State Policy and Advocacy
The Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC) is a non-profit alliance of the leading multi-state, multi-site child care providers, key state child care associations and premier educational service providers, representing over 7,500 programs in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and select international locations, with the capacity to serve over one million children every day.
ECEC plays a pivotal role in advocating at the state level for strong child care and early learning policies that expand options to high-quality, affordable care for all families and bring quality to scale. Our members serve as the unified collective voice for providers of high-quality programs and services that support families and children from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
At the state level, ECEC engages directly with state legislatures, agencies, and Governor’s offices to promote and influence policies that strengthen the early childhood system for families, children and providers. This often includes advocating for policies and funding within states’ Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) programs, promoting strong mixed delivery Pre-K to ensure that all families have choices of settings that work for their needs, and regulatory environments that promote both quality and safety. We partner with a broad set of stakeholders and organizations including state child care associations, child care policy and advocacy organizations, business leaders and chambers of commerce, parent groups, and more.
Our approach has resulted in and contributed to major policy wins, such as funding to serve more families, increased provider reimbursement rates, expanded eligibility for families to participate in subsidy and Pre-K programs, improvements to mixed delivery Pre-K, tax credit enhancements, and more. We have been successful in modifying program and and child care licensing regulations.
Contact us to learn more about our work across the country or to join us in our efforts.