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0:54

Lemonada.

1:09

Welcome, everyone, to this episode of No One

1:11

is Coming to Save Us. I am your host, Gloria

1:14

Rivera. I'm so excited

1:16

to be here virtually in Birmingham. I was just

1:18

saying I wish I was in Birmingham. Hopefully

1:21

it will feel like we are there because

1:24

we're getting so deep into the issues regarding child

1:26

care in Birmingham. No One is Coming

1:28

to Save Us is created in partnership with

1:30

Lemonada Media and Neighborhood Villages. I

1:33

want to say a big thank you to the

1:35

Women's Foundation of Alabama and the

1:37

Prosper Foundation. They

1:39

are our partners and have sponsored this event.

1:42

Really, these events, every city that

1:44

we go to, they would not happen without

1:46

the support of invested organizations

1:49

in each city. This season will

1:52

look a little different from seasons past. I encourage

1:54

you to go listen to the first and second

1:56

seasons. We're doing something different

1:58

now in season three.

1:59

across the country to not only talk

2:02

about childcare,

2:04

but really shine a light on the positivity

2:06

that's happening, the solutions to the crisis.

2:09

And there are solutions, they are happening

2:11

on the ground. And we want to learn about

2:13

the important and incredible advocates

2:16

in each of those cities that are making these

2:19

changes happen. We are here virtually

2:21

today to hear from amazing

2:24

advocates who are dedicating

2:26

their life's work to making childcare affordable

2:28

and accessible for families

2:30

across Alabama where it is so desperately

2:33

needed. We will hear very

2:35

shortly more about those challenges

2:37

that Alabamans are facing. Childcare

2:40

costs remain high, of course, for too

2:43

many families. And as

2:45

many of us know, too many providers

2:48

simply shut down during the pandemic.

2:50

And those doors have not reopened.

2:52

Those childcare centers, they're

2:55

closed for good. But

2:57

the good news, the silver lining,

2:59

is that the advocates who are here have

3:02

really pushed lawmakers to subsidize

3:05

childcare. That's so important for

3:07

the families that need it. And in doing that,

3:10

they have really moved us closer

3:13

to providing living wages to providers.

3:16

That's that high quality, that

3:18

teacher that you just feel so good about

3:20

leaving your child with. They need to make

3:23

a living wage. So first, I will introduce

3:25

you to one of our first panelists

3:27

today. That is Catrice Prewitt. She

3:30

is the director of programs at Childcare Resources.

3:32

Welcome to Catrice. Thank

3:35

you, Gloria. Hi. I'm so

3:37

happy to see you. And also joining

3:39

us is Alison Muhlendorf.

3:41

She is the executive director of the Alabama

3:44

School Readiness Alliance. And

3:46

welcome to you, Alison. Thank you.

3:48

There she is. Welcome, Alison. Hooray.

3:51

And welcome, all of you, to this edition

3:53

of No One Is Coming to Save Us. So

3:55

I want to get started with a personal story

3:58

I have seen.

3:59

how compelling it is for

4:01

a listener to hear something that they can relate to. And

4:04

just before we got started, I had a chance to chat

4:06

with both Katrice and Allison.

4:09

Both of you shared

4:10

really very colorful, compelling

4:14

stories that tugged at my heartstrings. So I'll

4:16

start with Katrice. Please share

4:18

with us a story that you

4:20

carry with you that tells you something important

4:23

about what's happening with child care in Alabama.

4:26

Yes, so child care in

4:28

Alabama is important. It's important that

4:30

our providers are equipped not

4:32

only to care for children academically,

4:35

but when those emergencies arise.

4:37

And so the story that stuck

4:40

with me was shared with me by

4:42

one of the providers we serve just

4:45

the other day. And she was telling me how

4:48

one of the infants in her care while

4:51

being changed, diaper changed,

4:55

her eyes began to roll as if she

4:57

was beginning to experience a seizure.

5:00

And through CPR and first aid

5:02

training, we're taught to let the seizure

5:05

happen and then go into

5:08

your emergency care skills

5:10

afterwards. But the infant

5:12

began to

5:13

become unresponsive. And

5:16

so she immediately jumped in and

5:18

began administering CPR

5:21

on that infant. And thankfully,

5:24

the infant is doing well. But that just

5:27

lends to this conversation the importance

5:30

of early care and education, the importance

5:33

of our teachers being equipped

5:35

not just with instructional

5:38

practices, but with emergency

5:40

practices and health and safety practices.

5:43

Right. It goes to so many issues about professional

5:45

development, making sure the people in that

5:48

room with your child is

5:50

as prepared as they need to be. It can

5:53

literally be, you know,

5:55

a very scary situation and

5:57

your provider was able to navigate.

5:59

her way through that to the benefit of that

6:02

child. That is an important story.

6:04

Alison, you had another story that

6:07

goes to many issues, one of them

6:09

being the hours that childcare

6:11

is available. Can you share that with us? Absolutely.

6:14

Well, one of the moms who volunteers

6:17

with us at the Alabama School Readiness

6:19

Alliance is Levetta

6:21

Harville. And she's been very outspoken

6:24

about how difficult

6:26

it was for her to find childcare. For

6:29

her younger son,

6:29

she ended up working

6:32

the overnight shift and

6:34

then staying awake,

6:36

basically, and being

6:39

with him during the day because

6:42

she could not find childcare

6:45

for him. So there was obviously a family member

6:48

there with him at night while she was at work.

