A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR
NEW POLL REVEALS VIRGINIANS UNABLE TO WORK DUE TO LACK OF CHILD CARE Last week, Virginia Promise in Action released a new poll illustrating the devastating impact of the child care crisis on Virginia's workforce. In response to the survey, 68% of working parents said someone in their household’s job is currently being impacted by lack of access to child care. The biggest impacts included reducing hours, taking time off, or leaving the workforce entirely to cope with child care needs. Of those currently impacted, 86% said the person would rejoin the workforce if the family had access to quality child care. 
"The child care crisis has impacted parent’s ability to support their children,” said Virginia Promise Partnership Director Krysta Jones. “This poll demonstrates that our elected officials must take bold steps to increase access and affordability, improve quality, and stabilize our child care sector.”
As we look ahead to the inauguration of the Youngkin administration and the 2022 General Assembly session, it is clear that Virginians both want and need policymakers to address our broken child care system. In partnership with Virginia Promise in Action, the Virginia Promise Partnership looks forward to keeping the issue of access to quality, affordable child care at the forefront of policy discussions to ensure our kids have a foundation for success in kindergarten and beyond.
Virginia Promise in Action is a bipartisan 501(c)(4) companion organization to the Virginia Promise Partnership focused on building the political will necessary to advance effective policy improvements and increase investment in Virginia’s child care system. Read more about the poll here.
PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHES NEW CHILD CARE ADVOCACY PODCAST This month, the Virginia Promise Partnership launched our exciting new podcast, Promise Insider, focused on child care and early childhood education advocacy in Virginia! 
Our first episode features David Cary, Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Education in Virginia. Cary provides an overview of the Virginia budget process and the work of the outgoing administration to prioritize child care and early childhood education in the proposed outgoing budget.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY to hear from experts and learn how we can give children the future they want, need and deserve!
CALLING ALL CHILD CARE ADVOCATES! Find below upcoming opportunities to engage with lawmakers as well as sharpen your advocacy skills. By sharing your story and support for the bold goal, you will play a critical role in efforts to ensure all Virginians have access to quality, affordable child care. We hope to see you there!
CHILD CARE HIGHLIGHTED IN PROPOSED STATE BIENNIAL BUDGET 
Earlier this month, outgoing Virginia Governor Ralph Northam released his proposed biennial budget for 2022 through 2024, which includes important funding and policy improvements to strengthen Virginia's child care system. Together, these investments would enable children to gain the skills they need to succeed, parents to return to work, and communities and businesses to thrive.
“Provisions included in the proposed budget will help to address [the child care crisis] and align with the core pillars of the Partnership’s efforts: increasing access and affordability, improving quality, and stabilizing our child care sector," said Virginia Promise Partnership Director Krysta Jones.
As proposed, the budget would enable Virginia to:
“We look forward to working with all General Assembly members and the incoming Youngkin Administration as we continue charting a path toward our bold goal of quality, affordable child care for all Virginia families by 2030,” said Jones.
Read more about child care provisions in the budget in the Virginia Promise Partnership's full statement here. Our in-depth analysis of the proposed budget remains ongoing as we identify priorities for the 2022 General Assembly session.
PARTNERSHIP IN ACTION 
This month, we were thrilled to welcome Kevin Boston-Hill, a well-known professor and public speaking coach, to our December Promise Advocates meeting to share insights on how to effectively communicate our child care messages.
CHILD CARE IN THE NEWS
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