us that voter support for investing in youth mental health is high. In the Inspire podcast, Ohio State’s Dr. Rhodesia Miller comments that there is increased funding at the federal level for student mental health support (like this grant). Dr. Miller calls on state and local leaders to increase investment in these essential services for students.

Unfortunately, as this 74 million article describes, states and districts have been slow to take advantage of their share of over $1 billion in federal funding for mental health services. At the time this was written, 40 states had not begun distributing their share of federal dollars.  

This edition written by: Jamie O'Leary and Janelle Williamson

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