6:50

But she told me that when

6:52

he

6:53

got in to the Alabama state

6:56

funded first class pre-K program

6:59

when he was four years old, she

7:01

was able to actually get

7:04

a regular daytime job and

7:08

sleep during the night, get

7:11

a better job for her family to help

7:13

her family economically. And

7:15

he also had after school care. So

7:18

it's just really

7:20

important that we

7:22

help meet families where they are and that

7:25

we don't leave families out in

7:27

the cold. We're just doing whatever

7:30

it takes as parents to

7:32

kind of make things work, things

7:35

like staying

7:36

up all night working

7:38

and then staying up all day with the kid. That's

7:41

unacceptable. Where's

7:43

the room for Levetta as a person

7:46

in all of that? So

7:48

that stuck with me.

7:51

Right off in here at Lemonado, we say, how

7:53

did we get into this mess? And

7:56

how do we get out of it? And also

7:58

it doesn't have to be this way.

7:59

Like, that story makes no sense.

8:02

It makes no sense. And can you imagine it

8:04

wasn't a baby, it was a three-year-old,

8:07

a two-year-old. That is no joke during

8:09

the day. That is not, you

8:11

know, Levetta's not coming home to take a long,

8:14

uninterrupted nap. You know, she's

8:16

making it work to the best of her ability, and

8:18

I can just imagine the relief when

8:20

that scenario changed for

8:23

her and her son. Patrice,

8:25

I would love to go back to you, and let's

8:28

paint a picture for our listeners about

8:31

the root causes as you see them

8:33

of the challenges in Alabama, where

8:36

according to recent data

8:38

at the Center

8:40

for American Progress, 60% of

8:43

children in Alabama live

8:45

in a child care desert, right? So as you

8:47

look at that map, you know, you see, you

8:50

know, some places in Birmingham and Montgomery,

8:53

you know, around Tuscaloosa, there

8:55

are child care centers, there is access never

8:58

equal to how many under fives

9:00

there are, right? So what

9:02

do you see as the root causes?

9:05

And tell us about the work that you're doing at Child Care

9:07

Resources. So

9:09

with the work at Child Care Resources, as the

9:12

director of programs, I

9:14

oversee our key service areas

9:16

of resource and referral, which

9:19

assists parents

9:20

in locating quality child care through

9:23

our online database, which we recently

9:25

updated last year. Education

9:28

and technical assistance led

9:30

by a team of individuals who

9:32

have experience in early

9:35

education as teachers and

9:37

administrators, and so they understand

9:39

the challenges. And then our supplemental

9:42

child care program, which

9:44

we call SCOOP, which assists families

9:47

with affording and assessing quality

9:50

child care. So our program is privately

9:52

funded, and we pick up where the

9:54

state subsidy threshold ends.

9:57

The biggest challenge is affordability

9:59

and access.

9:59

access to child care. When

10:02

you think about the average cost in

10:04

Central Alabama for four-time care

10:07

for an infant in a licensed

10:09

child care center is

10:12

about $10,300,

10:15

give or take. The average

10:17

annual in-state tuition

10:20

at a four-year public

10:22

college in Alabama for

10:24

the 2021-2022 academic school year

10:29

was about $9,700. Wow,

10:32

wow. So we're paying

10:35

over college tuition for

10:37

an infant in a licensed child care center.

10:40

Oh my gosh, Katrice, it's crazy.

10:43

And the

10:44

number I've always been citing or the example

10:46

that I have cited many times is

10:48

that many people are paying more for child care than

10:50

their mortgage. But hearing those

10:53

numbers about

10:54

college tuition, right? And

10:58

comparing them is another,

11:00

unfortunately very helpful metaphor for

11:03

setting the scene for what it's like in Alabama. And

11:07

Allison, you understand how

11:09

families struggle with accessing child

11:11

care as well. Your own family's

11:13

child care center was closed for 14

11:16

months. Do I have that right during the height of the

11:18

pandemic? That's right.

11:20

Yes, my daughter was one when

11:22

the pandemic started. Now

11:24

she's four. So just

11:26

doors closed, you take care of

11:28

it. We understand why that was

11:31

necessary. What are the barriers

11:33

families are facing and how does your

11:35

organization address those challenges?

11:37

What are you seeing? What are the barriers

11:40

that they face and how are you helping people?

11:42

Even a year

11:44

into the pandemic, which is the last

11:47

that we have data for, the

11:49

labor participation in Alabama

11:52

of mothers who had all their children under the

11:54

age of five had dropped 10 points

11:58

to below 60%.

13:59

private programs could not afford

14:02

to pay teachers. And

14:04

then the state kicked in and began to

14:06

incentivize teachers working

14:09

in these child care programs. And that was great.

