Ohio Voters Overwhelmingly Support Early Childhood Investments
Yesterday, Groundwork Ohio released the results of a statewide public opinion survey that demonstrates overwhelming support for investments in young children. The survey was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and includes 1,000 registered voters, with an additional oversample of 458 parents of children under the age of 12.
Key findings from the survey include:
Ohioans recognize how critical education in the first few years of a child’s life is to their development.
A majority of Ohio voters believe that not many early learning programs are affordable for lower- and middle-income families.
Ohioans overwhelmingly believe that making sure children get a strong start in life through quality early learning programs (95% important) and helping provide childcare for working parents (89% important) are important goals for Ohio.
More than three-quarters of Ohioans support a proposal to provide an additional $350 million in funding over the next ten years for early learning programs for low- and moderate-income families with children under the age of three.
Fully 62% of Ohio voters would be more likely to vote for an elected official in Ohio who supports this proposal.
In 2018, Groundwork Ohio released its Ohio Early Childhood Race and Rural Equity Report. Within this over 200 page report, we analyzed data from 26 key metrics spanning a child’s lifetime beginning prenatally all the way through postsecondary attainment. After releasing the report, we took the report on the road to gain feedback and insight from local communities and individuals to better inform our work moving forward.
On October 7th from 10:00 - 11:00 AM, we are hosting a virtual release of our follow up report titled “Drafting a New Blueprint for Success: Reflections on Ohio Early Childhood Race & Rural Equity.” During this discussion, we will provide an overview of the report and invite State Senator Nickie Antonio, State Senator Dave Burke and State Representative Erica Crawley to engage in a panel discussion around early childhood equity.
Ready, Set, and Soaring to New Heights
On Wednesday, the Ready, Set, Soar Ohio initiative, spearheaded by Groundwork Ohio and supported by a diverse, statewide coalition of nearly 100 organizations, shared their bold goal of making Ohio the best place to be a young child by serving 50,000 additional Ohioans in high-quality interventions from the prenatal period to age three.
The Ready, Set, Soar Ohio initiative has set a bold goal of serving an additional 50,000 pregnant moms, infants, and toddlers in high-quality interventions by 2023—and sustaining that increased capacity in the following years. This means making sure moms have access to quality prenatal care and that infants and toddlers are born healthy, grow and develop in safe, nurturing environments, are in stable and supported families, and have access to the early learning and health supports that set them up for lifelong success.
President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden face off in Cleveland next Tuesday for the first presidential general election debate of 2020. We need to make sure issues affecting children get the attention they deserve on that stage!
To do that, Groundwork Ohio, Ohio AEYC, Every Child Matters, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Family Values at Work and ZERO TO THREE will host a pre-debate Twitter chat about why those candidates must address the needs of children and those who care for them. Following the chat, we’ll live-tweet the debate. You can join the conversation with the hashtag #WeCareDebate!
Will you join us next Tuesday night for our pre-debate Twitter chat and vote for children during the upcoming election?
We're Growing!
Policy & Advocacy Director
Groundwork Ohio seeks an experienced, highly-effective, team-oriented leader passionate about Ohio’s youngest and most vulnerable children and the families that support them. The successful candidate will direct the organization’s policy and advocacy efforts in support of its robust early care and education policy agenda. Applicants should be passionate about advancing Groundwork’s mission, have degree in public administration or similar (Master’s preferred), and have eight or more years of professional work experience with a minimum of three years of experience in legislative and/or executive branch advocacy. Prospective applicants ready to collaborate with an awesome and highly-effective team of professionals are encouraged to send a resume with cover letter to Julia at JHohner@groundworkohio.org by Monday, October 5.
September 30th Census Deadline Quickly Approaching
We are so close to the Census finish line and we need your help in ensuring that we count everyone living in Ohio, especially young children under the age of 6. Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts a Census of every person living within the United States to be used as a tool when determining how the federal government will allocate over $800 million each year to each state. Unfortunately, young children continue to be one of the most undercounted populations in the Census.
Leading up to the September 30th Census response deadline, we need you to reach out to your networks to tell them that young children are counting on us to ensure that we have the support needed to fund their future. The Census only occurs every ten years, meaning that if we do not have a full count of our youngest citizens, we will fall short in funding their future for the next 10 years!
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