On February 28, 60 early childhood leaders representing all levels of the BBF Network (Regional Councils, VECAP Committees, and SAC members) gathered at the State Advisory Council meeting to better understand public and private early childhood priorities. You can view the recording of the February 28 meeting here.
Ali Dieng, BBF Regional Manager, opened the meeting by describing his efforts to partner with cultural liaisons to increase diversity across the BBF Network and engage perspectives not yet represented in informing early childhood systems and policy. He encouraged leaders when making decisions to consider “Who is not at the table?” This work is part of the Families and Communities Committee as part of the Integrating Integration in Vermont’s P-3 Early Childhood and Maternal Child Systems grant (VIP-3) grant.
Matt Levin from the Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance (VECAA) shared the Alliance’s mid-session update and 2022 legislative agenda, which is made up of issues brought forward by VECAA’s partner organizations. Drake Turner presented Let’s Grow Kids’ 2022 legislative priorities, which they are working on in partnership with Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (VTAEYC).
Agency leaders provided updates on COVID response and guidance, legislative priorities, early childhood investments, cross-agency collaborations, and programmatic updates. These updates were presented by Agency members or their representatives on the State Advisory Council:
- Kendal Smith, Director of Policy Development and Legislative Affairs for Governor Phil Scott
- Dan French, Secretary, Agency of Education
- Dr. Mark Levine, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Health
- Miranda Gray, Deputy Commissioner, Child Development Division, who is serving as the Acting Commissioner for the Department for Children and Families
The meeting concluded with discussion and an invitation to continue to engage at all levels of the BBF Network and to track legislative activity.
Updates:
Tune in for Updates on Vermont’s Child Care and Early Childhood Education Systems Analysis – participate in the last in a series of meetings with the Foresight/Watershed consulting team at 6pm on March 23.
BBF Publishes New Brief on Integration – Over the past year, BBF undertook an information gathering effort through a survey and stakeholder discussions to determine areas of consensus and barriers impeding progress toward integration in the early childhood system. These findings are captured in a new brief titled “Integration in Vermont’s Early Childhood System.”