14:12

That's huge. And so now

14:14

we see that, again, there's

14:17

still competitors out there where

14:20

they still can go and

14:22

work for a higher wage and

14:25

get benefits as well. So

14:28

that's where we see a lot of these

14:31

issues taking place. Yeah,

14:34

it makes me think the image that comes to

14:36

my mind is sort of this hamster wheel with a crack

14:38

in it, right, that's not quite

14:40

going around because somebody leaves child

14:42

care, makes more money, can then, with

14:45

a patchwork quilt of subsidies and help,

14:48

let's say they're able to afford

14:51

early education for their child,

14:54

there's no one to teach that child. The doors

14:56

are closed.

14:57

So it's solving zero problems.

15:00

And also the idea of it's

15:03

worth repeating, right, benefits,

15:05

how wonderful to have benefits in

15:07

your place of business, how wonderful to make

15:09

a living wage. But Alison,

15:12

that's simply not happening. Although

15:14

I know that both of you have worked very hard on

15:18

increasing the funding that this

15:20

area receives. So

15:23

this is a question I'm sure you've gotten before,

15:25

but I'm going to ask it again. And I'll start with Alison.

15:28

Okay, we see the problem as it is. What

15:32

do we do about it? How do we make it high

15:34

quality but still affordable for

15:36

families?

15:38

Absolutely. There

15:40

is a solution to this problem. And

15:43

it takes a lot of planning and it

15:45

takes, you know, getting together, advocates,

15:48

child care providers, the business

15:50

community, employers, getting

15:53

everyone on the same page, singing from

15:55

the same songbook and talking

15:57

to politicians, elected officials.

15:59

in both parties. And

16:02

y'all, I was doing some research

16:04

today. And, you

16:06

know, 26 states have Republican

16:09

governors, so the majority of states,

16:12

and 28 states have

16:15

Republican control in their legislatures.

16:18

So if we want to

16:22

really help all families

16:25

across our nation, you know, we've

16:27

got to work with Republicans

16:30

and Democrats. And we can't

16:32

write off any policymakers.

16:35

What we have found here in Alabama is that

16:38

early childhood education is a bipartisan

16:41

issue when you frame it right.

16:43

So it really just requires funding.

16:46

So what we know about childcare is it's

16:48

a broken economic model. The

16:51

US Department of Labor has declared

16:53

it a broken economic model. What

16:55

parents can afford to pay simply

16:57

is much

16:59

lower than the cost of actual high-quality

17:02

childcare. What we've done here in

17:04

Alabama to fill that gap, starting

17:07

with pre-K, is

17:10

we have established a quality

17:12

pre-K program for four-year-olds that

17:15

is not just in public schools, but

17:17

it's in childcare programs, private childcare

17:20

centers, and faith-based

17:22

childcare centers, which we have a lot of

17:24

here in Alabama, and including nonprofits

17:27

as well, like YMCAs. All

17:29

these programs can apply for state funding

17:32

to deliver quality pre-K. So that helps

17:34

them pay their teacher on par

17:36

with public school teachers, provide

17:39

some benefits,

17:40

and the program has expanded

17:42

even just in the last decade from

17:45

serving 6% of four-year-olds

17:48

in our state to now serving 45%. And

17:52

that is because our

17:54

state lawmakers

17:56

across party lines approved

17:59

increase of the state.

17:59

is in funding year after year

18:02

for the past decade to grow

18:04

funding for the program from $19 million to $174

18:08

million today. And

18:13

our legislature is currently finalizing

18:16

the budget for the upcoming year, and

18:18

they're looking at another increase for pre-K

18:22

and an increase in funding for childcare.

18:24

So it can be done, and it can

18:26

be done in the reddest of red states.

18:28

This is not a partisan

18:29

issue.

18:31

It can be done in the reddest of red

18:33

states. Childcare really is

18:35

a bipartisan issue, and those numbers, $19

18:37

million to $174 million, I

18:41

mean, listen, there's a lot more

18:43

I wish I was celebrating right now, but I think

18:46

it's so useful for our listeners to hear

18:48

that kind of success. We're

18:50

not anywhere significantly

18:53

close to the finish line, but

18:55

you two are working to effect change,

18:57

and change is happening, and

18:59

that's really fantastic.

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Thank you.

20:12

I want to go back to you and talk about how

20:14

expensive it is to raise a family with

20:17

children in Alabama. You

20:20

focus on subsidies. So

20:22

what kind of support

20:24

do the subsidies provide? I

20:26

have an idea. But the second part to that

20:28

question is, are the subsidies

20:31

reaching all the families that are eligible?

20:34

Subsidies provide financial

20:36

assistance to low and moderate income families

20:39

so that they have equal and

20:42

affordable access to quality child

20:44

care while they are working or

20:46

while they are attending school. Two

20:48

things though, for families who are over

20:51

the income level for their family size

20:54

by a slight margin, Gloria,

20:57

we are missing them.

20:58

For a family

21:01

of two, your

21:03

minimum may be around 30 something

21:06

thousand. Your highest

21:08

may be around 40 something thousand.

21:11

But if they miss that margin, if they are

21:13

under that margin, our office

21:15

child care resources will refer them back

21:18

to the child care management agency

21:20

here, which is Child Care Central, so they

21:22

can meet the qualifications for state

21:25

subsidy. But if they are over

21:27

that margin,

21:29

we just miss them totally. Okay.

21:32

So the subsidies, it's a

21:34

tricky landscape to navigate. The

21:36

second part of that question was

21:39

right about reaching all families that are eligible.

