Community Connections for Children | ELRC

No one thinks of their life as extraordinary — a tool for teaching and leading others. 

I have learned all of us are mistaken. 

For good or bad, our lives have an impact on others. We carry our experiences with us. 

Often, we don’t even know we are carrying them. We lug them into places they don’t belong and realities that don’t align, even if our minds and hearts think they do. 

When years or decades have convinced us that one thing is to be expected, or ‘normal,’ even if it’s wrong and toxic, it’s hard to let that go.

In December 2011, I started a job as Executive Director. 

The building was designed, I quickly learned, by architects with a sense of humor (or too much time on their hands).

By elevator stops, there were three floors. By changes in elevation, there were seven

floors. 

The Executive Director’s office, as is stereotypic, was at the very top of the building. The staff would joke that you had to pack a lunch to get from one department to another. 

After my tour, I believed them. My new office was huge, complete with a six-foot table and a large desk. By far the biggest office I had ever had. 

It was also the only one in the building with windows looking out to the street. The symbolism wasn’t lost on me.

On my second day, I decided to bring bagels to work. And to serve them on the table in my

office. The bagel shop is at the end of the street where I live, and it was an easy thing to

do. I didn’t think it would be anything out of the ordinary.

Why bring bagels? 

Because I am my grandmother’s and mother’s daughter. If you want to get to know people, share a meal with them. Serve them (literally and figuratively). 

I thought it would help me match names with faces and get to know the staff of almost 50. I chose a wide variety of bagels and types of cream cheese, set everything up, and sent out an email to the entire staff, inviting people to come to my office and get a bagel.

And no one came. I sent out a page and still, no one came.

I started to grow concerned. Clearly, what I expected to happen—bring food and people will come and eat it—was not what happened in this organization. 

I called one of the Associate Executive Directors. A woman I sort of knew prior to starting my job. I asked, somewhat panicky, “Do people not like bagels? Should I have gotten donuts?

Maybe yogurt and granola?” 

She paused and my heart sank a little. She said, “People aren’t used to going to that office. Except for their first day when touring the building and their last day. They just don’t have any context or experience for going to the Executive Director’s office. Certainly not to share a meal.”

I was incredulous. I said, “Can you please just help get them into the room? If you can get them in the room. I think I can do the rest.”

It never occurred to me that people would be uncomfortable, perhaps even afraid of sharing a meal with me. It wasn’t my lived experience. That was not how I saw myself.

That’s not the type of Executive Director I wanted to be. I too had that kind of boss (more than once). We all have. And while I wasn’t so naïve to think that the title didn’t come with assumed and real power, it certainly wasn’t my vision of leadership

The Queen Bee

I thought back to a few short weeks prior when I told my former boss I was leaving. The first thing out of her mouth was, “Oh, so you’re going to go be a Queen Bee.”

I responded (incredulously), “Well I never thought of it that way, but technically, yes, I

guess so.”

And here on my second day, I was smacked across the face with how the “worker bees” perceived the “queen.”  And I didn’t like it and that persona didn’t fit. And I knew the most important thing I had to do, in those first weeks and months, was to address this culture I had inherited. And work alongside my new team to change it.

That morning some people did come up. They trickled in. As if the brave ones were scoping me and the situation out. I had hoped they would stay and eat, so we could chitchat. Very few did. For those that did, I took it as a win, a first step in developing relationships.

And it was also clear that when those scouts returned with food and apparently unharmed, it nudged others to come up. Not everyone came. Not even close. There were a lot of leftover bagels. Bagels I stubbornly refused to move to the kitchen or conference room. I wasn’t going to concede that point: my goal of using food to start and make a connection.

Over the weeks and months, I spent as much time as I could out of my office. Interacting with the team. Sharing myself—as a person—a real person. Not the principal or the queen. Some people came around quickly. For others, it took a long time. Some were pretty shell-shocked from past toxic bosses and experiences they had throughout their careers. 

