ECE Ambassadors Learn & Lend their Expertise During 4C Event
On March 15, seven of Milwaukee Succeeds’ Early Childhood Education (ECE) Ambassadors attended 4C for Children’s Business to Child Care Connections listening session to dive deeper into the developments taking place inside the city’s child care sector. The Ambassadors also had the chance to provide their unique input on how 4C can better identify and connect with the centers that need their assistance.
The main presentation revolved around the dual ProjectGrowth! grant programs: PartnerUp! and DreamUp!
Under the first, Milwaukee employers “partner up” with the state to cover the cost of child care for their employees. This stems from the fact that access to reliable, high-quality care has been shown to boost retention rates and even aid recruitment, thereby bolstering the workforce as a whole. According to ECE Ambassador Leatanya, one of the statistics that stuck with her was that when companies provide child care, employee absences decrease by up to 30%.
Through PartnerUp!, businesses can reserve subsidized slots in regulated child care programs, with participating families receiving care at little to no out-of-pocket cost. “4C will work with both the ECE sector and business district to facilitate these partnerships,” explained Ambassador Lenisa Lee following the presentation. “This program will contribute up to 75% of the true cost of care!”
“I really loved learning about the PartnerUp! grant program,” shared Ambassador Kim Diaz. “This grant provides relief and support to families, as a portion of the grant funds would cover the cost of child care for their family size. This is an excellent resource for families that will save them money.”
Our ECE Ambassadors also got together on April 3 for the Week of the Young Child kick-off parade, where they raised their voices for ECE.
Programs like this are especially important in the current climate, where the cost of care is often unaffordable for families.
“I was shocked to find out that one year of child care is equivalent to paying one year of tuition in a state educational system!” remarked Ambassador Kim Diaz. “I love the idea of creating partnerships with employers to help alleviate the burden of child care costs to employees.”
The program also represents an investment into local child care centers, providing them with funding to increase staff compensation, pay expenses, improve the quality of their program and more.
DreamUp! uses a collaborative community approach to bolster the child care sector. The program targets specific neighborhoods within the city that are in need of extra ECE support and provides them with training, accreditation assistance, and recruitment support to alleviate current staffing shortages. The unique approach provides $75,000 in grant funding to communities, allowing them to sustain and expand existing child care while also supporting new programs, thereby increasing the number of available slots.
“I loved learning that DreamUp! will help expand in areas where ECE supports are most needed throughout the City of Milwaukee,” said Ambassador Sarah Strehlow. “I firmly believe these programs will help to strengthen and stabilize our communities!”
Fellow Ambassador Briana Stanford agreed. “This is an excellent resource for the early childhood education sector, and I look forward to helping spread awareness about this program throughout our communities!”
Ambassadors will soon meet with Carolyn Dame, 4C manager and YoungStar technical consultant, to learn more about how to identify centers and communities that would most benefit from the programs, as well as connecting them with strong points of contact to help them along the way.
Other updates during the event included MATC’s full-ride Checota Scholarship Program, which removes financial barriers to degree completion for those pursing technical diplomas or certificates. Since ECE is one of the many courses of study included under the scholarship, it will simplify the path to becoming an educator and help alleviate the recruitment challenges that many centers are currently facing.
To conclude the event, attendees had the opportunity to tour 4C’s new Provider Resource Room, which was generously funded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. The room, which is currently open by appointment, provides local educators with access to computers, copiers and printers, educational toolkits, laminators, curriculum supplies, professional development resources and more.