21:41

But what I'm hearing you say is that

21:44

the eligibility is tricky too.

21:46

The eligibility is a little tricky,

21:48

but also think about those

21:51

families where there's a gap

21:53

in child care, as you and Allison mentioned

21:55

earlier, which means that there's a gap

21:58

in child care. There's a gap.

21:59

a gap in workforce. And so

22:02

we're not reaching all of those families.

22:04

And when we look at our larger counties,

22:07

take Jefferson County for instance, where

22:09

we're located, we still

22:11

need quality programs in Jefferson

22:14

County alone. And that's

22:16

not even talking about rural areas,

22:18

Gloria. There may

22:20

be childcare programs within a 20-mile

22:23

stretch, right? So

22:26

if the family does not have transportation

22:29

to get there,

22:30

then how do they even get their children

22:33

to that provider? They want

22:35

the care. The children are excited

22:38

to go to school, but we

22:40

just need to get them there. And

22:42

then you also have those areas where

22:45

there may be a childcare program, but there

22:47

needs to be more because they have

22:50

wait lists.

22:51

Which I know LaVeta struggled with, the woman that

22:53

you cited at the beginning of this show, she came

22:55

to Georgia, I believe she said

22:58

she was pregnant and got on something like 20 lists.

23:01

You know, that's a continuing burden.

23:05

I wanna go back to Alison quickly

23:07

on two issues. You said change

23:09

is possible, even in the reddest of red states.

23:12

We really didn't get into how

23:14

you helped to make it happen.

23:17

So what did you do? What did

23:19

you and your colleagues across organizations

23:22

do to make sure that

23:24

happened? We as advocates

23:27

and the women before

23:29

me, before I moved to

23:31

the state, made a very

23:33

smart decision to focus

23:35

on pre-K for

23:38

four year olds, because it's something that

23:40

lawmakers could easily understand as

23:43

education. Our

23:45

lawmakers, you know, a generation

23:47

ago had approved the first funding

23:50

for kindergarten. So

23:52

this was like in

23:54

Oklahoma, I know you're recently

23:56

in Oklahoma, an entry

23:58

point into which... we could help our

24:01

lawmakers on both sides

24:03

of the aisle really understand the importance

24:05

of early childhood education. And

24:08

then what our state did, and the

24:10

pre-K program was actually created under a Democratic

24:13

governor, Don Siegelman, and

24:15

expanded under three Republican

24:17

governors after that.

24:20

The

24:21

administrations had

24:23

great leadership put into place,

24:26

and committees with early learning

24:28

experts across Alabama, teachers,

24:31

people in the trenches doing the

24:34

work

24:35

to create the standards

24:37

that have made the Alabama pre-K program

24:40

so high quality. These quality

24:42

standards have led to results, and

24:45

we have a longitudinal study now that

24:47

has followed children who

24:49

attended Alabama's first class pre-K

24:51

program and compared them to

24:54

their peers using controls.

24:57

So regardless of zip code,

24:59

demographics, or school, we

25:02

know that children who attended Alabama's

25:04

pre-K program as four-year-olds

25:07

are doing better in reading and math on state

25:09

assessments. They're

25:11

more likely to be proficient. They

25:14

have fewer disciplinary issues. They

25:17

have lower rates of chronic absenteeism.

25:20

They have lower rates of needing special education

25:23

services. So that

25:26

data is what we brought

25:28

to lawmakers,

25:30

and that's how we saw

25:32

kind of this dramatic expansion over

25:35

the last decade of Alabama's

25:37

first class pre-K program. If you can't

25:40

reach lawmakers

25:42

with their hearts,

25:45

which many of them you can, then

25:47

you can reach them with their heads and with dollars

25:49

and cents. So we knew that

25:51

there's economic consensus that

25:54

every dollar invested in a quality

25:58

program like that.

25:59

class pre-K has a return of

26:02

about $7. So we

26:04

need that return in Alabama. We're

26:07

a historically poor state. We need

26:09

to grow our economy. We need to grow

26:11

our workforce. So that's

26:13

how we recruited the business community to get involved.

26:16

And they led our pre-K task force.

26:19

And now we have to kind of apply those

26:21

same

26:22

principles to advocating

26:25

for the broader early care

26:27

and education infrastructure. And it's

26:30

way more complicated. But our state

26:33

did make a first initial

26:35

investment in Quality Stars,

26:38

which is a quality rating and improvement system.

26:40

And it is a very popular program

26:43

among childcare providers, because

26:45

unlike some

26:48

QRIS programs, quality rating

26:50

programs, this program

26:52

is friendly to childcare providers. And

26:55

it acknowledges what they're doing

26:57

and pays them for it.

26:59

So they can earn up to $80,000 a

27:02

year through Alabama

27:04

Quality Stars. And so we've seen a great

27:07

participation rate. And our lawmakers

27:10

are

27:10

currently considering a $30 million increase

27:13

for Alabama Quality Stars. So

27:16

the Alabama Quality Stars that

27:19

financially rewards early

27:21

educators that meet certain

27:24

standards, is that how it works? That's

27:26

right. So family home-based childcare providers

27:30

and center-based childcare providers,

27:33

they have to demonstrate

27:35

that they're meeting standards. And

27:39

it's things like teacher-child ratios,

27:42

education level of teachers. Are

27:45

they following the

27:48

learning standards? Our state has learning standards

27:50

that are agreed upon. Things

27:52

like that. Do you have your schedule posted?

