Children's Champions Update - April 17, 2017

It's the second week of recess for members of Congress, so if you haven't reached out yet, there is still time! Here are some things you can do to engage with them while they are back home and in your communities:

REACH OUT

Find the home district address and phone number for your member of Congress by visiting www.senate.gov or www.house.gov. Call or visit to make sure they know their constituents want them to:

• build on the bipartisan commitment to early childhood education by protecting and increasing investments in child care, Head Start and early learning
• ensure the overall health and well-being of the families, schools, and communities in which our children are cared for and educated
• support a needed $1.4 Billion increase in CCDBG, because states need additional funding to implement the new provisions of the law while maintaining the number of children and families who are able to learn and work with its support
  • Check out CLASP's new fact sheet, projecting that up to 217,000 children could lose child care assistance in 2018 if funding for CCDBG is not increased. State numbers are available as well.

EXTEND INVITATIONS

Inviting members of Congress and/or their staff to visit a NAEYC-Accredited center is a powerful way to help them understand the benefits that a high-quality early childhood program provides to children, families and communities. Utilize our resources on how to organize a site visit for a policy maker and access the Sample Invitation to reach out to your member of Congress today!

CALL TO SAY THANK YOU

As part of the appropriations process, members of the House have signed onto "Dear Colleague" letters that supported early learning - and thank you for reaching out to your Representatives to encourage them to sign on. Take a look at the finalized letters in support of Head Start and CCDBG and make sure to call your House Member and thank them for their support if s/he signed on as a supporter.

ELEVATE YOUR VOICE

The budget and appropriations process is ongoing and members of Congress still need to hear from you.

• Members of the Senate, especially, need to hear your call for Senators to sign on to Senator Casey, Franken, and Hirono's Dear Colleague letter on child care and early learning investments in FY 2018. You did a great job calling members of the House; let's keep the momentum going with a new round of calls to members of the Senate!

STAY TUNED & SHARE RESOURCES

• Read: Family Tax Policy paper that NAEYC developed with partners First Focus, MomsRising, Save the Children Action Network and the Corporation for Enterprise Development as part of the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group
• Register: Join CLASP for a webinar on Wednesday, April 19 from 2-3pm on supporting young children in immigrant families. Register here.
• Use: Resources from the Sesame Workshop's Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children initiative

And don't forget - NAEYC's Week of the Young Child is right around the corner, from April 24-28, 2017! This is a great opportunity to show parents, policymakers and partners the wonderful and engaging work that happens in high-quality early childhood programs! Check it all out on Facebook and Twitter using #WOYC17.