Officials in Burlington, Vermont have announced an expansion of the city’s Early Learning Initiative aimed at getting more low-income children into high-quality child care.
Burlington launched its Early Learning Initiative in 2015 to increase child care opportunities for families. In 2018 the city council approved grants to providers to create new high-quality childcare spaces. On Thursday, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced a new initiative called the “First Steps Scholarship Program” is being implemented. "On Friday March 1st we will be opening applications for one year scholarships that will be awarded so that the recipients of these scholarships can enroll in high quality childcare programs. That is the goal here is to get more children into high quality childcare because of the huge impact high quality child care has on individual brain development and the evolution of these kids and ensuring that they get the right start in life. These scholarships will be available to households that have family income of 65 percent or less of the area median income.”
The scholarships will be available to 20 children and there will be a lottery if there are more applicants. North District Councilor David Hartnett has been a strong supporter of the program. “This isn’t going to touch every kid in Burlington. This isn’t going to touch every family. I wish it would. I’ve run a business in the New North End, nearly 20 years out there. I see single moms who have asked for this program who said they would love to go home at night and read to their kids but after working two jobs, making dinner and then you know putting their kids to bed there is no time. And those are the kids that we’re losing. You know like I said I wish every kid would be eligible. The lottery system is the best system and it’s the fairest system. This is the outside of the box thinking that we need to do to build better neighborhoods and better schools because without great schools, without strong schools, we don’t have community.”
Lets Grow Kids mission is to ensure that all Vermont families have access to affordable high-quality child care by 2025. Program Chief and Interim CEO Janet McLaughlin says they worked with the city and stakeholders to design what she calls a bold program. “We do have a child care crisis here in Burlington and in this state. And the bottom line is parents can’t afford to pay more and early educators can’t afford to make less. And while paying for childcare is difficult for many families, for most families, it’s especially challenging for those lower income families who are living paycheck to paycheck. And that’s why it’s really important that the Burlington Early Learning Initiative is focusing on improving opportunities for children from low income families who face additional barriers to accessing high quality care. The city’s First Steps Scholarship Program is a first of its kind initiative in Vermont and has the potential to be a model for other communities around the state.”
There are a number of ways to apply including on the city of Burlington’s website. The deadline is April 5th.
