Child Care Services Association receives support to address longstanding racial inequities and new challenges

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT
Jennifer Gioia
919-578-1593
jenniferg@childcareservices.org

Child Care Services Association receives support to address longstanding racial inequities and new challenges

CCSA’s T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center’s work in education, compensation and retention of the early childhood workforce bolstered by W.K. Kellogg Foundation support.

Chapel Hill, N.C., January 12, 2021: Child Care Services Association (CCSA) is honored to receive support for the next three years from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for its T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center’s work in addressing racial inequities and new challenges in the education, compensation and retention of the early childhood workforce.

Thirty years of experience, research and data collection provides the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® National Center (National Center) at CCSA and licensed T.E.A.C.H. states with firsthand knowledge of the barriers that create college completion obstacles, low wages and an unstable workforce in the early childhood field. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated those barriers.

“At the Kellogg Foundation, we work to remove barriers to ensure families, child care providers and teachers have access to the resources that directly impact whole child development,” said Sakinah Harrison, program officer with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “We are pleased to continue our support of CCSA’s National Center to tackle these challenges—e.g., poor pay, lack of benefits and supports and limited access to professional learning, particularly for teachers of color—and ensure all children have the opportunity to thrive.”

The National Center at CCSA provides leadership in the early childhood education field, developing consistent, accountable strategies to improve the education, compensation, retention and career mobility for the early childhood workforce. The data gathered and lessons learned are shared with states across the country and with our nation’s policymakers to emphasize the critical importance of an educated, well-paid and stable early childhood workforce to ensure children’s success in school and life.

High-quality child care makes a difference in the lives of young children, particularly those that are the most vulnerable. High-quality early care and education programs are not possible without an early childhood workforce that is adequately compensated for the important work they do and has the necessary education and competencies to promote healthy child development. Without education and compensation that recognizes their importance, early childhood educators leave the field, affecting the quality of child care programs.

“The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has been a long time funder of our work at the National Center,” said CCSA President Marsha Basloe. “This new grant will allow us to continue addressing the barriers of the early childhood workforce, especially in the time of COVID, ensuring every child has an equal opportunity to a happy and healthy life. CCSA is grateful to have the Kellogg Foundation’s continued support.”

About Child Care Services Association
Founded in 1974, the mission of Child Care Services Association (CCSA) is to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality child care for all young children and their families. Using a holistic approach, CCSA supports children and families, helps child care professionals improve the quality of early education children receive and ensures all families can afford and access the high-quality early care and education that is so important for a child’s early development. CCSA also provides nutritious meals to children at child care centers through spoonFULL, where they may eat 50-100 percent of their meals. Our T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood®, Child Care WAGE$® and Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$ Plus® programs give child care professionals the means to obtain an education and supplement their salary based on that education. CCSA also licenses T.E.A.C.H. and WAGE$ across the U.S. and conducts early childhood systems research and policy development statewide and nationally. For more information, visit www.childcareservices.org.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life. The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.

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