Tips for Developing Child Care Policy

Strong early education systems aren’t built along political lines. They’re built by putting effective solutions first. One approach we’ve seen consistently deliver results is the mixed delivery model. Colorado is a great example. They’ve blended bipartisan strategies with real impact: - Tax credits that unlock private investment in child care - A commitment to equity, ensuring resources reach the right places - Creation of the Department of Early Childhood to streamline administration - Language translation for all services so every family can access the system Even more powerful is how these policies show up in practice: - Coordinated enrollment systems that centralize provider information, reduce duplication, and make it easier for families to apply across programs - A single eligibility screener that helps families understand what they qualify for, across multiple funding streams - Data infrastructure that gives leaders visibility into trends, access gaps, and areas for improvement Colorado’s progress shows that when you combine flexibility, equity, and collaboration, the result is a stronger, more inclusive early education system. As you can probably tell, I’m excited by what’s happening in Colorado. If you’re curious about how these ideas might apply to your community, I’d love to chat. #ECE #ChildCareForAll #EarlyEducation #MixedDelivery #ChildCareMatters

🚸 Teach For India was never just a teaching fellowship for me — it was a crash course in public policy. From education to city planning, nutrition to transportation, parenting to emotional safety — the classroom became my policy lab, and the community, my co-founder in change. During my time as a Fellow, I didn’t just teach. I became: 👨👧 A parent-figure to children of migrant workers. 🍲 A nutrition advocate, when I realized that mid-day meals were often the only meals kids had in a day. 🏘️ A community worker, shifting base from the blackboard to the basti. 🧠 A mental health listener, when a child didn’t speak — not out of shyness, but because no one had ever asked how they were feeling. 🔹 I didn’t plan lessons. (They become useless when there’s a crisis) 🔹 I didn’t have fancy PowerPoints. 🔹 But I was never absent. (I lived in the neighbourhood) Because when a child asks for food, not homework — the curriculum becomes life itself. Here are 5 urgent policy insights I believe we must act on ⬇️ 1️⃣ Mid-Day Meals Must Evolve A single mid-day meal cannot suffice for growing children who skip breakfast and dinner due to poverty. Let’s upgrade it to a nutritionally dense three-meal substitute, especially in urban poor belts. ➡️ MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA NITI Aayog can we pilot this in critical districts? 2️⃣ Playgrounds Are a Right, Not a Luxury Gated playgrounds are accessible only to the rich. Poor children often don’t have any safe space to play. ➡️ Smart Cities Mission — can we ensure every child has access to a free, walkable play area? 3️⃣ Every School Should Have an After-School Safe Space When both parents are migrant workers, children are often left unattended post-school — a dangerous gap that increases vulnerability to exploitation, substance abuse, and emotional neglect. ➡️ Let’s embed after-school centers under Right to Education as a child safety and emotional well-being clause. 4️⃣ Transportation is Not Just an Urban Planning Issue — It’s a Child Safety Issue Are our children getting home safely? Who’s asking? We need PTMs and SMCs (School Management Committees) to discuss not just marks and uniforms, but safe routes home. ➡️ Can local governments implement a “Safe Journey Home” framework for underprivileged areas? 5️⃣ Parenting is a Policy Issue Too When teachers become substitute parents, it tells us something profound: parenting support programs, urban childcare infrastructure, and parenting workshops for low-income communities are urgent gaps. ➡️ Can Ministry of Women & Child Development take this up as a national conversation? 🎓 Thank you Teach For India not just making me a teacher — but an advocate, a dreamer, and a systems thinker. The classroom is no longer the four walls of a school. It’s the intersection of policy, empathy, and courage. If we want transformational education outcomes — we need transformational policies that see the child as a whole citizen , not just a roll number.

Wondering more about how to support infants and toddlers in state-level policies, as states continue to expand public pre-K? This brief by ZERO TO THREE emphasizes four major policy strategies, with state examples and expanded information on specific policy or model recommendations: o Mixed delivery approach to pre-K o Allocated portion of pre-K investments to infant-toddler programs o Expand investment in high-quality infant-toddler child care o Invest in FCC programs https://lnkd.in/gvYc4eQ7