DC Action

“Our educators have made decisions, like buying homes and relocating their families and making investments in their futures, that can’t tolerate such a large chunk of their salary being cut,” says Ruqiyyah Abu-Anbar, director of early childhood at the advocacy group DC Action. “Those teachers who have bachelor’s degrees could find a job working at a D.C. public school or many other places, but they’re in early childhood education because they care about it. But when you put someone in the position of reducing their salary so significantly, even passion isn’t always enough to hold them there.” https://lnkd.in/eBtcs9sk

Today, the DC Fiscal Policy Institute published a new report on the fines and fees imposed at nearly every stage of the criminal legal process and their disproportionate impact on Black and low-income residents. https://lnkd.in/dW_vFz3J

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽Through collaboration, we have been able to protect home visiting programs and secure Medicaid Reimbursement for nurse-led home visiting services in FY25. The District of Columbia joins 28 other states that have activated this sustainable home visiting federal funding source. Mary's Center DC Action

💥💥💥The Under 3 DC coalition is grateful to see DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson and DC Councilmembers reverse Mayor Bowser’s elimination of the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund by restoring $280 million over the 4-year financial plan, $70 million in funding to the program for the 2025 fiscal year, including $12 million for HealthCare4ChildCare. The District of Columbia's early learning community is comforted in knowing the DC Council recognizes how vital the program is for child care, and going from zero dollars to where they landed was no small feat, especially in such a challenging budget year. However, some fundamental challenges lie ahead for early childhood educators. Pay cuts are still likely to be on the table, along with a potential pause on HealthCare4ChildCare enrollment this fall because of next year's $17 million funding gap (OSSE will spend $87 million this fiscal year). We look forward to working with members of the DC Council and OSSE in the upcoming months and future budget years to ensure that the Pay Equity Fund is designed, funded, and implemented to meet the needs of our educators and meet the goal of pay parity with DC Public School teachers. The DC Council-sanctioned Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund Task Force is now responsible for recommending changes to the Fund that will ensure the program is as fair and efficient as possible to reduce spending while minimizing harmful impacts on educator salaries and benefits. Not to be forgotten is the Child Care Subsidy program that did not see the DC Council restore the $10 million Mayor Bowser slashed from its budget. In a region where working families from across all income levels depend on child care, this funding reduction will slow the progress the District is making toward ensuring more families have access to high-quality, affordable child care. #

Great day on Capitol Hill advocating for increased federal funding for out-of-school time programs! DC youth spoke powerfully about the impact of afterschool on their lives in our conversation with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s office. Thank you to the Afterschool Alliance for organizing the Afterschool for All Challenge!

Thanks to the Afterschool Alliance, DC Action is joining other leaders on Capitol Hill to advocate for federal funding for afterschool! Jorge Membreño, LICSW Kawanza Billy Ryllie Danylko Afterschool Alliance

According to the 2024 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, #WashingtonDC does an impressive job of ensuring that our children have access to health insurance and to prekindergarten. However, we have a long way to go to provide the economic and educational opportunities every child needs to thrive. Poverty rates, reading and math proficiency rates, school absenteeism, and graduation rates all fall among the worst in the nation. That juxtaposition between what’s possible when we make consistent, well-managed investments in our children’s well-being and what our young people face when we fail to do so is particularly salient now as the DC Council debates the budget for the next fiscal year. As the KIDS COUNT state partner for the District, DC Action is glad that these data can help make it clear where the District is doing well and where we need to improve. We invite you to read our newest blog that takes a look at the latest KIDS COUNT Data Book and where we stand on investments in kids in the 2025 budget: https://lnkd.in/dZGirS8m

A really nice piece of journalism in Morningstar, originally published in MarketWatch by Dow Jones, cites Mathematica's research supported by DC Action and Bezos Family Foundation showing how increased pay for child care and early education #CCEE workers in the District of Columbia has helped boost employment levels at a time when retention and turnover are a nationwide challenge in this sector. The article cites findings I shared in a post on Mathematica's webpage earlier this month. Please keep an eye out for the full report, which will be published very soon.

We know that compensation is a critical piece in reimagining an equitable and effective child care system. As we seek to create comprehensive policy solutions on behalf of children and families, early childhood educator compensation — across all settings — has been and will continue to be a priority for us. We're honored to be one of the 44 organizations urging the D.C. Council to reverse the proposed budget cuts and will continue to strive for a society where all children and families thrive. 

More than 40 organizations across the country working on behalf of hundreds of thousands of early childhood educators, #childcare providers and families to ensure that young children, families, and economies benefit from high-quality, accessible, and affordable child care signed an #Under3DC letter imploring the #WashingtonDC Council to immediately reverse Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed FY 2025 budget cuts that permanently eliminate the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund and HealthCare4ChildCare, and slashes $10 million from the local child care subsidy program.  https://lnkd.in/eGzP4Jrx