It was as if they couldn’t quite convince themselves that I meant that I wanted the culture to be different. And that I was committed to working with them to create a new culture we could all feel good about.

Gradually, Trust and Relationships Were Built

Lots of food is served from that office table. The candy jar regularly has to be restocked. The team knows, literally and figuratively, the door is always open. 

And stop in they do. To ask questions, share ideas, give feedback, and talk about their lives. They believe me, not because of my words, but by my consistent actions. They know I am there for them.

Always and all ways.

The Board hired me and I report to them. But I work for the staff. It’s my primary task to serve the staff and ensure they have everything they need to be successful. (and get out of their way and let them do it!). How else could the organization (and I) be successful?

Years later, we still talk about the day I brought bagels. It’s become, I suppose, our “creation story.” A simple act that I had no idea would become an eye-opening experience. 

A mirror held up to the culture I inherited, and the painful issues staff carried with them that needed to be addressed. And a tiptoe into the water of building trust and real relationships.

And the Other Side of the Story…

Approximately 40% of the staff who were there that day are still here nearly 11 years later. 

I recently asked what they remembered about that day. Probably the biggest testament to our new culture is that I could ask, and they felt free to respond honestly and openly. 

Here’s what they had to say:

Someone who had been on staff for years prior to that morning remembered asking a coworker where the Executive Director’s office was. She commented, “Doesn’t that say it all?  It was an open door policy without an open door for most staff.”

Several others commented they remembered not wanting to go up because it was awkward and out of the norm to do so. 

One person reported she went to other offices to ask if anyone was going up. She went on to say, she gathered her courage and went up as she was curious. But most people didn’t.

And when asked what has changed since that day, my colleagues had this to say:

You are personable, friendly, relatable, kind, humble, and tough when we need you to be. 

You have had a unique way of being our leader, feeling deeply about what we have been experiencing, and if we are content and happy at work. 

I think the appreciation you have for what we all do and the interest in wanting our opinions is a big change.  

You are more focused on our work-life balance.

Departments work together more than before.

You trust that staff will get the work done and be good stewards of our work time and taxpayer dollars.

In the past, we could not inform our staff of certain things until we had the go-ahead from upper management. Everything was so secretive and structured in a way that you could not stray from the norm.  This made our working environment very stressful.  It also made a division between management and staff. 

The culture has changed in such a way that you are more accessible and available because of your view on how an ED should support their organization and your staff. 

These responses are humbling. 

It’s been a lot of hard work, intention, and shared leadership to create this culture of trust, respect, and fun. It’s something we talk about, pay attention to, and nurture.

And I’m grateful for our shared commitment to the continued development and growth of our culture. I will, years from now, retire from this position.

However, if I ever do become a leader somewhere else, you better believe on my second day, I will bring bagels and serve them from my office. It will tell me all I need to know about the culture I inherited.

My advice to you as you start a new job in a leadership position? 

Bring bagels and serve them in your new office.

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About Child Care Consultants, Inc.

Child Care Consultants, Inc. (CCC) is a nonprofit centered in the heart of Pennsylvania. They serve childcare providers and low-income families ‒ the ones that have been impacted the most by the pandemic. 

For you and your business, CCC helps keep childcare options open for your employees ‒ saving missed work hours and lowering on-the-job stress levels. They work with early childhood education programs and home-based providers to improve the quality of care, ensuring that all children enter school ready to be successful.

Christy Renjilian serves as its Executive Director. 

To learn more, visit childcareconsultants.org.

Written By: Christy S. Renjilian

As you probably know, a hybrid workplace is one in which staff members have the flexibility, based on their position, preference, and job performance, to work at the office or off-site. 

It’s a workplace that trusts and values its employees, actively promotes and fosters a work-life balance, and supports individualization of work schedules. 

These workplaces are forward-looking, innovative, and adaptive. They continue to ask the question, how can we support our staff and serve our clients better? 

And an understanding that the answers are not mutually exclusive.

