The Children’s Center Welcomes Governor Wolf and Local Leaders
Wolf, Local Leaders Mark 2021-22 Pre-K Expansion
ERIE, PA (September 9, 2022) – Pre-K Counts provider The Children’s Center/Volunteers of America welcomed Governor Tom Wolf and local leaders today to mark the $79 million pre-k expansion included in the final 2022–23 Pennsylvania budget.
Governor Wolf discussed the importance of the continued investment in high-quality pre-k in PA with community leaders and visited with the students and teachers at the center. The historic $79 million increase included in the final 2022-23 state budget will afford more than 2,300 additional children to attend pre-k in the upcoming school year.
“Early childhood learning programs are good for children, but they’re also good for families and our economy, too,” said Governor Wolf. “Think about it – parents and caregivers rely on affordable, accessible childcare so they can go to work. When we ensure that high-quality early learning programs are available for children, we are making a direct investment in our communities and our commonwealth’s economy. At a time of record inflation and families feeling the pinch of soaring costs for childcare, these investments are even more critically important.”
Joining Governor Wolf in discussion was Senator Pat Browne; Representative Mike Schlossberg; Representative Peter Schweyer; Betty Druckenmiller, director of The Children’s Center/Volunteers of America; Kari King, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children; and Rasbell Espiritu, the parent of a pre-k child.
“Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children and the Pre-K for PA campaign deeply appreciate the bipartisan support for pre-k programs in the state, including the leadership of Governor Wolf, Senator Browne, Representative Schlossberg and Representative Schweyer,” said Kari King, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. “Their support shows that policymakers understand these programs’ value and efficacy: a recent study of Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts showed enrolled children outperformed their kindergarten peers who did not have access.
“It’s clear that high-quality, publicly funded pre-k pays dividends and is a smart return on investment.”
“I’m thrilled that Governor Wolf and our local state officials are visiting our program today to mark the $79 million increase for more of Pennsylvania’s three- and four-year-olds to attend Pre-K Counts and Head Start,” said Betty Druckenmiller, director of The Children’s Center/Volunteers of America. “This is an important investment in our community as we continue to see a high demand for high-quality early learning programs.”
A study by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill confirmed that the Commonwealth’s investment in pre-k is paying dividends for the children fortunate enough to access pre-k through Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts program. In language and math skills, the study showed that these kids outperformed their kindergarten peers who did not enjoy access – an advantage that equated to four to five months of learning gains, which is a substantial difference in development at that age.
Pre-K for PA is an issue campaign supported by individuals and organizations across Pennsylvania who believe that investing in our children is the right choice and an urgent necessity. Our vision is that every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania will have access to high-quality pre-k. For more information www.prekforpa.org.
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Gov. Wolf visits Allentown’s Volunteers of America Children’s Center
On Friday, Sept. 9, Governor Tom Wolf joined childhood advocates and state lawmakers to highlight his accomplishments in increased funding for early childhood education during a visit to the Volunteers of America Children’s Center in Allentown.
In this year’s budget alone, the Wolf Administration has secured a $79 million increase in early childhood education, providing more children and families in Pennsylvania with access to high-quality early learning programs through Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program (HSSAP).
“Early childhood learning programs are good for children, but they’re also good for families and our economy, too,” said Gov. Wolf. “Think about it – parents and caregivers rely on affordable, accessible childcare so they can go to work. When we ensure that high-quality early learning programs are available for children, we are making a direct investment in our communities and our commonwealth’s economy. At a time of record inflation and families feeling the pinch of soaring costs for childcare, these investments are even more critically important.”
Over his two terms in office, Gov. Wolf has helped to increase early childhood funding by $254 million, which has allowed more than 21,000 new slots to open up for Pennsylvania children in Pre-K Counts and Head Start Supplemental Assistance programs across the commonwealth.
Read the full article here.
NPR: In Allentown, Gov. Wolf celebrates early learning funding, unveils free breakfast program
September 9, 2022 by Sarah Mueller
Gov. Tom Wolf visited the Volunteers of America Children’s Center in Allentown to celebrate increased state funding for early education in this year’s budget.
He also came with a big announcement: free breakfast for every child enrolled in school this academic year. It takes effect Oct. 1 and will benefit more than 1.7 million children at a cost of about $21.5 million.
