January 18, 2023 NAEYC 2023 Public Policy Forum (PPF) Are you a NAEYC member who is passionate about early childhood policy? Join fellow NAEYC members at this three-day forum and help us strengthen advocacy skills, expand policy knowledge, deepen relationships, and build power across states and communities! As a Public Policy Forum participant, NAEYC members have the opportunity to: Be part of a powerful team working to advance federal and state early childhood policy Hear from national and state policy leaders and fellow advocates Get the resources and experiences they need to be an informed and effective advocate Meet with members of Congress and build relationships with their staff and teams Forum Details Sunday, February 26, 2023 – Tuesday, February 28, 2023 Washington, DC Cost: $125 Registration NAEYC’s PPF is organized by state teams in order to build strong relationships and networks. To register, follow these steps: Find the name and email address for your state’s team leader on this spreadsheet. Send an email to your State Team Leader asking if you can join the team! Include your name and contact information. They will respond by providing you with the link to register. They may also ask you to share additional information to help them build a strong and connected team. Registration closes Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
February 9, 2022 NAEYC Virtual Public Policy Forum Join NAEYC for live engagement, virtual Congressional visits, and opportunities to build connections with educators, advocates, and allies in your state and local community. Visit the 2022 Public Policy Forum website for more information on sessions and speakers, and to register for this event. Registration will close on February 22, 2022. Reserve your spot today to become part of this strong, supportive, and growing community of advocates standing up for our nation’s children, families, and early childhood educators. NAEYC Members may attend this year’s Virtual Public Policy Forum at no cost. Individuals must be a member by February 20 to qualify for this benefit. About the Event Sunday, February 27 | 1 – 4:30 p.m. Monday, February 28 | 1 – 2:30 p.m. In order to provide participants with the most timely and relevant information and access to speakers and content, NAEYC shares the agenda and resources shortly before the start of the policy forum. Once registered, the state leader will contact participants in mid-February with details and state and community Congressional visits. About NAEYC NAEYC promotes high-quality early learning for all children, birth through age 8, by connecting practice, policy, and research. They advance a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession and support all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children.
April 26, 2019 PWSA Adopting Polices That Support Families The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) board will approve two policies that support caregivers. Paid Safe Leave Policy On Friday, April 26, 2019 the PWSA board will vote on a paid safe leave policy. The measure allows employees who have been victimized by domestic abuse to take days off from work. The PWSA joins Mayor Peduto who signed an Executive Order on safe leave for City of Pittsburgh employees last year. “The cost of domestic violence for employers is the loss of productivity. Employees plagued by violence at home are often distracted and sometimes ill at work. This policy will allow employees in these situations to try and take steps to improve the situation without fearing the loss of their job,” a board statement says. Parental Leave Policy The PWSA board will also vote on a paid parental leave policy. This policy permits new mothers and fathers to take six weeks of paid leave after the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child. “We’re grateful to the City of Pittsburgh for leading the way and our Board of Directors for adopting these progressive employment policies. The changes will help protect the well-being of our employees, help retain talent and attract the best and the brightest to join our team,” said PWSA Executive Director Robert A. Weimar. Both policies were adopted by Mayor William Peduto and Pittsburgh City Council. Learn more about both PWSA policies by visiting the City of Pittsburgh press release page.
February 25, 2019 Trying Together 2019-2020 Public Policy Agenda Released Trying Together is pleased to announce the release of its 2019-2020 Public Policy Agenda. The objectives listed build upon our successes and expand to include new areas of focus. The 2017-2018 agenda called for several action items which were positively advanced in the past two years. While there is still work to do, Trying Together helped to achieve several key accomplishments in support of these goals including: Advance the use of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). released a Kindergarten Transition white paper; formed a Recess Advocacy Team in partnership with the playful Pittsburgh Collaborative to elevate the importance of free play and promote recess best practices for children in pre-k through sixth grade; released a DAP white paper and guide for parents; hosted a DAP webinar; developed custom professional development on DAP for early childhood professionals; and presented information on the role of DAP to an assembly of school superintendents. End early childhood suspensions and expulsions*: released a white paper and guide for families; hosted a lunch and learn with the Remake Learning Council; presented at The Early Childhood Education Summit in 2017 and 2018; and sits on the state workgroup in Pennsylvania *Notably, Pittsburgh Public Schools ruled in 2017 that suspensions and expulsions for minor, non-violent infractions for K-2 students would be ended, after which Philadelphia followed. Additionally, The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) released a policy announcement and provided resources on how to do reduce suspensions and expulsions. Increase access to high-quality pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs. partnered on the Pre-K for PA campaign which successfully advocated for an increased investment of $55 million dollars in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 budgets collectively. Increase access to high-quality infant toddler care. successfully advocated for an increased investment of $26.8 million dollars in child care services as of the 2018-19 budget; and convened and partnered on a workgroup to launch the Start Strong PA campaign in January 2019 to advocate for high-quality child care for infants and toddlers. Transform the early childhood profession. provided several dozen Level 1 Teachers their Induction program; hosted the ECE Advocacy Fellowship for more than 20 early childhood professional; and successfully updated language state statute and regulations to use the term ‘child care’ instead of ‘day care’. Leverage resources and partnerships. has continued its partnership with the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University to provide professional development to 1,000 early care and education professionals who utilize the Message From Me digital tool, allowing 20,000 children to consistently communicate about their day with caregivers. In 2019, we, along with our partners, will develop an Advisory Board to bring this to PNC markets nationwide; and partners with the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU3) to lead the Hi5! Kindergarten Readiness and Registration campaign – working with nearly all 43 school districts in Allegheny County to facilitate roundtables and networking for best practices in supporting young children as they transition into kindergarten. As a leading advocate for high-quality early childhood care and education in Pennsylvania, Trying Together educates and engages regularly with policymakers on access, affordability, and quality policies that affect the lives of children, families, and professionals throughout the state. Partnering with education, government, business, nonprofit, and philanthropic stakeholders, Trying Together advocates for public policy changes throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, with an emphasis in the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Visit tryingtogether.org to view the full 2019-2020 Public Policy Agenda. Advocates are invited to sign on support for the 2019-2020 Trying Together Public Policy Agenda at tryingtogether.org to begin engaging their legislators today.
