This legislative session, Washington Communities for Children (WCFC) requests $4 million to maintain and strengthen the WCFC network infrastructure across Washington state. The WCFC Network has become a critical component of our state's early childhood system thanks to our coordination of cross-sector partnerships at the state, regional, and community level.
LOCAL COMMUNITIES INFORM STATE PRIORITIES
AN EXAMPLE OF THE POWER OF THE WCFC NETWORK
Because of our statewide infrastructure, in only six weeks time, the WCFC Network engaged 472 families and child care providers in listening sessions, over 60% of which live in or actively serve rural communities. 35 of 39 counties were represented among our priority populations, which included Black, Indigenous, and Latinx families, and families of children with complex medical and developmental needs. To maintain this level of coordination and responsiveness, robust and consistent funding is essential.
FUNDING HISTORY
WASHINGTON COMMUNITIES FOR CHILDREN FUNDING TIMELINE
“We can’t slow down on an effort that is going to have generational change in our communities.”
DID YOU KNOW?
Washington Communities for Children (WCFC) is the state anchor partner for Vroom, a tool to support parents in maximizing brain-building moments and family bonding with their children birth through age five, the most critical stage for early brain development. Leveraging our statewide infrastructure, WCFC has reached over 12,000 families and child health care providers through Vroom engagement alone.
community priorities and efforts are ALIGNED with WASHINGTON state’s EARLY LEARNING COORDINATION PLAN.
WCFC regions are actively promoting and using the ELCP as a guiding document for regional and local efforts. The result is that local efforts to improve access to resources for families with young children are unified with the vision and priorities as outlined by the state in the ELCP.
RESOURCES
We have put together various resources to help support you in connecting with your local representatives. You can also find the most up-to-date information on scheduled hearings and floor sessions, legislative highlights, and more at leg.wa.gov.