On top of all those characteristics, successful hybrid workplaces listen.

“Our capacity to operate at peak productivity and performance varies dramatically according to our personal preferences. So in designing hybrid work, consider the preferences of your employees—and enable others to understand and accommodate those preferences.”

— Lynda Gratton with Harvard Business Review

Listening matters.

If you work at a hybrid employer, you may feel similar to the way respondents felt in a recent Gallup Poll. 

If reported the greatest advantages of hybrid work to date are: 

• improved work-life balance
• more efficient use of time
• control over work hours and work location
• burnout mitigation
• higher productivity

And that same poll showed the greatest challenges of hybrid work include: 

• having the right tools to be effective at work
• feeling less connected to the organization’s culture
• impaired collaboration and relationships
• disrupted work processes

If you’re still on the fence about embracing a hybrid approach, here are a few statistics from Zippia’s September 2022 hybrid workplace report:

• 74% of U.S. companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid work model
• 63% of high-growth companies use a “productivity anywhere” hybrid work model
• 55% of employees want to work remotely at least three days a week

Hybrid workplaces are more in demand than ever, and I’m pulling back the curtain to share with you how we here at CCC transitioned from an in-person nonprofit to a hybrid workplace.

How CCC Shifted from a Traditional, In-Person Employer to an Evolving Hybrid Workplace

The shift from traditional to hybrid was built on the foundation and culture we work so hard to create. 

About a year into the pandemic, a manager who has been on the team for years commented, “We would not have been able to transition to working remotely if the pandemic had hit either before you became Executive Director or shortly thereafter. We didn’t trust our employees, and there was a culture of micromanagement. Our communication and connections were not strong like they are now.”

Like most Executives, while I saw the pandemic coming, I had about four hours—from the time I

got the Governor’s text at around 5 am until my 9 am all-staff meeting to develop the initial plan

for how people would do their jobs at home. 

And at that moment, while I didn’t know exactly how it would all work out, I had a deep trust in my team’s commitment to those we serve and knew they would work hard to complete their job duties.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, we were a hybrid workplace. Some staff preferred to

continue to work in the building, and we were able to accommodate them. With precautions of course, like not sending accounting team members home with blank checks and a printer.

One of our core programs pays child care fees for low-income working families directly to child care providers. We process thousands of payments and distribute them to seven counties — for an average total of $5 million a month.

The next payment was due to be processed two days after we transitioned to working at home. Plans were made to cut checks and process ACH with as few people in the building at the same time as possible. I remember going into the office at 5 am to sign the checks after the finance team member had printed them out the day before. We did whatever was necessary to keep CCC running and our community supported.

Over the past two and half years, we continue to revise our model—to re-imagine and re-

configure what hybrid means to us.

We distributed a staff survey asking each employee what their preferred work model was —home, office, or hybrid. And to define “hybrid” how many days per week or month in the office they preferred. The Leadership Team used this information to develop individualized staff schedules that aligned with preferences as well as reduce the number of people in shared office spaces at the same time. 

Some job functions, such as receptionists, require people to be in the building. Others, we have determined, do not. Even if prior to March 2020 we would never have thought the job could be performed while not in the building.

When we first sent people to work remotely from home in March 2020, of course, their laptops

went with them. Over the course of weeks, we quickly realized this was going to last longer than

anticipated, and staff could choose to take home their office chair, printer, and equipment to

support their home workspace. 

Our HR manager regularly sends information about ergonomics, mental health and wellness, and reminds the staff of our EAP services. We send multiple emails a week regarding health and wellness, started a weekly mindfulness/meditation practice, and use TEAMS for catching up and sharing photos of our lives (our new “water cooler chats”).

Three Mindset Shifts to Embrace This New Way of Working

1. Technology Is Your Friend

CCC quickly embraced Zoom and TEAMS. Staff was encouraged to explore these tools and empowered to share their knowledge with others. We realized that TEAMS is a fantastic tool

both for “work tasks” and “maintenance and promotion of our interactions and culture.”

