Ed. Note: this is the third and last article in a series on early childcare in Vermont.

Vermont lawmakers have introduced a number of initiatives to improve  accessibility to quality and affordable childcare in Vermont.

In May, Governor Peter Shumlin signed Act 166, which authorizes publicly funded pre-kindergarten education for a minimum of 10 hours a week for 35 weeks each year, for all three-to-five-year-olds who aren’t enrolled in kindergarten.

Act 166 was supposed to take effect beginning July 1, 2015, but implementation has recently been postponed one year by the Vermont Board of Education, in order to create guidelines for the bill, and allow the school boards more time to adjust their budgets.

“It can be a real hardship for families to find high-quality, affordable, and accessible preschool,” said Vermont Education Secretary, Rebecca Holcombe.

“Location, transportation, and cost can be very prohibitive in a rural state like Vermont,” she said.  “And the difficult part is that the children who can benefit from it the most, those from lower socio-economic households, are the ones with the most difficulty accessing it. This is why Act 166, and school district based preschool programs, are so critical.”

Holcombe says that this program ensures access to the children who really need it. She explains that there are rigorous performance standards for any newly formed or licensed preschool program in order to ensure high-quality.

The minimum standards for pre-qualification set forth in Act 166 are that the public or private program receives and maintains at least one of the following quality program recognition standards: national accreditation through NAEYC; a minimum of four stars in STARS, with at least two points in each of the five arenas; or three stars in Vermont STARS if the program has a plan approved by the Secretary of Education, and the Commissioner of the Department for Children and Families.

Several different initiatives are  being pursued by various early childhood education and quality childcare advocacy organizations.

A leading force in the early education initiative is Let’s Grow Kids (LGK), a privately sponsored public education campaign to raise the awareness of the impact that educating children early in their life can make. LGK has been holding various events across the state to gain support, and will be at the forefront of developing early education initiatives.

The Vermont Early Childhood Alliance (VECA) is a coalition of organizations, parents, community members, and childcare providers who do independent advocacy for the improvement of public policies which affect children from birth until eight-years-old.

For the 2015 Legislative Session, the Alliance plans to campaign for several bills, including a LGK bill to form a ‘Blue Ribbon Commission,’ which will work to provide suggestions on sustainable funding options for high-quality and affordable childcare for the state. The VECA will also be advocating for reforms to the Reach Up program.

A member of the VECA, the Vermont branch of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (VAEYC), is proposing an early childhood workforce training  program, calling for efforts to secure additional, and continual fiscal support for the training and professional development of the early childhood workforce.

Although the State may not be in a position to invest heavily in these early education initiatives, President Barak Obama has awarded Vermont with a $7 million Preschool Expansion Grant.

Announced at the White House Summit on Early Education in December, this grant, which is anticipated to translate into $33 million over a period of four years, will make a real impact in Vermont. This money will be used to support pre-kindergarten programs in public schools, as well as the Head Start program. Vermont was one of 18 states selected, chosen out of 36 states that applied.

Independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, was highly influential in securing this funding for Vermont. He worked with the Shumlin administration, the U.S. Departments of Education and Human Services, as well as his fellow Congressional Delegates to acquire this grant.

“This significant federal grant will help Vermont lead the nation in early childhood education, and better prepare our kids for school, and the challenges and opportunities of life,” said Sanders.

The governor echos Sanders’ sentiment: “Vermont is one of the top states in America when it comes to early childhood education, and we’re committed to being the best. We know that investments in our youngest children pay huge dividends in their ability to achieve in school, and succeed in life. We will use this $33 million directly to expand access to quality early education for Vermont children most in need.  I congratulate those at Agencies of Education and Human Services, my own staff, and our many grant partners statewide for their hard work in securing these funds for our children.”

Some Vermonters are critical of this governmental grant, insisting that this money is a “childcare grant” and is a waste of government money, which will soon run out. But Windsor-Orange County Representative and Regional Coordinator at Building Bright Futures, Sarah Buxton, refutes that notion.

“When the money runs out, we will have helped thousands of young children to begin school ready to learn, provided high-quality resources to ensure they graduate from high school, and become valuable members of our workforce and communities,” she said.  We will have documented financial returns on the investment that would turn any   pre-kindergarten sceptic around, and bolstered our system to last for a very, very long time. This grant is not for childcare, it is for high-quality, research-proven, learner-directed, Department of Defense supported, community-based, age-appropriate, family-approved early learning opportunities.”

This recent grant is in addition to a $37 million Race to the Top Challenge Grant which was given to Vermont last year. The previous grant was to lay a foundation for universal pre-kindergarten in the state, and this grant will go towards building up the program.

According to the governor’s office, this federal grant will be used to provide technical assistance to schools and programs to help them move to universal pre-kindergarten. The grant will also allow schools and providers to share best practices, and work together on training and professional development.

“What this grant actually invests in is services, direct services, dollars, subsidies for kids, to ensure that they have a strong start, and thrive in our Vermont school system,” said Shumlin.

The governor also says that 80 percent of Vermont communities now provide early childhood education. In addition, he says that these grants will ensure that every four-year-old who is at twice the federal poverty level, or below, will be able to access free pre-kindergarten in Vermont.

According to the U.S. Federal Poverty Measure, the national poverty level for the continental U.S. is $23,850, for a four-person family.

The federal  government has also recognized the need for quality childcare for our nation’s youth with the Childcare Development Bill, passed in November by the Senate, which amends a bill that hasn’t been updated since 1996. This bill has previously been passed by the House and will now be sent to the president’s desk to be signed.

This law will fund a $5 billion program that will provide funding for states to help low-income families pay for childcare while a parent either works, goes to school, or is in a job-training program.

Under this new law, states will be required to allow parents to choose a program that best suits their family’s needs as well as conduct comprehensive background checks on childcare options, including faith-based and community-based providers.

Childcare providers will be required to attend an orientation, as well as numerous health and safety training sessions about state mandated practices. These practices may include nutrition and physical activity, in addition to anything that the individual States deem necessary.

In addition, the measure will require states to set aside a greater portion of their own funds for program improvement from the current 4 percent, up to 10 percent.

Vermont has already shown considerable progress in early childhood programs with many geared towards the education of its youth. In the forefront is Building Bright Futures, which also serves as the State Early Childhood Advisory Council. This organization governs the early childhood education system in Vermont, aligning State level work with 12 regional councils across the state. These councils improve access, quality, and affordability of services for young children and families. In Vermont, there are 15 Parent Child Centers, which offer an array of programs and services to families. These centers are sponsored by the State and provide families with information, educational opportunities, and provide home visits to families with young children that request their support.

A member of the VECA, Vermont Birth to Three is a grassroots campaign specializing in addressing the need for quality childcare for infants and toddlers. Their initiatives include professional development, peer mentoring, and creating sustainable business practices in the community. This organization also focuses on support for childcare providers and families.

Vermont has seven Head Start, and four Early Head Start programs located throughout the state. This program provides individually tailored developmental services for low-income children between birth and three-years of age.

Vermont also has its own hotline you can call to find out about hundreds of community resources such as emergency food, emergency shelter, disability services, counseling, senior services, healthcare, childcare, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, legal assistance, transportation services, and educational opportunities. This program is called Vermont 2-1-1.