“In our town halls, we had businesses, parents, and providers, and they all said the same thing,” said Senator Kyle Evans Gay, referencing a series of town halls she’s hosted across the state around early childhood education. “We need to highlight the business community’s voice, who have been saying ‘this is good business for Delaware.’ If you need good roads to keep the economy strong, we also need child care to keep people working. There are more jobs than people to fill them, and part of that is because women are leaving the workforce because they have no other care option for their kids. This is an investment that affects all of us.” 

“For our state to position itself for success, we need to make Delaware a more attractive place for families and young children,” said Senator Sarah McBride. “From an economic justice perspective, there is no issue more central to women’s economic justice than this issue. We have been focused on a cradle through career support system that puts an emphasis on attracting more talent to our state. We worked last year to pass paid family and medical leave. The next pillar is ensuring that every Delaware family is able to access affordable childcare and early education.” 

According to a recent report from Rodel, one of the event’s co-sponsors, 81% of Delaware caregivers and parents said child care expenses hold back their family from improving their situation. The same report found that 71% of Delaware caregivers and parents looked at multiple providers to send their children to, and of those, 37% were waitlisted and 21% were flat-out rejected services. 

“The reason we’re seeing waitlists is because we can’t pay centers to pay people. This is a workforce issue,” said Madeleine Bayard, Chair of the Delaware Early Childhood Council, who moderated the panel. Dr. Dannae Sewell, ECIC Early Childhood Initiatives Officer at Delaware State University added her perspective as an advocate and early childhood educator, “You need the people to do the work. Through my experience teaching in the classroom and as a parent, I got into the field because I needed to take my son with me. I could not afford to work places that wouldn’t let me bring my kid. I’m serving children and families, but I cannot afford to bring my kid there.” 

In January, the Early Childhood Education Advisory Committee released its final report, which included four key recommendations: 

Governor Carney announced in the State of the State address and the Governor’s FY 24 Recommended Budget that Delaware will continue to make child care policies and investments a priority. 

The State will be taking the following actions to support, enhance, and expand child care quality and access this year:  

Additionally, Delaware won an $8 million federal Preschool Development Grant, which will help the state be innovative in strengthening its early childhood infrastructure. For more information on Delaware’s grant, please visit the Delaware Department of Education’s website. 

“Early education is the workforce behind the workforce. Without childcare, Delaware doesn’t work,” said Jamie Schneider, Executive Director of the Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (DEAEYC) “Early childhood educators are resilient and determined to continue to provide care.” 

A full livestream of the event is available here.