We learned how to teach the families, providers, and community partners how to use these

technologies to ensure that we could effectively engage with them during the height of the pandemic when in-person visits were not possible.

2. Flexibility and Individualization

Pre-COVID, most CCC staff worked 8:30 am to 5 pm, although we did have some people begin as early as 7 am and others start later. We have shifted our mindsets so that work times are more flexible.

Our culture and trust, and systems of checks and balances, allow us to have staff work times

that align with their needs. For example, in the first weeks/months of COVID when schools

were closed or remote, some staff began their work day earlier, perhaps took a longer break

during the middle of the day (than the typical hour lunch), and then worked later into the evening.

We allowed them the flexibility to manage their time to ensure that they were both meeting their

work requirements and their family responsibilities. These schedules could change daily,

weekly or monthly as their particular situations changed, and we are able to accommodate

these variations.

CCC’s leadership team shifted to a more individualized approach. While we previously

accommodated modest variations in schedule, we typically approached situations striving for

consistency. Our mindset has shifted so that we embrace a culture of individualization.

We accommodate individual schedules, needs, and preferences. We work hard to ensure that staff view individualization as “fair” even though it may not be “equal.”

3. Connection Doesn’t Require Proximity

Prior to COVID, we did our work in person. Either within our office buildings, at an early childhood education program, or attending face-to-face meetings in the communities we serve. We would drive all over our 13 county regions with the mindset that to support and effectively interact with someone, we needed to do it in person.

And while there are some things that are better done in person, we have learned that many

things can happen with the same high level of personal connection virtually. Particularly small

group meetings or meetings that pull in people from multiple counties. 

Eliminating travel time has greatly increased attendance at these meetings. We worked hard to provide virtual meetings across several platforms, at various times, and in both small and large groups to foster connections when we couldn’t meet in person. 

As we transition back to more in-person events, we think strategically about what the best format for the interaction is as well as the preferences of the persons we will be engaging with.

Two Reasons Our Hybrid Workplace is Working

1. Commitment to Customer Service

From the very first days of COVID, our commitment was both to protect our staff and to continue

to provide the highest possible customer service. CCC never closed—we just transitioned to

working remotely (and now hybrid). 

We determined very quickly that the most critical aspects of customer service are not you being in the same physical space. But rather through actively listening to the person you are interacting with, building meaningful and effective supportive relationships. That work can and does happen through consistency, caring, and time. 

Our staff cares deeply about those we serve. And we mean SERVE. We work for them. And that care and commitment shines through even over Zoom or the phone. 

We believe that our retention rate (99.99% over the past three years) and the ability for clients and providers to have the same point of contact are critical to high-quality customer service and effective partnerships.

2. Culture

CCC’s staff regularly comment that this is the best place they’ve ever worked. And that’s a

testament not just to leadership but to each and every employee. We deeply care about and pay

attention to our culture. It’s a culture of mutual respect, open communication, and the belief that

each employee is critical to our success. 

Many businesses that struggled through remote working and are having trouble implementing a hybrid work model state that the challenges are mostly around maintaining their culture and ensuring that staff feels and are connected and supported. 

Since CCC spends a great deal of time and resources promoting and nurturing our culture, we had the tools in place to maintain and grow it even during COVID.

As the saying goes, if you want to know what’s important to you, track what you spend your time

on. We intentionally spend time on communication, connections, culture, and relationships. We’ve done that for years, and it is what enables us to be so successful.

We practice what we preach, encouraging work-life balance, people taking their PTO, involving staff at all levels, seeking their meaningful input, and using it to inform decisions and policies. Board and staff (all staff) regularly serve on committees together, and the ED does not micromanage their relationships or communications.

And Our Biggest Struggle When It Comes to the Hybrid Model

… Growth

CCC added 11 positions during the past 18 months. It has been challenging to secure new

employees during this time of staffing crisis. We feel fortunate that we have all but one 

position filled. (Check out our website if you’re looking!) 