27:55

Do you have a parent committee? And a

27:58

little bit about what

27:59

you have in your classroom? Do you have

28:02

the right toys and manipulatives? And

28:05

we found that our new Quality Stars

28:07

program, as compared to we had a previous version,

28:09

the new one is much more centered

28:12

in equity and truly

28:14

is more accessible for all child

28:16

care providers.

28:18

So that's really interesting to hear

28:20

because one of my questions on my list was how

28:22

you get lawmakers to

28:24

the early to focus on early education

28:27

after the success of the

28:29

pre-K program. And I'm

28:31

hearing that you're saying, okay, if we present

28:33

a structure that shows results, right

28:36

data that the providers are

28:38

meeting certain requirements,

28:41

that that's

28:42

easier for lawmakers on both sides

28:44

of the aisle

28:46

to understand that it's something that they

28:48

can see latch onto

28:50

and then if things go well financially

28:53

support. Katrice,

28:56

I want to go back to you because of the

28:58

many good points Allison made. One of

29:01

them was that increase in percentage about kids

29:03

who were enrolled in school.

29:06

But according to the Child Care Resources website,

29:08

it's about 69,000 children

29:11

in Alabama between three and four are

29:13

not enrolled. I want

29:15

you to speak maybe holistically if

29:17

you can. If they

29:19

get into one of those programs,

29:21

one of the quality stars programs,

29:24

what are they going to get? And I know this question

29:26

I've asked it before. I mean, I suppose

29:28

I can ask you what is the potential

29:31

return on investment for a three or four

29:33

year old who does get into an early education

29:35

program in Alabama now that it's now that

29:37

it's we're seeing it happen.

29:39

So first, let's start

29:42

off by saying

29:44

that research tells us that 85% of

29:47

a child's brain has developed by age

29:49

three and 90% by

29:51

age five. So those are pivotal

29:54

and foundational years of

29:57

a child's growth and development.

29:59

important for us to provide children

30:02

with the best possible start

30:04

in life. And that begins with enrollment

30:07

in a quality child care program, because

30:10

we know that the return on investment,

30:13

Allison mentioned dollars, that we're

30:15

talking about academic success,

30:18

success in life, and then returning

30:21

that back into those communities.

30:24

Being enrolled in a child care program

30:26

could mean that this is the first

30:28

meal that they get up of the day.

30:31

For some children, this

30:33

could be the first experience

30:36

that they get to go to the zoo,

30:40

you know, the first field trip experience.

30:43

And then this is their experience

30:45

to be creative. You know,

30:48

child care is a place where, like Tora's

30:50

or us used to say, where a kid can be a

30:52

kid. You know, they're learning,

30:54

but they learn through play. They

30:56

learn through hands on experiences.

30:59

And so, you know, I'm

31:01

reminded of a friend of mine

31:04

just posted on Facebook. She

31:06

works in a child care program. One

31:09

of her students,

31:10

she hasn't seen this student

31:12

or heard from this student in 15 years,

31:16

graduated from high school and found

31:18

her and asked her to

31:20

attend her high school graduation.

31:23

So this is the impact that we

31:25

see. These are the stories that we

31:27

want to tell because by

31:30

her just wanted to find this teacher

31:33

and ask her to attend her graduation

31:36

shows that early on, this teacher

31:39

was very pivotal in

31:41

her life. These are life changing

31:44

moments. And so not only

31:47

for the child, but think about the parent

31:49

or the families who've

31:51

never been to the zoo, can't afford to go

31:53

to the zoo, can't go to

31:56

local venues, children's

31:59

museums.

31:59

children theaters here

32:02

in Alabama in Birmingham, the McWain

32:04

Center. These could be parents'

32:07

first experiences as well.

32:10

I have a question about building trust,

32:12

for both of you really. Like,

32:15

how do you approach that? I know,

32:17

Catrice, that you started in an early education

32:19

in 2009. You have been

32:21

a public school teacher, which

32:24

I love. So often we talk about people

32:26

engaged in change who have never been,

32:28

you know, in the classroom or exposed

32:31

to the classroom and whatever role that might be,

32:33

teacher, parent. How do you build

32:36

trust and encourage people to participate?

32:39

I'm honest. I'm forthcoming.

32:43

And I, if I say

32:46

I'm going to do something, then that's what I'm

32:48

going to do. And I want,

32:50

I try to bring to the table my

32:53

skills and abilities that's going to best

32:55

suit each individual

32:58

person or family. But

33:00

on top of that, Gloria, all

33:02

of us are just one incident, accident,

33:06

business closing from being

33:08

the person on the opposite side of the desk.

33:11

So it's not passing judgment,

33:14

not being critical

33:17

or to those families who

33:19

need our help.

33:21

You know, not saying what you should have, could have or

33:23

would have done, but saying, hey, I have

33:25

a solution for you. Or if I don't have

33:28

a solution, let me connect you to Allison.

33:30

Let me connect you to this program or that

33:33

program that can help you with that need.

