2025 Policy Recommendation
Implement consistent State of Vermont policies for compensating families with lived experience who serve on state-convened entities within the early childhood system. When a state-convened entity, such as a Commission, is asking families to share valuable and vulnerable information about their experiences, compensation should be aligned with the National Center for Family & Parent Leadership’s Parent Leader Compensation Scale. Transparent information about the compensation rate, frequency, and method (and any paperwork requirements) should be advertised when recruiting for the opportunity so that families know what to expect financially.
What It Means
When family and community representatives are recruited to provide their time and expertise to legislatively mandated bodies, too often they are not compensated adequately or at all. Often these experts serve alongside early childhood education professionals and others who are highly paid and receive support and accommodations (such as mileage reimbursement). This creates an inherently inequitable environment that negatively impacts families’ full participation in the work of the legislatively mandated body.
Why It Matters
The most effective advocacy, policymaking, and implementation efforts require partnering with families in order to ensure that our systems and policies are designed based on the needs of children and families. We know that when primary caregivers are consulted and valued as experts on their own experiences and needs, outcomes for children improve, as do relationships between families and the systems and individuals that serve them. Family and community representatives need to be given information on how any compensation offered will impact them for tax purposes and for the purposes of eligibility for needed programs.
Connects to VECAP Goal 2:
Families and communities play a leading role in children’s well-being.
Spotlight on Equity
Despite the best intentions, meetings—especially those held formally and/or mandated by legislative action—often have invisible barriers to the participation of those with lived experience. Transportation, child care, time off from other paid employment, and translation and interpretation services can all impact whether or not a legislatively mandated body can fully benefit from the expertise of those with lived experience.
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