In a recent meeting, the Escambia Children’s Trust (ECT) Board unanimously approved a commitment letter to fund the Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of Escambia County for a third year, continuing a critical partnership that supports early childhood education in the community.
What is Early Learning Coalition?
ELC works to meet the needs of working families, the school readiness needs of young children, and the workforce needs of our growing community through two programs:
- School Readiness Program helps with the cost of childcare by offering financial assistance to eligible low-income families and prepare young children to be successful in school.
- Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) is a free program designed to prepare four-year-old children for kindergarten and build the foundation for their educational success.
School Readiness
The ECT funds provide Escambia County’s match so that the ELC can draw down from the state School Readiness funds. Executive Director Lindsey Cannon presented the funding request to the board, explaining that the $238,875 commitment serves as a dollar-for-dollar match that enables the ELC to access School Readiness dollars from the state. This matching arrangement allows the ELC to provide full-day childcare services for working families in Escambia County.
Early Learning Coalition Executive Director Bruce Watson emphasized the substantial economic benefits of the School Readiness program. He described it fundamentally as “a jobs program” created to enable parents to work while their children receive quality care and education.
Watson shared statistics about the program’s impact:
- The School Readiness Match program puts “anywhere from three to $6 million into our community on an annual basis”
- The program generates “about a 15 to one return on investment”
- For every dollar invested by the Escambia Children’s Trust, approximately 15 more dollars flow into the community that “otherwise would not be there”
When questioned by County Commissioner Lumon May about how potential cuts to Title One funding and changes to Head Start might affect the Early Learning Coalition’s programs, Watson clarified that there would be no adverse effect on the match program. He explained that if changes occurred to Head Start, most of the lower-income families would be picked up by their “larger school readiness program.”
In response to Commissioner May’s concerns about childcare worker compensation, Watson acknowledged using ARPA funds over the previous two years to implement programs that directed money to workers rather than owners. He noted that these special funds have been exhausted, but discussions about sustainable solutions continue.
- Watson agreed that fair compensation leads to better outcomes: “When you pay a decent wage, you get a decent worker and you have even greater outcomes than we have now.”
Mayor’s Childcare Access Program
The ELC has fallen short in meeting the county’s childcare demand. Last week, Mayor D.C. Reeves unveiled the Mayor’s Childcare Access Program to expand high-quality, affordable childcare options for families across the City of Pensacola. He wants to leverage the Community Redevelopment Agency’s portion of funding from the Escambia Children’s Trust, ensuring local children and working families have the support they need. [The County wants to leverage its CRA dollars for Summer Youth Employment].
- The mayor had hired Theresa Cserep as the City’s First Education and Youth Programs Officer to oversee the effort.
The City of Pensacola will host a Childcare Summit Wednesday, May 28. The summit will bring together a diverse group of local and state experts, childcare providers, business leaders and community advocates. It will serve as a platform for collaboration, idea-sharing, and actionable planning to strengthen childcare access across the region.
- Watson mentioned ongoing collaboration with the mayor’s office on childcare initiatives. He expressed hope that upcoming brainstorming sessions would yield opportunities to “leverage our local community to put more children into care, children that may not otherwise qualify for the school readiness program.”
The ELC executive director committed to provide more detailed performance metrics at an upcoming ECT programming committee meeting to further demonstrate the program’s value to the community.