33:36

And then following up. Follow

33:38

up is key. Before I

33:41

bring in Latoya, I just want to ask Allison, you know,

33:43

Catrice mentioned, you know, the first

33:45

trip to the zoo or the first meal might be given

33:48

at school

33:50

that a child attends in early education. That

33:53

leads me to food security. That leads me to

33:55

all the other issues families are facing.

33:58

What is on your list of policies?

33:59

see changes you'd like to see that sort

34:02

of are related to early education. Things

34:06

that we know are

34:08

working in Alabama that

34:10

could be expanded like

34:13

Pre-K, our home visiting

34:15

program for families. When

34:18

we

34:19

support families with

34:23

parent education, helping

34:25

with their basic needs, obviously,

34:28

and then that high quality child care and early

34:31

education when their children are

34:33

young, we can really

34:35

change, have that generational

34:38

impact and families won't feel so alone.

34:41

I'm very inspired by Dana Susskind's

34:44

new book, Parent Nation.

34:48

And really, as

34:50

a parent of a young child myself, want

34:52

to organize more parents.

34:55

I think that's another way that we

34:57

can build more trust, build more bipartisan

35:00

consensus. We need

35:02

child care providers to become more organized

35:05

in order to see some of the changes that I know that

35:07

they and we want to see. But

35:09

we also need parents to become more organized

35:12

and as advocates have to support them

35:14

in that because parents are busy as heck. Yes,

35:17

they are. We spoke to a mom recently

35:20

who got off work, put on her t-shirt

35:22

for her peaceful protest and

35:25

just drove herself to the protest after

35:27

work hours, forcing herself to show up

35:29

and

35:32

then was energized by being there. That's,

35:35

I think, a key selling point that you will

35:37

be glad that you went.

35:48

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35:51

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35:53

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35:55

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35:58

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36:02

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36:05

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36:07

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36:11

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36:13

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36:16

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36:23

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36:26

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36:30

Hi everyone, it's Jen Psaki.

36:32

I'm excited to tell you that my weekly show on MSNBC,

36:35

Inside with Jen Psaki, is also available

36:37

as a podcast. I know from the years I spent

36:39

on campaign buses in foreign capitals and

36:41

in the Oval Office that there's always more to

36:43

a story under the surface. On my show,

36:46

we try to bring you inside all of it, breaking

36:48

down the things that matter and visiting with some of the

36:50

most fascinating people in the news today. Search

36:53

for Inside with Jen Psaki wherever you're listening

36:55

and follow.

37:00

I'm gonna say to our listeners, I

37:01

hope that you have all been saving up your questions

37:04

because now is the time for those of you who

37:06

are joining us live to ask questions of

37:08

these two amazing advocates and experts. Send

37:11

those

37:11

to the chat and we'll get to them in a moment. Before

37:14

we do, we're going to bring back LaToya Gale from

37:17

our co-producer, Jen Psaki. She's

37:19

a wonderful person and a wonderful person

37:21

and she's a wonderful person. She's a wonderful person

37:23

and a wonderful person. She's a wonderful

37:26

person and a wonderful person. She's a wonderful person and a wonderful

37:28

person. From our co-producer Neighborhood Villages,

37:30

here she is. Hi. Hi. Hopefully

37:33

by now, all of you listening know about

37:35

the incredible work that Neighborhood Villages does.

37:38

They're making sure that all families have access

37:40

to affordable, high quality early

37:43

education and childcare. LaToya

37:45

has spent her career in education

37:47

organizing and advocacy and she's with

37:50

us to share her perspective on

37:52

how we really can all take action.

37:54

There are things to do no matter where you

37:57

live, as we were just saying. Go to that protest

37:59

after work. hours. So I'd like to

38:01

welcome back Latoya from Neighborhood Villages,

38:03

the Senior Director of Advocacy. Thank

38:06

you for being here, Latoya. And, you

38:08

know, as I listened to both Katrice

38:11

and Allison, there's so many

38:13

things to take out of what they had to say.

38:15

But I'm wondering what you

38:17

heard and what

38:20

resonated with you because there

38:22

was a lot that they had to say.

38:24

Well, Allison was just speaking

38:26

my language when she was talking about supporting

38:29

parents. Because I'm

38:31

all about that. You can't

38:34

do this work without supporting,

38:37

you know, the package that comes with the child.

38:39

So parents have to be supported.

38:43

But what I loved listening to

38:45

Allison and Katrice was really

38:48

how you humanized

38:50

this, you know, this crisis we're

38:52

in, this industry, right, this field. You

38:56

talk about

38:59

how this really impacts

39:01

not just the families, but you talked about the providers

39:03

as well. And Allison, when I got a chance to

39:05

speak with Allison a week or two ago, she

39:08

gave this beautiful visual, I think that most

39:10

of us can relate to, is that

39:12

a lot of times when we go to a restaurant right

39:14

now, we'll see all these empty

39:17

tables and we'll say, well, why can't I just sit

39:19

there? And the answer is because there's

39:21

no servers. We know we have a lot

39:23

of tables here, but we have no one to

39:26

serve those tables. And when we think

39:28

about, you know, this crisis

39:30

and childcare deserts, same thing,

39:33

right? Yes, we have space, but

39:35

we don't have the people. And so how

39:37

are we supporting the people?

