High-quality early learning lays a foundation for a strong future. But too many young children still don’t get a chance to build the fundamental brain architecture that allows them to thrive in school and in life. Washington policymakers should:
Expand ECEAP by 1,500 children in the upcoming
biennium and work toward the legislature’s commitment
of full implementation by 2018
Make a simultaneous investment in targeted, voluntary,
comprehensive programs for infants and toddlers at
greatest risk of academic failure.
Science tells us that, long before they reach kindergarten, children lay down the mental foundation for future learning. When we fail to surround young children with quality opportunities to build that foundation, it’s much harder for them to catch up later. Child care providers want the best for children in their care, but they need resources to improve and maintain quality. Investments now can lead to benefits for children, families, and society in the future. Chart a path for increasing access to high-quality care that includes:
No child should go to school hungry. No elder should have to cut back on food to pay rent. But since the 50% cut to State Food Assistance went into effect last summer, more immigrant families are struggling against hunger.
Read about one families' struggle to survive after the cuts.
When children are forced to skip meals, or can’t access high quality nutrition, their performance in school suffers. Learn more about the link between childhood nutrition and academic achievement.
All children deserve healthy, nutritious food at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here in Washington, the legislature made a smart decision to meet our children’s nutritional needs by creating State Food Assistance in 1997. Learn more.
Nuestra 2013 agenda legislativa piede que legisladores:
Our 2013 legislative agenda calls on legislators to:
Out-of-date laws are keeping Washingtonians from receiving the oral health care that is vital to their overall health.
Modernizing our laws will free up dentists with a proven workforce-based solution: a mid-level oral health care provider who will deliver the routine care and oral health education that families need.
Current marijuana enforcement policy is failing children and families. Decades of study have proven the unequal treatment of communities of color in the criminal justice system, especially in enforcement of marijuana policy. Washington’s kids pay a terrible price for these persistent racial disparities: children are separated from their parents, and families are trapped in poverty when adults are denied access to educational and economic opportunities. Read more about our position on Initiative 502.
Since the beginning of the recession, the number of Washington state families struggling with hunger has increased sharply. Between 2008 and 2011, 75,000 new households joined the ranks of the hungry, and the rate of hunger in the state is the highest it has ever been. Read our new report.
Dental disease is the most common disease Washington’s children face. Six in 10 third-graders have some form of tooth decay.
It’s our constitutional duty to provide our children with a basic education. It’s also in everyone’s best interest.
© 2016 Children's Alliance