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Make Your Vote Count for Children 2022 Early Education Electoral Advocacy Toolkit

This November, North Carolina voters will elect candidates to important public offices at the national, state, and local level. The winners of these elections will make public policy that will directly impact the future development and well-being of North Carolina’s babies, young children, and families.

This election provides an opportunity for these policymakers to make bold progress on key issues that all children need to thrive: healthy beginnings, supported families, and early learning.

As families across the country continue to deal with the affects of the pandemic, it remains clear that many of the support systems for our youngest children - from child care, to home visiting, to health care - have suffered greatly. Every parent wants to give their child a strong start in life, but our policies have not kept up with the reality of parenting today and the challenges that families with young children face. The policymakers that voters elect this November must strengthen the state's early childhood system infrastructure and make sure that children and families have access to policies, programs, and budgets that support their healthy development, early learning, and future success in school and in life.

When we support our youngest children in having the opportunity to fulfill their potential, we create the best outcomes in health, education, and economic well-being for everyone in North Carolina. The stakes are high. Now is the time to build a better early childhood system, one that is centered in equity to ensure that all children have what they need to reach their full potential. Your vote matters. The children of North Carolina are counting on you to be their champion!

What's at Stake in this Election

Healthy Development: The first 3 years of life shape all the rest and represent the most rapid period of brain development, setting the stage for all future learning and life success. When we fail to support the healthy development of young children, beginning even before birth, and to ensure the physical and mental health of their parents, we limit their opportunities to thrive and succeed.

Supported Families: Young children develop in the context of their families, and all families benefit from supports to be the best parents they can be for their children. Families living in poverty or in low-income households experience many obstacles and are under-resourced to meet the challenges of raising a family. Families must have resources to meet their basic needs for food, health care, jobs that pay a living wage, safe affordable housing, home visiting and parenting education services, and much more.

Educational Success: Children’s development and learning in the first few years lay the foundation for all of the years that follow. Children who attend high-quality early education programs are better prepared for success in school—academically, socially, and emotionally. They are more likely to read by third grade, graduate high school, attend college, and obtain employment, and less likely to need behavioral interventions or become involved in the criminal justice system.

Economic Prosperity: Economic growth depends on smart investments. Investing in high-quality early care and learning results in a 13% return on investment, and reduces taxpayer expenses for remedial education, health care, and other societal problems. When families do not have the child care they need, parents’ work productivity falls, resulting in costs to parents, their employers, and, ultimately, taxpayers. The lack of reliable child care for working parents of young children costs our state $1.7 billion each year.

Every Child's Potential: Policymakers have an opportunity and an obligation to address the systemic racism that exists throughout our early childhood system and society at large. It's time to develop policies that remove the structural barriers facing children, families, and communities of color in our state. We must ensure that all children have access to a sound, basic education starting in early childhood, with equitable opportunities to achieve their full potential regardless of their race, family income, or zip code.

The Child Care Crisis

Child care is essential – for children's healthy development, for working families, and for our state’s economic prosperity.

It is crucial that families have the tools they need to be able to work and support their children with safe and nurturing environments in their earliest years. But parents can’t afford to pay more, early educators can’t afford to make less, and our economy can’t thrive without a stable child care system. The pandemic has only worsened these challenges in the last few years.

Since October of 2021, Child Care Stabilization Grants funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act have provided funding for child care programs to support operational costs, recoup expenses incurred during the pandemic, increase teacher pay and provide other incentives to address staffing shortages. These federal relief dollars have kept many of our state’s child care programs afloat during the ongoing pandemic, but this funding will end in April of 2023. Without an increased investment when that happens, the underlying issues facing the early education system - particularly the workforce shortage due to low compensation, high turnover, and a dwindling workforce pipeline - will remain the same and will exacerbate an already precarious situation.

North Carolina has the resources right now to provide increased, sustained investments in our early education system so that child care programs across the state are there for all children and families – now and in the future. It is imperative that the policymakers who are elected this November understand the urgency of the child care crisis and how it impacts real children, families, early educators, businesses, and communities each and every day. Our state must prioritize investing in early education so that each and every child in North Carolina is ready to learn, grow, and succeed.

How are young children and families in North Carolina doing?

Even prior to COVID-19, many families with young children faced numerous barriers, including the high cost of child care, lack of physical and mental health care, limited family support services, and economic insecurity. Families of color are often overburdened and under-resourced due to systemic racism. We know that the pandemic has exacerbated many of these existing challenges, impacting even more children and families in North Carolina. Here's a look at how our state's youngest children and their families are doing:

  • North Carolina is home to approximately 360,000 young children age 0-3. Nearly half of all babies born in our state are children of color.
  • 46% of all families with young children live in poverty or low-income households (at or below 200% FPL); 12% of all of white families live in poverty, compared to 37% of Black families and 32% Hispanic families
  • 60% of parents with infants and toddlers are in the workforce
  • 1 in 4 mothers returns to work 2 weeks after giving birth
  • 15% of parents of infants and toddlers are uninsured
  • 9.3% of babies are born at a low birthweight
  • North Carolina's infant mortality rate is one of the worst in the country, and Black infants die at more than twice the rate of white infants.
  • Home visiting programs serve just 2% of infants and toddlers across the state
  • The average annual cost of one year of infant child care is more than $9,000, which is more than the cost of a year of public college tuition
  • There are tens of thousands of young children on the waitlist for child care subsidy assistance, with only 22% of eligible children age 0-5 receiving services
  • About half of eligible 4-year-olds don't have access to NC Pre-K
  • Early education teachers make an average of $11/hour, nearly half rely on some form of public assistance, and many lack health insurance or other benefits.