February 15, 2019 Response to Governor Wolf’s Budget Proposal On Tuesday, February 5, Governor Tom Wolf presented his fiscal year 2019-20 budget proposal. In highlighting his plan to make the Pennsylvania workforce the strongest in the nation, he outlined several increases in early care and education programs, as well as his plans to spend over $101 million in federal child care funds. Governor Wolf’s proposal includes the following: Child Care $15 million in federal funds to provide subsidized child care for 970 additional infants/toddlers in STAR 3 and 4 programs. $10 million in federal funds to provide a 28 percent increase to tiered reimbursement rates for STAR 2, 3 and 4 providers for infant/toddler care. $2 million in federal funds to support an “Early Childhood Career Pathways Initiative” for education, training and professional supports for an apprenticeship, or work-based learning model for professionals serving infants/toddlers in early care and education programs. $74 million in federal funds to provide a rate increase for subsidized providers for an increase in the minimum wage to $12/hour. Today only one-third of subsidized children are accessing high-quality STAR 3 and 4 care, 4,300 children are on the subsidy waiting list, with families waiting 88 days to access subsidies they need to work, 50 percent of child care staff are receiving public assistance and child care subsidy reimbursements do not cover the cost of quality care. Trying Together, along with nine partner advocacy organizations, launched a new advocacy campaign last week – Start Strong PA – to turn those numbers around and increase access to high-quality child care for families so their infants and toddlers can grow, learn and succeed. We are pleased to see the federal spending plan includes a waiting list initiative to serve more infants/toddlers in high-quality care and an increase in tiered reimbursement that will provide further program stability and consistency in teacher:child relationships. These are proposals for which we and partners advocated and align with our goals. We also believe the “career pathways” initiative will help to attract and retain talented early care and education teachers, another hallmark of the campaign. Trying Together looks forward to learning more about Governor Wolf’s minimum wage proposal’s impact on the professionals in our field and the programs in which they work. While we appreciate the allocation of these critical federal dollars and again thank our federal delegation for strong, bipartisan support for high-quality child care, we are concerned with the lack of new state investments in this area. Pre-K $40 million for the Pre-K Counts program $10 million for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program This expansion would serve 5,500 additional young children. Today the commonwealth ranks 18th of the 30 states investing in high-quality, publicly-funded pre-k and with this investment 100,000 children still lack access. As a leading partner in the Pre-K for PA campaign, Trying Together is advocating that lawmakers fully-fund Governor Wolf’s proposal. Evidence-Based Home Visiting In addition, the budget proposal includes a $5 million investment in evidence-based home visiting programs to expand home visiting for 800 eligible families. For more information on home visiting advocacy efforts go to www.childhoodbeginsathome.org. Evidence-Based Early Intervention There is a $15 million state funding increase proposed in the Department of Education budget and a $9.75 million increase in the Department of Human Services (DHS) budget for Early Intervention to continue to support the cost of children receiving services. Trying Together commends Governor Wolf for his continued commitment to early care and education programs in the commonwealth and encourages a state investment be made in high-quality child care so we can provide children with the educational foundation they all deserve. We will advocate for these investments as the budget process continues. Stay up-to-date on how to advocate for these issues by signing-up to support Trying Together’s public policy agenda here.
October 4, 2018 Resources for Addressing Suspensions & Expulsions Released On Thursday, October 4, Remake Learning held its monthly Lunch & Learn at Trying Together’s Hazelwood Early Learning Hub. Approximately 30 early childhood educators attended from the Carnegie Science Center, Focus on Renewal in McKees Rocks, Fox Chapel Area School District, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Propel Charter Schools, and other early childhood programs. There they discussed strategies to address young children’s behavior and learned more about DAP responses which may be helpful for future situations. Attendees will receive an exclusive first-look at the latest white paper from Trying Together’s policy team entitled, “End Early Childhood Suspensions and Expulsions: Developmentally Appropriate Practices and Policies For Addressing Behaviors in The Early Elementary School Grades.” A supplemental document entitled, “Addressing Suspensions and Expulsions: A Guide for Families” provides helpful tips family caregivers can employ to address their suspension and expulsion concerns. Both documents will be available to the public on Friday, October 5. If you are interested in advocating for better policies around suspensions and expulsions, sign-up for Public Policy Alerts.