We’ve also, due primarily to the ARPA and CARES grants to ECE programs, DOUBLED our

revenue from approximately $85 million to $161 million in the past two years. 

This incredible growth was initially done with the staff on hand. It required our excellent leadership team to effectively manage job tasks, increased workloads, and staff morale. 

Of course, the increased work did not mean that other job functions went away (that’s never the case, especially for a nonprofit). Our staff rose to the occasion and have successfully navigated the exponential growth.

Advice For Nonprofit Leaders Looking to Recruit and Retain Talented Team Members

If I could only give you one piece of advice it would be to join the evolution toward a hybrid work model. 

According to Stanford University research, “About 70 percent of firms — from tiny companies to massive multinationals like Apple, Google, and Citi — have implemented some form of hybrid working arrangements so their employees can divide their time between collaborating with colleagues on site and working from home.”

Stop saying, “we have always done it this way, we can’t try that, or we have to do the same thing for every employee”

Value, trust, and actively encourage work-life balance and offer some type of hybrid work model to retain your workers.

CCC has ONE staff person who has left for another position since March 2020. One. Fortunately, the great resignation did not impact us. And you’ve heard about how women left workplaces at a higher rate… which is noteworthy since 98% of our staff are women. 

Why have we retained our team when others have not? 

Because we listen, adapt, and trust. 

As a nonprofit that serves families, it is critical that we also value—through tangible means—the

family life of our employees. We’ve worked hard to keep our culture thriving, to increase

salaries, to adapt to a hybrid model, and to support our employees.

Simple but powerful concrete actions to maintain our culture and connections included a weekly

newsletter at the start of the pandemic, not about work, but about life during the pandemic,

written by the ED. 

Fun virtual meetings planned by staff committees, that occurred both during work hours and in the evenings. We played trivia, Bingo, and Scattegories. Family members joined in. We laughed and connected with each other. 

We have lunch and learn check-ins on a wide variety of topics to promote staff interactions. The Executive Director held small group sessions with every employee to maintain connections. 

It’s imperative to evolve our culture and boost morale as leaders and employers. 

You can implement change within your organization, nurture a listening environment, and grow trust within your team, too.

“We like to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge that they have the drive and expertise to perform excellently, whether they’re at their desk or in their kitchen. Yours truly has never worked out of an office, and never will.”

— Sir Richard Branson, Virgin America

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Additional Reading

Harvard Business Review: How to Do Hybrid Right 

Gallup: Advantages and Challenges of Hybrid Work 

Stanford: Hybrid is the Future of Work 

Zippea: 30 Essential Hybrid Work Statistics [2022]: The Future of Work

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About Child Care Consultants, Inc.

Child Care Consultants, Inc. (CCC) is a nonprofit centered in the heart of Pennsylvania. They serve childcare providers and low-income families ‒ the ones that have been impacted the most by the pandemic. 

For you and your business, CCC helps keep childcare options open for your employees ‒ saving missed work hours and lowering on-the-job stress levels. They work with early childhood education programs and home-based providers to improve the quality of care, ensuring that all children enter school ready to be successful.

Christy Renjilian serves as its Executive Director. 
To learn more, visit childcareconsultants.org.

Including Steps to Effect Real Change

Written By: Christy S. Renjilian

When we think about “best practices” in early childhood education, let’s think in terms of policy and program structure, as well as curriculum.

Research tells us that the best early childhood education curriculums are child-directed and play-based.  

Play is the work of childhood and lays the strongest foundation and best tools for development— mentally, socially, and physically.  

A local early childhood education expert puts it this way, “Reggio Emilia, Italy, and Finland focus on children and PLAY—both exploration and discovery—with fewer ADULTS standing around to tell children what to think and how to think. Follow the children and they will lead. Give them a voice and allow them to freely explore their interests and watch what happens to our future generations.”

