On Wednesday, Feb. 7, the Jefferson Educational Society and The Erie Community Foundation jointly launched the JES’s Early Childcare Investment Policy Initiative.
This project, made possible by a grant from The Erie Community Foundation, empowered a team of policy experts assembled by the JES and led by Erie-based consultant Court Gould to assess Erie’s childcare challenges and propose recommendations for practical remedies to confront this nationwide crisis with local-level solutions.
Today, the JES is releasing the report, “Positioning Erie to Prosper and Compete: Child Care School for Infants and Toddlers is Key to Future of Workforce and Economy,” which is available on the JES’s website.
On Wednesday, Aug. 14, at noon, the JES will host a Community Conversation to discuss the report’s findings and recommendations. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at the JES, 3207 State St., in Erie. More details about the event, including how to register in advance, are available on the think tank’s website.
Over the course of the six months since the JES and ECF announced the initiative, the team of experts has issued updates and key insights, which have been published on the JES’s website.
The report, written by Gould, presents the case and a road map to substantially improve child care for the city’s youngest people. “Becoming a trailblazing American city offering child care to all desiring parents/guardians of infants and toddlers is tantamount to Erie’s moonshot,” Gould writes in the report’s executive summary.
This initiative was inspired by 2021’s “Caring for Erie’s Economy: Child Care is Economic Development,” which was also written by Gould and published by the JES.
“Following my 2021 report, a strategic next step was taking up JES’s charge to engage with a team of experts to delve deeper into the issues and develop data in support of practical remedies for Erie to implement to reverse its dire shortage of child care,” Gould said. “In step with cities around the nation who increasingly see early child care as a workforce and economic development strategy, this new JES report gives Erie a blueprint to become the model for providing quality, affordable child care for its infants and toddlers and, in turn, stimulate economic growth.”
More recently, the think tank’s Civic Leadership Academy 2023 cohort spent more than seven months exploring the issue and produced “Raising the Next Generation: Realities of the Childcare Landscape in Erie County,” a report of their findings published earlier this year.
“As a driver of community progress, the JES team is proud to have brought its resources to bear in helping to address one of the most wicked problems of our times, including assembling this team of experts to work collaboratively,” said Dr. Ferki Ferati, president of the JES. “Access to quality, affordable child care is a crisis with not just social implications but economic ones as well. The research of Mr. Gould and the team has led to recommendations that have the potential to positively impact Erie and lead it to serve as a model for other cities looking to confront this crisis in meaningful ways.”
“Our goal at The Erie Community Foundation is to bring together diverse perspectives to tackle community challenges,” said Patrick Herr, Vice President of Community Impact, The Erie Community Foundation. “Supporting parents with quality child care is a double investment in our workforce and our children, which aligns with our vision of a united, vibrant and thriving region for all.”
The Early Childcare Investment Policy Initiative Team features the expertise of:
– Elana Como, Early Learning Resource Center Region 1 Director and CEO, Northwest Institute of Research, Inc.
The Northwest Institute of Research, Inc. is a nonprofit research and social services corporation that manages the Child Care Works’ subsidized child-care program for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It operates as grantee for Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) Region 1, serving Erie, Crawford, Mercer, and Venango counties.
Early Learning Resource Centers are hubs of child-care information. ELRCs provide information on quality child care and personalized child-care referrals to child-care providers based on specific needs or preferences. ELRCs also administer the Child Care Works subsidized child-care program. Funded by state and federal governments, the CCW program helps low-income families pay their child-care fees.
– Court Gould, Initiative Facilitator/Lead
Court Gould, a JES contributor who wrote the Caring for Erie’s Economy: Childcare is Economic Development report, is serving as facilitator and project lead. He served 20 years as founding executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh. After three years with the Erie Community Foundation as vice president of Community Impact, he is a sustainable solutions consultant and certified professional coach.
– Karen Grimm-Thomas, Creative Child Care Solutions of The Pennsylvania Key
Creative Child Care Solutions is a Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning initiative (of the nonprofit The Pennsylvania Key) that helps employers address the child-care needs of their employees. In her role at The Pennsylvania Key, Karen leads Creative Child Care Solutions focusing on building the business community’s capacity to support their employees’ child-care needs and invest in local early learning systems to attract and retain staff and create positive work environments. The Pennsylvania Key works collaboratively with partners and community organizations on behalf of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning to deliver educational, professional, and administrative services to early childhood educators and leaders to support the enhancement of early learning experiences for young children in Pennsylvania.
– Michelle Harkins, Executive Director – Early Connections, Inc.
Early Connections is a leading organization in northwestern Pennsylvania for early care and education, providing direct service, training, and planning leadership for a wide geographic region. Direct service is provided to children and their families in five high-quality child-care locations throughout Erie County, serving children from birth through school age. Early Connections is the Intermediary for the Early Childhood Apprenticeship Program and sponsor for the Registered Early Childhood Pre-Apprenticeship Program, serving 18 counties within the Northwest Region. Early Connections also administers Erie’s Future Fund. Created in 2011, this community initiative assists low-income families in preparing their children for kindergarten by providing a scholarship to attend high-quality programs throughout Erie County. Formerly the YWCA, Early Connections has been serving children and families in the Erie community since 1895.
– Andrea Heberlein, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission
The PA Early Learning Investment Commission was created by an executive order in 2008 to mobilize business leaders across Pennsylvania to secure support for investments in early learning. The commission has 50 members, all senior business leaders from across the state, representing many of Pennsylvania’s leading industries. It informs thousands of business and civic leaders each year about the critical importance of preparing all young children with the knowledge and skills required for success. It works to improve tomorrow’s economy through smart policy and investment in today’s young children by fostering public- and private-sector investment in high-quality early learning programs. These investments are essential to Pennsylvania’s edge in the national and global marketplace. A particular focus is on working with the executive and legislative branches to provide advice and support for policies and investments that serve an increased number of at-risk children.
– Rina Irwin, Chief Executive Officer at Child Development Centers, Inc.
In her role as CEO, Irwin oversees an organization that provides child care and early childhood education to nearly 2,000 children across 15 centers in Venango, Crawford, and Erie counties. Founded in 1969 and with more than 400 employees, CDC’s enrollment now tops that of some local school districts. CDC’s growth is partly tied to assuming responsibility for federal and state Head Start programs in Erie, Crawford, and Venango Counties.
– Tiffany L. Lavette, Founder of Her P.O.W.E.R. Inc. which owns and operates ABC 24-Hour Childcare, Founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Black and Brown Childcare Providers, and co-owner of LaVette’s Enterprises
Ms. Lavette is a highly regarded social equity advocate, child-care provider, consultant, coach, friend, teacher, and leader. She is surrounded by a team that firmly believes in impacting the lives of families one child at a time. She serves on the Erie County Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission, where she is the immediate past chairwoman, serves on the advisory board for Pre-K for PA/Start Strong PA, trustee at Greater Calvary F.G.B.C., and is committed to helping others reach their highest level of success personally, professionally, and in business.
