The Campaign for Children (C4C) was formed in 2011 and represents more than 150 organizations including advocates, early care and education, and after-school and summer camp providers. In April 2021, C4C issued a policy platform that outlined the actions needed by incoming City leaders to build a holistic system of early childhood education and youth services. This document identifies first year priorities for the next administration. The following is a quick summary of the 4 priority areas:

Address Child Care Needs to Lay Foundation for a Universal Birth-to-Five System

• Add new infant/toddler seats.
• Convert a significant share of 3-K and Pre-K seats to extended day/extended year.
• Increase access to child care vouchers and reduce the backlog of families on voucher list.
• Decentralize enrollment and permit contracted Early Childhood providers to enroll eligible families into their own programs.
• Embed developmental and behavioral health supports in child care contracts with nonprofit organizations.

Make Building Block Investments to achieve Universal Year-Round Youth Programming

• Baseline funding for summer middle school programs.
• Expand year-round programs for elementary school students.

Stabilize the Child & Youth Workforce

• Extend salary parity to include benefits and longevity increases, as well as staff left out of the original 2019 agreement: Community Based Organization (CBO) preschool special educators and community-based directors.
• Increase afterschool and summer youth programming rates to reflect the true cost of program operations and ensure properly compensated staff.
• Address the current Department of Health & Mental Hygiene clearance backlog affecting child care and youth service staff.

Reinstate the Children’s Cabinet and Engage CBOs in Cross-sector Planning

• Reinstate the Children’s Cabinet and empower it with authority to coordinate across child and youth-serving agencies and inform the development of new policy initiatives.
• Begin the process of integrating data systems to analyze and respond to child, youth, and family needs over time.