39:40

So that's beautiful. And you guys,

39:42

and I would love it if Allison

39:44

or Katrice could talk a little bit more about

39:47

the Alabama, the STARS program,

39:51

because the equity in that and how it was

39:53

revamped to say, you

39:55

know, you don't have to follow this linear,

39:57

like a linear path. You don't have to say, say,

40:00

oh, to get one star, you

40:02

have to do this. And then to build on it, you can

40:04

say, what do I need as a provider?

40:07

What can I handle right now? What is

40:09

my capacity as a provider to

40:12

plug into this ratings

40:14

program? And when I think about

40:17

equity, we know who does this work, right?

40:19

It's women. It's mostly women of color

40:22

around the country. And so making an

40:24

easy entry point for people to

40:26

access this so they can access all the benefits

40:29

that come with it

40:30

is amazing and needed. That's what equity

40:32

looks like in action. And so I would

40:35

love it if they could speak more to that.

40:37

And

40:38

I also want to say, you guys brought

40:40

up the reality of our country is that,

40:43

yes, people have different

40:45

political views, right? But

40:48

let's not make childcare

40:50

political,

40:51

because no matter what your political

40:53

stance is, everyone's been a child, everyone

40:56

loved a child at some point, right? So

40:58

let's not make this political. And how do

41:01

we

41:01

come together because we love children,

41:03

right? And get the things done that need

41:06

to get done for children. So

41:08

what was done to make the program more

41:11

equitable and to

41:12

better capture quality in childcare

41:15

is it's now an a la carte point

41:17

system with significant

41:20

support. So childcare providers

41:22

can sign up for enhanced

41:25

support, where a technical

41:27

assistant will come in and

41:29

walk them through this is how you can maximize

41:32

the number of points that you

41:34

get. And therefore the amount of money

41:36

that you get, we have to recognize

41:39

that childcare providers are under extreme

41:42

stress,

41:42

especially post COVID.

41:45

They don't have time to just do a bunch

41:47

of work for nothing. Okay, we've

41:49

got to compensate them, we've got to

41:52

close that gap. And our

41:54

state is trying to do that with quality

41:56

stars with workforce bonuses. And

41:59

Our organization is working

42:02

with providers and parents and others

42:04

to create a roadmap for transforming

42:07

childcare in Alabama, kind of

42:09

like the initial pre-K

42:11

plan that we had put together. And

42:13

that is going to contain a lot of

42:16

other things that are needed way beyond

42:19

quality stars to help fix the system.

42:22

So it sounds like there are several

42:24

checks and balances to systems once

42:26

they're in place. And I'm curious, LaToya, I

42:28

don't know how the Quality Stars

42:30

program came to be enhanced.

42:33

It was out there and then it was reworked.

42:36

How did that come to happen?

42:39

Allison, you can take it. Oh, yeah? Yes.

42:42

I saw that. That was before I started

42:46

moving from pre-K into advocating

42:48

also for childcare. And we were

42:50

kind of watching this program that I think

42:53

less than 50 childcare providers were

42:55

participating in the previous version

42:58

of Quality Stars. And we have more

43:00

than 1,700 childcare providers in

43:02

our state. So

43:06

Alabama DHR saw that. Some

43:09

of our partner organizations like Voices

43:11

for Alabama's Children and

43:13

Alabama Partnership for Children brought

43:15

it to the attention of DHR that this program

43:18

doesn't seem to be working. And

43:20

DHR was smart to reevaluate

43:23

and again center

43:25

the rebuilding of that program in what the

43:28

providers on the ground were experiencing.

43:32

Because you can think of all these great ideas and, oh,

43:34

this matrix sounds great. And these quality

43:36

standards sound great. But the childcare providers,

43:39

because you can think of all these great ideas and,

43:41

oh, this matrix sounds great. And these quality

43:44

standards sound great. But the childcare providers

43:46

know what it looks like on the ground. They know

43:48

how it's going to play out. And they told

43:52

us how it was playing out and it wasn't going

43:54

well. So I think

43:56

that that's actually one of, when I look back

43:59

at our proudest That's

44:01

one of the things that I'm proudest of,

44:05

including all the millions of dollars that

44:07

have gone into private childcare through

44:10

the Alabama Pre-K program, because

44:12

I know you want stories. My

44:14

mother was a single mom. She's

44:17

in heaven now, but she was

44:20

in the childcare field as a teacher

44:22

and then a director when I was a child.

44:26

After my parents divorced and

44:29

she was a single mom, it was hard for her

44:31

to work in the field because of the low wages.

44:35

Everything that I'm doing

44:37

now is for all of the women out there in the

44:40

field who, like my mom, are struggling

44:43

to make ends meet. They want to

44:45

work in childcare because they love children.

44:49

We should be compensating them for

44:51

their expertise. They are

44:54

brain builders building

44:56

young children's brains during the most important

44:59

time of brain development. As

45:02

Dana Susskind's new book, Parent Nation, says,

45:04

it really only takes up one secure attachment

45:07

with an adult for a child

45:10

to make that child resilient for the

45:12

rest of their life. If they get that

45:15

one secure attachment in an early child, then that

45:17

could be their childcare teacher.

