The road to affordable child care

Find out more in our new policy brief

The Ounce is excited to announce the release of a new policy brief, Expanding High-Quality Child Care for Infants & Toddlers: Lessons from Implementation of Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships in States. Our national policy team conducted interviews with leaders in six states and D.C. to learn more about the impacts of the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships on child care policies and systems.

Check out our full paper, executive summary, individual state profiles, communications toolkit (for stakeholder engagement) and webinar recording below.

Solving the child care crisis

Identifying what works through innovative policy solutions

Our very own Kristin Bernhard, senior vice president of policy and advocacy at the Ounce, shares her thoughts on how innovative policy solutions, like the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships, can improve the affordability, access and quality of infant-toddler care around the country.

Click here to read the blog post featuring Kristin’s take on the lessons we can draw from these innovative approaches in tackling our nation’s child care crisis and encouraging our lawmakers to invest in early childhood.

Don't miss these updates on advocates in action

Home visiting advocates take to the Hill

National Home Visiting Summit attendees meet with legislators

The Ounce recently hosted its 9th annual National Home Visiting Summit for practitioners and advocates in the field. During the week, attendees were encouraged to visit their legislators on the Hill to talk about the importance of home visiting in their communities. Missi Baranko, representing Lutheran Social Services in North Dakota, had this to say about her meeting on the Hill: “Congressman Armstrong welcomed us with interest in supporting families’ self-efficiency, while understanding that when families are faced with incredible challenges and obstacles, we often need to be creative in how supports are accessed and received, removing barriers whenever possible.”

Get inspired, read more and check out photos taken during the visits.

Lunch and learn in Oklahoma City

Read our recap of this exciting event hosted by our national policy team

Last month, our national policy team was thrilled to lead a lunch and learn with our partners at Educare Oklahoma, where we shared findings from our recent Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships policy brief. Over 40 community leaders from local government, business, and the nonprofit sector came together to learn and share ideas for improved child care and early education.

Read more about the event.

Jackie Evans and Brittany Egger Early Childhood Advocacy Heroes

You'll want to read this inspiring interview

Infant and toddler champions in Oklahoma

Dynamic duo make an impact by teaming up

In 2014, Congress addressed the child care crisis by appropriating $500 million to expand access to Early Head Start, which included the creation of the Early Head Start–Child Care Partnerships program (Partnerships). Tulsa Educare was awarded two of the three Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships grants and currently supports six family child care homes and one center. One of those child care homes is Aunt Jackie’s Family Childcare, owned and operated by Jacqueline (Jackie) Evans.

We recently interviewed Jackie Evans along with Brittany Egger, the director of Child Care Partnerships and Quality Assurance at Tulsa Educare. They spoke to us about their relationship, the impact of the Partnerships on the Tulsa community, the challenges they face and their hopes for the future of infant/toddler care.

Click here to read the full interview.