Children's Alliance

Early learning: Children's Alliance provided key support to advocacy that led to the bipartisan passage of the fair start for kids act (sb 5237). The act represents the largest investment in early learning in state history. This legislation takes a comprehensive approach to affordability and access to early learning, with dramatic new investments in working connections child care, eceap, home visiting and other programs of support for families with young children. Designed to promote equity, the act creates additional supports for culturally and linguistically diverse early learning.

Kids count: Children's Alliance is the annie e casey foundation kids count grantee in Washington state; this work develops and promotes dissemination and understanding of critical data necessary to understand the state of Washington's children. Revenue: in 2021, the Washington legislature passed a capital gains tax on extraordinary profits; this revenue will go toward funding the fair start for kids act & other services; this is a campaign achievement for Children's Alliance, which has supported progressive revenue for several years.

Health care: because of our advocacy the 2021-23 state budget included funds to establish the dental therapy task force which will convene key stakeholders to offer recommendations on bringing the current practice of dental therapy on tribal lands to a statewide scale by examining best practices, reviewing data-driven evidence, and reporting their findings to the legislature by the end of 2021. While dental therapists are currently working or authorized in 12 states, they are only allowed to work in tribal settings in Washington state, which limits their reach here.