Making Providers' Voices Heard

"For the sake of our children, our communities, and our future—we must come together to protect quality child care."

Marcia Federico
Family Child Care Provider
CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 Supporter

 
Right now, family child care providers don’t have a voice in decisions that affect our work, our kids, or our communities. But by working together, we can change that.

With our combined strength, we can make our voice heard. Other child care workers, advocates, community activists, and religious leaders are joining our "Connecticut Kids First" efforts.

One of our top priorities is to work with elected officials for a law to improve child care for the kids and families we serve. Creating a stronger voice in the decisions that affect early education takes all of us working together to make it happen!

The issues we are committed to addressing include:
 Obtaining additional training for early education providers to create enhanced learning opportunity and safety for the children in our care

 Providing more comprehensive services, such as health and nutrition, family support, parent education, literacy, community outreach programs, and access to speech and language therapy

 Increasing retention by raising income standards and creating opportunities for access to affordable health care for child care providers

 Creating a support network linking professionals working in family child care homes and facilities

 Establishing and protecting our child care professionals’ rights to representation

 Click here to read an article from the August, 2006 edition of the CSEA News* reporting on New Britain child care provider Terry Forde’s testimony to the US Senate during a Congressional Child Care Briefing in Washington DC earlier this year.

 Click here to access links to websites with news media reports covering Connecticut’s Kids First child providers’ efforts to move the State to make a greater investment in early education.

 Click here to use an easy, online tool to send an e-mail message to the members of the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee urging they vote in support of two bills that would go a long way to resolve Connecticut’s child care crisis.