NC Early Childhood Policy Priorities

The NC Early Education Coalition and the Think Babies™ NC Alliance support critical policy priorities for babies, young children, and their families, including:

  • Child care stabilization, including workforce compensation, Child Care Subsidy Assistance for families, subsidy rate improvements, and more
  • Paid Family and Medical Leave
  • Access to Health Care Coverage
  • Home Visiting and Parenting Education Programs
  • Reinstating the Earned Income Tax Credit
  • Smart Start funding for early learning, child health and family support services
  • Access to NC Pre-K in all 100 counties
  • Implementation of the Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan

Who's on the Ballot in NC

The election this November offers voters a chance to select candidates to represent them at the national, state and local level. Here's a look at all of the offices on the ballot in North Carolina this year:

  • 1 seat in the U.S. Senate
  • 13 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
  • 50 seats in the NC Senate
  • 120 seats in the NC House of Representatives
  • State Supreme Court Justices and other Judges
  • Dozens of Mayors, City Council seats, County Commissioners, School Board Members, and other local offices

Will these candidates speak up for babies? Click on the link below and enter your address to find out who’s running for office in your district and learn more about them. Then ask them if they will stand up for young children and families!

Click here to download a list of all 2022 Candidates organized by district and county.

Key Election Dates and Information

This year's election will take place on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Below are a few key things to know and do in order to make sure your vote counts for children in November.

Here are a few things you can do to prepare:

Key dates and information to remember:

  • You do NOT need a photo ID in order to vote
  • Deadline to register to vote: October 14th
  • Same-day voter registration is available at One-Stop Early Voting Sites; you can register and cast your ballot on the same day during the early voting period (You can NOT register and vote on the same day on Election Day, November 8th)
  • Early voting period: October 20th - November 5th
  • Deadline to request a mail-in/absentee ballot: November 1st
  • Deadline to return a completed mail-in/absentee ballot: November 8th
  • ELECTION DAY: NOVEMBER 8th

Questions for Candidates

There are many ways you can connect with candidates to learn more about their positions on the issues that matter most to you. Whether it's at a campaign event such as a town hall or candidate forum (in person or virtual), on social media, or by email, your engagement makes a difference and can help inform them about the issues impacting young children and families. You can visit a candidate's website and social media profiles to learn more about them, find out when they're holding events, and get information about how to contact them.

Sample questions for candidates:

  • What actions will you take to ensure that children birth to age five have access to high-quality, affordable early learning programs in every community and county in North Carolina?
  • What actions will you take to stabilize and sustain North Carolina's early education system, including addressing child care workforce compensation and shortages, as we approach the end of the federal child care relief funding?
  • What actions will you take to ensure that all children have access to a sound, basic education beginning in early childhood?
  • How would you address ensuring families have time to bond with their babies in the earliest months when so much of their development is at stake?
  • How would you ensure all families have the resources needed to provide safe housing, nutritious foods, adequate clothing and diapers, and regular access to medical care for their young children?
  • How would you address ensuring all babies, young children and their families have access to the physical and mental health coverage and care they need?

Candidate Questionnaire

Want to know what your candidates in the 2022 election think about early childhood issues? Check out our Early Childhood Candidate Questionnaire to see what they had to say in their own words!

We distributed this questionnaire to candidates to ask them about their views on issues impacting young children and families and to hear what actions they would take if elected. We received responses from candidates representing all political parties and from candidates running for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, NC Senate, and the NC House of Representatives. Use the button below to view the responses, printed exactly as submitted, from all candidates who responded to the questionnaire before the deadline.

Advocacy Tools

With so many lawmakers up for election in 2022, advocates in North Carolina have countless opportunities to educate candidates and turn them into champions who will make the needs of young children families their priority. Once elected, these candidates will make critical decisions that impact families and can help ensure that all children have what they need for a strong start in life. Advocates like you play a critical role in ensuring that all candidates have the information they need to make these decisions, and in elevating the discussion of these issues among all of the candidates, the media, and other voters.

There are many ways you can call on 2022 candidates to make young children and families a priority, including:

  • Email candidates' campaigns to provide them with resources as they make decisions about policy priorities.
  • Engage candidates directly by attending local events and asking questions at candidate forums.
  • Post on social media to educate candidates and ask them where they stand on the policies and investments that young children and families need.
  • Submit a letter to the editor to your state and/or local media outlet or write a blog or newsletter post highlighting the policies and investments needed for young children in your community.
  • Share this toolkit and spread the word in your community. Call on your friends, family, and colleagues to join you in being a big voice for babies this year.
  • VOTE!

Questions?

Please contact us! For more information about the NC Early Education Coalition, please visit our website and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.