Play-based curriculums focus on the child and incorporate their imagination, interests, and creativity into learning. Young children don’t learn best through worksheets, drills, or computer games, they learn by exploring and doing. Incorporating these elements into every program will ensure a high-quality program.

In fact, the 2021 UNICEF Report: “Where Do Rich Countries Stand on Childcare?” assessed the following indicators: 

• Paid parental leave
• Access to child care
• Quality of child care
• Affordability of childcare

Of the 41 countries included in the study, the United States ranked 40^th, only ahead of Slovakia. Dismal results, right?

And with each individual indicator, the US ranked 15^th in quality, 41^st in leave (yes, the very end of the list), 38^th in affordability, and 35^th in access. 

The report found that the US is the only wealthy country without nationwide, statutory, paid parental leave. 

As a country, we must do better.  

The countries in the top five overall rankings are Luxembourg, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Germany.  And the top five in quality are Iceland, Latvia, New Zealand, Finland, and Denmark. 

And an important point, the countries with the highest quality childcare combine a low teacher-child ratio with high qualifications. 

Why Quality Early Child Care Matters

It’s obvious why quality early child care is important as it shapes the next generation. But let’s take a dive into the latest research to really understand the value.

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, in their recent report, “From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A science-based approach to building a more promising future for young children” proposed the formation of the following….

“A research and development platform that will catalyze a new era in early childhood policy and practice, driven by a new way of thinking fueled by advances in science and a new way of working that embraces the culture of innovation.”

Decades of research in behavioral and social sciences and recent discoveries combine to help explain how healthy development happens, what can derail it, and what we can do to restore it. 

Important findings include:

• Relationships with caring, responsive adults and early positive experiences build strong brain architecture. 
• Significant stress from ongoing hardship or threat disrupts the foundations of learning, behavior, and health with life-long negative consequences.
• Providing the right ingredients for healthy development—including protective factors that can counterbalance the effects of adversity—from the start produces a better outcome than trying to fix problems later on in life. 

It’s clear that early experiences affect a child over the course of their life—in learning, yes, but also in physical and mental health. 

Let’s explore a successful program here in the states to see what we should be working towards.

A Look at a Cutting-Edge Public & Private Partnership in the US 

Because child care is considered essential to “military readiness,” the Defense Department spends over $1 billion a year funding everything from the upkeep of centers to subsidizing parent fees to the employment of 23,000 childcare workers—many of whom are specifically trained by the military for early education and are paid more than their civilian counterparts.

The military requires its providers to meet state health and safety licensure as well as national accreditation. Nearly all (95 percent) of military child development centers have a Department of Defence certification and receive accreditation by a national accrediting body such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Compared to about 10 percent of civilian centers. 

Providers are subject to four unannounced inspections per year, and ongoing noncompliance can result in the closure and dismissal of staff. 

The education and training of child care instructors are key indicators of quality. As such, the MCCS mandates a training program (including on-the-job training) and credentials as a condition for employment. This training is provided at no cost to the employee, and it is linked to a career ladder that leads to increased compensation for each promotion. 

Additionally, the military system offers higher wages and benefits than those received by civilian counterparts, which has dramatically reduced staff turnover.

We know high-quality early care and education is expensive, and most military families are unable to afford these costs in full. All active-duty military families have access to the system and receive a financial subsidy to offset the cost. 

Fees for on-base programs are on a sliding scale, determined by family income. On average, these subsidies cover 64 percent of the cost. Families using programs in civilian communities receive a stipend to cover a portion of their costs as well.

Unfortunately, despite the nearly $1 billion federal investment in early childhood education programs for military families, there are not nearly enough slots for all the children. Waiting lists are long, priority is not clear (it’s not just in date order), and many children end up in poor-quality programs.

This model is one that researchers, advocates, and lawmakers urge the rest of the country to emulate.

