Letter to the Enfield Press: Rep. Karen Jarmoc

A Hearing on Early Care and Education

This week, the Education and Human Services Committees held a Joint Informational Forum in regard to efforts by the state Departments of Education and Social Services to access funds for early childhood education. Funding sources for such dollars include Early Learning Childhood Grants, Head Start and Race to the Top monies.  As a sitting member of both committees and as a lawmaker who recently initiated and hosted North Central Connecticut’s first Regional Summit on Early Care and Education, I was most interested to participate in this hearing. 

Last September, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility bill which includes grant funds for competitive Early Learning Challenge Grants. This measure is awaiting action by the Senate. As the co-chair of the Speaker’s Task Force on Children in the Recession, I will be submitting a letter to our Connecticut delegation asking that they support this important investment. Rigorous studies and hard data show that an investment in early childhood is fundamental to achieving a globally competitive workforce and fiscal sustainability for our state and our nation.

According to the Connecticut Association for Human Services, which presented at the hearing, our state is experiencing an increased demand for early care and education programming. Connecticut currently has 202,071 children between the ages of 0-4, with approximately 62% living with parents in the workforce. According to CAHS, sufficient funding must be committed to early care and education to ensure school readiness for children. This will enable children to thrive and families to work. Connecticut has all of the pieces it needs to effectively provide quality funded early care and education options to families with young children, but we must do a better job at collaborating and coordinating.

In regard to collaboration, coordinating entities such as Discovery Initiatives and School Readiness Councils have successfully led in the effort to organize alliances. In Enfield, Enfield KITE (Key Initiatives to Early Education) has been highly effective and has been recognized for its achievements with private and public support. Enfield KITE is currently taking concrete steps to develop a community plan for the town which will enable our community to not only have a map for the future, but position itself to be competitive for additional investments.

Clearly, there is a need. Approximately 2,500 children in Enfield are under the age of 5. Today, nearly 71% of families in Enfield with children under the age the 6 have both parents working versus 62% ten years ago. In Enfield, there are 19 licensed early child care centers. Three years ago, six were NAEYC accredited. Today, there are 3 that are NAEYC accredited, the town’s two Enfield Child Development Centers and Enfield Head Start. Additionally, the percentage of Enfield Public School students that qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch (Children whose family’s income are equal to or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level) has risen from 13.3% in 2000-2001 to 26.3% in year 2008-2009.

At the informational hearing, lawmakers were assured by Education Commissioner Mark K. McQuillan, that his agency is working closely with DSS to prepare for and pursue these important available dollars. McQuillan said that the Department is prepared to maximize any and all opportunities for federal funding for early childhood. This is great news. I look forward to supporting and participating in this work.
 
State Representative Karen Jarmoc is a member of the Education, Human Services and Public Safety and Security Committees. She is vice-chair of the Select Committee on Children and co-chair of the Children in the Recession Task Force. She may be reached at, (860) 240-8585 or Karen.Jarmoc@cga.ct.gov.