Our Policy Agenda

Because of child care champions like YOU, the 2021-2022 legislative biennium was a huge success for Vermont’s child care system. Thank you for being a child care champion – you are the reason we’ve never been closer to transforming Vermont’s child care system for good!

Here’s what we have achieved together:

In 2021, the legislature passed H.171/Act 45, which laid the foundation for our future work to achieve equitable, high-quality, affordable child care for all Vermont children birth-five.

In 2022, the Legislature made incremental investments to stabilize the child care system, while continuing to work toward the goals outlined in H.171/Act 45. Investments included:

Family affordability: $4.9 million increase to the Child Care Financial Assistance Program (CCFAP) to support families and programs;
Workforce retention and recruitment: Funding for retention bonuses for staff working in regulated child care programs, and to support high school students interested in starting a career in child care through pre-apprenticeships;
Long term transformation: Language authorizing funding for the Child Care Financing Study outlined in H.171/Act 45;
And more!

And we’re not done yet.

Thanks to your efforts, we have laid the groundwork for our biggest ask yet in 2023: Securing public investment needed to fully implement the promises laid out in H.171/Act 45 so that:

No family spends more than 10% of their income on child care;
Early childhood educators are fairly compensated; and
All families can access programs that meet their needs.

So let’s take a moment to celebrate the amazing victories we achieved together this biennium by thanking your legislators for investing in child care, and then let’s get ready to get out into our communities this summer and fall during election season.

Join the Campaign

When you sign below, you're joining Vermont's Child Care Campaign alongside nearly 40,000 Vermonters saying together:

"I support prioritizing children and increasing public investments in high-quality,
affordable child care to ensure every Vermont child has a strong start."

Please add your name here:

Click HERE to learn more about how your business or organization can endorse Vermont’s Child Care Campaign.