Wolf briefly played parachute with a group of small children at The Children’s Center before holding a news conference.
Lawmakers approved an additional $79 million in this year’s state budget, targeted for high-quality preschool programs through Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.
Wolf says it’s OK to celebrate all of the strides his administration has made on this issue over his eight years of leadership.
“But as soon as we finish patting ourselves on the back, I think we also need to understand we need to get back to work,” he said. “We need to recommit ourselves to doing more.”
Children’s Center Director Betty Druckenmiller says the facility is only at 60 percent capacity because she can’t find qualified staff to fill vacant positions.
“I have an empty classroom and shortened hours and we would absolutely add more people if we had the qualified teachers to do it,” she said.
Read or listen to the full story here.
Letter to the Editor: Pa. budget gets it right on Pre-K funding, but more must be done to avert crisis
Express-Times
July 29,2022
I was relieved to see that the 2022-23 Pennsylvania state budget includes additional funding for child care and Pre-K.
My child care program has never had the staffing challenges we have today in the five years we have been in operation. While there are other businesses also struggling to recruit and retain staff, our industry supports the workforce of every other industry. If a family doesn’t have access to early care and education, they cannot work. And when families can’t work, businesses can’t hire.
We are struggling to recruit and retain staff because we are unable to compete with rising wages and benefits offered by companies requiring less specialized skills. With the average child care wage at less than $11 per hour, our teachers don’t have to look far to find higher pay and even benefits.
I am thankful that Pennsylvania lawmakers like state Rep. Mike Schlossberg prioritized federal resources to offer child care teachers a one-time bonus. The state budget also grew the availability of Pre-K to more eligible kids and increased Pre-K rates to help providers like me deal with historic inflation and rising wages.
If child care and Pre-K providers continue struggling to recruit and retain staff to keep classrooms open, more families are going to suffer. We need to continue investing in our early care and education system, paying teachers and providers adequately and ensuring that all kids have access to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Monae Rivera is director of Elevation Child Care Center in Allentown.
Read the Letter to the Editor here.
2022-23 State Budget: Growth for Pre-k, Child Care and Home Visitation
Budget deal stops short of recurring funds to raise child care wages
HARRISBURG, PA (July 8, 2022) – Today, the principal partners of Early Learning Pennsylvania (ELPA), a statewide coalition of advocates focused on supporting young Pennsylvanians from birth to age five, issued the following statements regarding the final 2022-23 Pennsylvania state budget. ELPA operates four issue-based advocacy campaigns: Pre-K for PA, Start Strong PA, Childhood Begins at Home and Thriving PA.
Budget Expands Pre-K Access and Boosts Rates for Providers
“The Pre-K for PA campaign applauded the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Governor Wolf for once again expanding state funding for high-quality pre-k. The 2022-23 state budget includes $60 million in new state funding for PA Pre-K Counts and $19 million for PA’s Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program. Over the past eight years, investment in these critical early learning programs have increased by nearly 180%, serving tens of thousands more eligible children.
“Public investment in high-quality pre-k has become a consensus issue in Pennsylvania; aligning political parties, rural, urban and suburban communities, and families across the commonwealth on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that improves the life chances of Pennsylvania’s children. State leaders including Governor Wolf and Senator Pat Browne deserve recognition for their role in Pennsylvania’s continued expansion of Pre-K for PA. According to a recent poll, 90% of likely Pennsylvania voters said that formal early childhood care and education are important in helping set kids on a path toward leading healthy and productive lives.
“The $79 million expansion will provide high-quality pre-k to over 2,300 additional young learners as well as increase rates for providers to support the early care and education workforce and address rising costs. The Pre-K for PA campaign thanks our more than 20,000 supporters for lending their voices to advance the power of pre-k to more of Pennsylvania’s youngest learners.”
Budget Utilizes One-Time Funds to Stabilize Child Care Workforce
“The Start Strong PA Campaign appreciates the General Assembly’s effort to stabilize child care programs by including $90 million in one-time discretionary American Rescue Plan Act federal funding to support bonuses for child care staff. These funds will provide desperate child care programs the short-term solutions they need to alleviate the workforce recruitment and retention crisis.
