Yesterday the DC Council passed the COVID-19 Response Emergency Amendment Act. We appreciate the Council's quick and decisive action to support vulnerable District residents and small businesses. As we all navigate this unfamiliar public health situation, the needs of child care and youth providers require additional immediate action to ensure that providers remain viable and that families - particularly low-income...

Under 3 DC, associated organizations and advocates wrote a letter requesting immediate and clear guidance and action from the Executive Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the DC Council, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education and related agencies regarding policy choices that can help child care providers and the families they serve remain operable...

Press Release Under 3 DC gets ready to share ideas for a FY21 budget that cares for DC’s littlest residents WASHINGTON, DC – February 18, 2020 – Under 3 DC, a broad coalition of parents, early educators, advocates, community and business leaders, gets ready to create the most forward-reaching early childhood campaign in the nation by asking Mayor Bowser to...

by: Barbara Bainum Last year, Washington, D.C.’s Mayor and Council enacted ground-breaking legislation that sets the city on a path to creating a strong and equitable foundation for its youngest residents. The Birth-to-Three For All DC Act of 2018 is a blueprint for comprehensive education and health services for infants and toddlers that seeks to end the stark inequities in...

The Council of the District of Columbia passed a nearly $16 million investment as a partial yet key down payment on the Birth-to-Three for All DC Act of 2018. The Council’s commitment will fund measures to ensure healthier birth outcomes and supports for the District’s youngest residents to grow and thrive. Collective advocacy to hold the Council accountable to the...

Testimony of Shana Bartley, Executive Director DC Action for Children Agency Performance Oversight Hearing Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Office of the State Superintendent of Education Before the Committee of the Whole and the Committee on Education Council of the District of Columbia February 21, 2019 Good morning, Chairman Mendelson, Councilmember Grosso and members of the committees. Thank you for the opportunity...

October is Hispanic Heritage Month! In the District of Columbia, Hispanic children represent 15 percent of the under 18 population. Moreover, there are over 7,000 Hispanic/Latino children under age 5 in DC. In 2014, we released a policy brief entitled Giving Hispanic Students a Chance to Succeed from the Start, that explored how race and ethnicity intersect with early learning...

Over the past year, a number of news articles have drawn attention to the steep cost of child care, which in the District is now more than three times as expensive as in-state college tuition. Despite the amount spent by parents and a sizeable public investment (the District’s child care subsidy reimbursement rates are among the highest in the country)...

Editor's Note: One of our goals with "Little Citizens, Big Issues" is to showcase diverse voices and viewpoints from the community on issues affecting young children in the District. This post is by Lauren Hogan, director of public policy at the National Black Child Development Institute (NBDCI). In September, we had the pleasure of announcing that T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood was...