Vermont Communities Are Ready to Go!

Vermont's Early Childhood Framework provides a great opportunity for Lamoille Valley and other local Vermont communities to focus strategically on their most critical early childhood issues, while at the same time contribute to a shared vision and shared results for young children.

Completed a little more than a year ago under the leadership of the governor and Vermont Department of Human Services, the Framework is aimed at "realizing the promise of every child in Vermont," by building on "years of exceptional work across the state to foster children's healthy development, support families and build thriving communities."  

Vermont's 12 Regional Building Bright Futures (BBF) Councils are key to successful implementation of the Framework and companion Action Plan over the next three years. Building on Vermont's strong tradition of local-state partnership, the Councils will provide the infrastructure needed at the local level to align strategies, allocate resources and work collaboratively with state agencies to get the job done.

As Scott Johnson, Executive Director of Lamoille Family Center in Morrisville, VT, notes, "It's now up to the BBF Councils and local partners who work with young children and their families to bring the Framework and Plan to life." They will do so by:

• Brokering relationships with families to ensure that activities are a good fit and respectful of their role as primary decision-makers
• Setting priorities among strategies that fit local context and are likely to be effective
• Providing feedback to the state about what is working and where the Plan needs to be adapted to improve performance and achieve population-level results

The Vermont Framework and Plan also helped the state and local communities make the most of new federal funding opportunities. Just as the planning committee was developing the Vermont Action Plan, the state was awarded a three-year federal  Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant. 

Working together, state and local leaders coordinated the two initiatives to maximize impact without duplication. The (RTT-ELC) grant award provides three years of funding, allowing each BBF Council to have full-time staffing to support local implementation and ensure accountability. Look for future reports on the coordinated rollout and impact of these two initiatives throughout Vermont - including more on the partnerships that are the foundation for this work.

A Billion Dollar Day for Early Childhood Education

At the White House Summit on Early Education on December 10, 2014, both President Obama and Vice President Biden noted that states and communities have continued to increase funding and enhance the quality of early care and education. Speakers from Boston, Cleveland, and Seattle illustrated the roles of diverse local leaders trying to take early education to scale for all children. Government and philanthropic leaders also announced more than $1 billion in new investments, including $750 million in federal grants for Preschool Development and Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships and $330 million in new private funds to expand the reach and enhance the quality of early childhood education. Visit investinus.org to learn more about the Summit, the President's call to action and the array of participating funders and technical assistance providers.