“Unfortunately, this budget misses the opportunity to provide long-term solutions to the tens of thousands of families who are struggling to find child care to return to work, as it fails to address the root cause of Pennsylvania’s devastating child care crisis – a history of low wages, resulting in thousands of open staffing positions and more than 1,600 closed classrooms. Currently there are 32,400 children sitting on waiting lists in child care programs as a result of 7,000 vacant child care staffing positions statewide.
“Even though child care professionals have a significant impact on our children, their families, and our economic recovery, they make, on average, less than $11.00 an hour. This budget does nothing to raise child care wages on an on-going basis to help solve for this systemic issue. It is not surprising that this industry, with 50% of professionals who work in it qualifying for government benefits, cannot compete for staff with other industries offering higher wages for less specialized skills.
“This budget also increases state child care funding by $25 million, allowing families currently enrolled in Child Care Works to continue receiving a child care subsidy up to 300% of poverty. These new funds should also have the flexibility to support the 160,978 children younger than age 5 who are eligible but have yet to be served. Start Strong PA partners have long encouraged the state to advertise Child Care Works to ensure every family who needs the financial support is aware and thus able to enroll their children in child care.
“Sadly, Pennsylvania’s elected leadership has fallen short on ensuring the availability of sustainable child care funds to stabilize the industry. Without a stabilized child care system, families will continue to struggle to find and afford high-quality child care significantly impacting their ability to return to work and remain employed.”
Budget Makes Historic Investment in Evidence-Based Home Visiting
“Childhood Begins at Home is pleased with the historic increase of $15 million for evidence-based home visiting in the Department of Human Services budget to serve an additional 3,800 pregnant women, children and families. In addition, $1 million is earmarked for the Nurse-Family Partnership line item to serve 200 more families.
“Voluntary, evidence-based home visiting programs mentor parents and others raising children and provide supports to address substance use disorders, develop school readiness, improve maternal and child health, promote economic self-sufficiency, and reduce abuse and neglect.
“Policymakers made a wise decision to diversify funding and meet families where they are in counties across the state so more parents and their children can access the research-proven benefits the home visiting models deliver.
“With this investment, we can increase service levels beyond the 5% of Pennsylvania families currently served.”
Funding Increases Included for Early Intervention Programs
“Our campaign is pleased the budget includes an increase of $9.3 million for the Early Intervention Part C (infants and toddlers) program in the Department of Human Services budget. Some budget documents show an increase of $12.2 million, which is also accurate, as it does not include additional stimulus dollars. The Early Intervention Part B (age-three-to-five) program in the Department of Education budget is receiving a $10 million increase.”
In summary, the final 2022-23 Pennsylvania state budget included:
- $60 million in additional funding for the state’s Pre-K Counts program, which will serve over 2,300 additional young children.
- $19 million in additional funding for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.
- Level funding for the state Child Care Assistance line item.
- $25 million in Child Care Services specifically to serve families currently enrolled in Child Care Works up to 300% of poverty or the state median income (whichever is lower).
- $90 million in federal funding to provide one-time child care staff recruitment and retention bonuses.
- $15 million in additional funding for evidence-based home visiting in the Community-Based Family Center line item and $1 million for the Nurse-Family Partnership line item.
- $9.3 million for the Early Intervention Part C (infants and toddlers) program through DHS (this figure also appears as $12.2 million when stimulus dollars are not included).
- $10 million for the Early Intervention Part B (age-three-to-five) program through PDE.
- Creation of a Pennsylvania Child Care Tax Credit equal to 30% of the federal credit to support working families.
About Pre-K for PA
Pre-K for PA launched in 2014 with the vision that every 3- and 4-year-old in Pennsylvania will have access to high-quality pre-k. Learn more at www.prekforpa.org.
About Start Strong PA
Start Strong PA launched in 2019 to support healthy child development, working families, and the economy by increasing access to and affordability of high-quality child care programs for young children. Learn more at www.startstrongpa.org.
About Childhood Begins At Home
Childhood Begins At Home is a statewide campaign launched in 2017 to help policymakers and the public understand the value of evidence-based home visiting and support public investments in the programs. Learn more at www.childhoodbeginsathome.org.
About Thriving PA
Thriving PA is a perinatal and child health campaign launched in 2021 and is working to ensure each birthing person, infant, and toddler in Pennsylvania has the opportunity for affordable, quality health care access. Learn more at www.thrivingpa.org.