Next Steps We Can Take to Affect Change in Early Childhood Education

In South Central Pennsylvania, we can, as a community, continue to build on our strong foundation and commitment to the quality of our early childhood educators, business and community leaders, and local funders.  

The York Early Learning Investment Commission (ELIC) was recognized by the State, for its innovative project to raise funds to provide awards to early childhood educators. Over $468,000 was awarded to 311 teachers serving over 4,000 children. And discussions are currently underway to expand this initiative to other counties across Pennsylvania.  

Local business and community leaders continue to be engaged and committed to increasing the capacity and quality of programs.  These conversations are focused on how we can best leverage both private and public funding to encourage innovation.  

Innovative thinking includes utilizing existing empty spaces in schools, places of worship, nonprofits, offices, and businesses to open early childhood education programs. 

Innovations such as businesses reserving quality child care spots for their employees and providing additional funding to early childhood education programs to increase wages.  Or providing benefits to their employees to help with tuition. 

We know our local economy rests on the childcare industry. And that industry is in great peril. 

It’s imperative for us to work together to come up with long-term, creative solutions to increase revenue, capacity, and quality.

A Long-Term Plan of Action to Effect Change

Long-term steps include rethinking the very way the industry is structured. 

The low teacher-to-child ratios of providing education and care to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers equate to an unsustainable system. 

Parents cannot pay the full cost of care and as a result, the staff is under-compensated, and turnover is high—negatively impacting the quality of programming. 

For the past several years, the staffing crisis has only gotten worse, and most programs are serving only 84% of their typical enrollment.  

Public and private leaders are responsible for making bold, innovative changes to ensure that children get the education they need to be successful in school and life.

And doing so gives parents and guardians of young children the opportunity to work, support their families, and make an impact in their local economy.

We can not fundraise our way out of this problem. And our local leaders and foundations, as generous and committed as they are, cannot raise, year in and year out, the approximate $45 million in additional funding we need in York County, Pennsylvania alone, to fill the gap. 

Public funding to assist all families—not just those who qualify for Child Care Works, Pre-K Counts, and/or Head Start—must be considered. A variety of delivery models, incorporating our current home-based, group, and center providers, must be maintained to give parents options. 

We must invest in all children in the same way that we do low-income children, just like we fund public education for every student from Kindergarten through higher education regardless of income level. 

Some communities have raised funds with additional taxes on things like soda. Others use their lottery winnings to support young children (as well as seniors).  

Nationally, we need to develop a plan for universal care for preschoolers and a plan for care for infants and toddlers. 

Universal Pre-K doesn’t mean that every child has to attend. It means that every family who wants their child to attend has access to a quality program that meets their personal needs. Just like in Pennsylvania mandatory schooling doesn’t start until a child is eight—but most families choose to start their children at age five or six.

We can no longer be at the bottom of the world ranking in our support for young children and their families.  

It’s unfathomable that study after study proves that for every dollar we invest in early childhood education we can save at least $13 in public spending in future years, and yet we are doing nothing about it. 

It’s like if I said in Part One of this series, you’re presented the opportunity to pay a dollar for a gallon of gas today or $13 a gallon tomorrow. 

And you pick to get your gas tomorrow. And you make that choice every day for years. 

It’s a failed economic choice, and that choice is failing our children, our workers, and our businesses.  

We can and must do better.  

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Additional Reading:

The Uncertain Future of Early Childhood Education: Part One

The 2021 UNICEF Report: Where do rich countries stand on childcare?

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About Child Care Consultants, Inc.

Child Care Consultants, Inc. (CCC) is a nonprofit centered in the heart of Pennsylvania. They serve childcare providers and low-income families ‒ the ones that have been impacted the most by the pandemic. 

For you and your business, CCC helps keep childcare options open for your employees ‒ saving missed work hours and lowering on-the-job stress levels. They work with early childhood education programs and home-based providers to improve the quality of care, ensuring that all children enter school ready to be successful.

Christy Renjilian serves as its Executive Director. 

To learn more, visit childcareconsultants.org.