From the President

CCSA
Savion Thorne

Post Federal Continuing Resolution Funding: Need to Invest in Child Care

October 1 marks the start of the new federal fiscal year (FY2023). As has been customary over the past decade or longer, Congress has not approved individual appropriation bills that fund federal agencies and the programs they administer before the start of the fiscal year. Therefore, as in past years, Congress has approved a continuing resolution to keep programs operating and, in some cases, to provide additional funding rather than freeze current spending.

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CCSA
Savion Thorne

Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship Program: A Pathway to Build Competencies and Pay

In North Carolina and across the country, the child care industry is struggling to recruit and retain workers. It’s a tight labor market and child care programs report difficulty in paying wages that are competitive with other community employers (such as Target or Walmart or McDonalds). Unlike other local employers, child care programs are looking for individuals who have a passion for working with children and also have early childhood competencies important for a business based on promoting the healthy development of children.

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CCSA
Savion Thorne

Housing and Children First Plan: A Much-Needed Two-Generation Strategy

As a life-long child advocate, I’ve come across great ideas that are difficult to pursue because of the siloed way that federal funding is too frequently made available – a specific purpose, specific targeting and eligibility rules and siloed administration. For me, who sees the connection between a family’s need for affordable housing and a parent’s need for child care to obtain and retain employment (which pays the rent), it’s a challenge to integrate the two concepts.

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CCSA
Savion Thorne

Economic Growth Depends on Child Care – Progress Post Labor-Day Needed

As Labor Day approaches, there is much to celebrate. The nation’s unemployment rate, which rose in spring 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has returned to 3.5% (the same level of unemployment that existed in February 2020).1 North Carolina is recovering faster than the national average with unemployment

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