45:21

What these childcare teachers,

45:23

directors are doing every day, it deserves

45:26

to be compensated, funded, and held

45:28

up as what it is,

45:30

which is probably the most important

45:33

work that you could be doing in our country.

45:36

Allison, hearing you speak just now, it reminds

45:38

me that Katrice mentioned that statistic

45:41

on something like 90% of the brain

45:44

is developed by, what was it, age four,

45:46

Katrice? Age five. Age

45:48

five, right? So

45:51

I'm curious if you've had moments in

45:54

which you think about your mom when you see

45:56

something going well or you see a childcare

45:58

provider.

45:59

questions was how do we make sure that those

46:02

in the workforce have access to child

46:04

care right now? We were talking before

46:06

about someone who got a promotion lost out

46:08

on the subsidy. Do you have moments where

46:10

you think, you know, your mom

46:12

would be proud of the work that you do?

46:15

Yes, all the time. And that, I

46:17

mean, I think about her every day when I'm

46:19

doing this work. And sometimes I

46:21

get a little overly passionate

46:24

or overly disappointed when things don't

46:26

go right or when we don't get

46:28

all the funding that we ask the legislature

46:30

for. And that's because it's so personal

46:33

to me. And I know it's personal

46:35

for Katrice. I mean, there's so many of us in

46:38

this field that are multi-generational in

46:40

this field. Like, there are a ton of pre-k

46:42

teachers out there that then their daughters or

46:45

their sons

46:45

go into the field. And

46:47

now it's more possible to do that because

46:50

it's a better paying gig

46:52

to be in pre-k in Alabama.

46:55

And we want that for the whole system. Yeah.

46:59

I'm gonna close it out with one more question. We have

47:01

a great question from Haley in Huntsville. It's

47:03

for all three of you.

47:05

She wants to know, how can people

47:07

who are not parents but love and support

47:10

families around them really push

47:12

for improved child care in

47:15

their region, wherever they might be? And I know,

47:17

Allison, that you've suggested listeners

47:19

check out the Alliance for Early Success website,

47:22

which is EarlySuccess.org. What

47:24

are some other places, other things people

47:27

can do? I'll start with you, Katrice,

47:29

and Allison, then have Latoya finish us up.

47:33

Yeah, that's a good start. Starting with your

47:36

local organization that advocates

47:38

for early care and education.

47:41

That's a good place to start. Advocate

47:43

with those who employ you to

47:45

say, hey, you know, what

47:48

can we do to support child care providers

47:50

or parents or families who

47:53

need child care? On a recent

47:55

panel, we did have an employer that

47:58

attended that panel that had

48:00

several ways that their business

48:03

and organization was supporting those

48:05

who work and needed childcare

48:07

for their families. But doing

48:10

that and volunteering, see

48:12

how childcare works, volunteer,

48:16

and then how can you help

48:18

that provider enhance their

48:20

quality, but learn more about it.

48:23

Allison?

48:25

Great, and of course, if you're here in Alabama, you

48:27

can go to alabamaschoolreadiness.org, and

48:32

we can get you connected with volunteer

48:34

opportunities, advocacy opportunities,

48:36

even just going and reading books to children

48:38

in the classroom, or being that extra adult in

48:41

a classroom is huge,

48:44

especially for those grandparents. You

48:46

know, if you wanna be in there with children, you

48:49

know, you go through your background check and

48:51

you go be a volunteer, because

48:53

the children need all the cuddles they can

48:55

get. I

48:57

love that, and LaToya? I'm

48:59

gonna say, talk to parents.

49:02

Allison, you mentioned your friend, Lovetta,

49:04

I think her name is. She has like

49:07

a Facebook group

49:08

that if you're in Alabama, you can join.

49:11

Find the other parents wherever you are,

49:14

because all parents are talking

49:16

about this. And then Allison

49:19

gave great examples of advocacy

49:21

and action and how it really works. So if

49:23

you get together with their other parents and

49:25

march on down to your legislator.

49:27

Amazing.

49:29

These have all been such great responses. I

49:32

could go on. I wish we had two hours

49:34

for this broadcast, but

49:36

I wanna thank you all. That is it

49:38

for this show. Thanks to our partners

49:40

at Neighborhood Villages, and thank you to Prosper Foundation

49:43

and the Women's Foundation of Alabama for their

49:45

support of this event. Really

49:48

a deep thank you to Katrice Pruitt,

49:50

Director of Programs at Childcare Resources,

49:52

and Allison Mullendorf, Executive Director

49:55

of the Alabama School Readiness

49:57

Alliance. Thank you to both of you.

49:59

Thank you.

50:01

Thank you. Thank you for having us.

50:19

No One Is Coming To Save Us is a lemonada original

50:21

produced with neighborhood villages. The

50:24

show is produced by Kyle Sheely and Martine

50:26

Macias. Our audio engineer

50:29

is Noah Smith. Music is by

50:31

Hannes Brown. Our VP of weekly

50:33

content is Steve Nelson. Our

50:35

executive producers are Stephanie Whittles-Wax

50:38

and Jessica Cordova-Cramer, along

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with me, Gloria Riviera. If

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Thanks for listening and we'll be back next

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week. Until then, hang in there.

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