Year-End Recap and Current Events with Early Years President Dr. Kristi Snuggs

This has been an incredible year for Early Years! We celebrated our 50th anniversary on May 18, 2024, with more than 200 supporters to realize our vision for a transformed early care and education system that lifts educators and sets every child and family up to thrive.  This celebration honored our past while embracing our future — a future that includes a new name and logo but remains deeply rooted in our commitment to strengthening the foundation for our children and supporting the educators who shape their futures.

I invite you to read our 2023-2024 annual report to see the many ways we are helping children and families and the early learning workforce.

Early Years, like many of your organizations, is a statewide force that brings together stakeholders to invest in families and early care and education providers. We support every part of the child care system and know what it takes to make quality child care work for children, families, providers, communities and our nation. We are a trusted resource for the latest in early childhood research and data. We conduct research that drives effective practice and policy, building strong child care programs and professionals, helping families find and afford quality child care and providing a real-world understanding of what works and what doesn’t to spur policymakers into action and help them build solutions. And at the heart of all these roles is that of an advocate. We advocate for all children to benefit from high-quality care and early education; we advocate for early educators and we support families in providing a good start for their children.

However, the last few weeks have been unsettling as our nation has begun the transition to a new administration.  As many of you may have seen in the news in mid-January, President Trump through the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Memorandum M-25-13, ordering a temporary pause on all federal agency grants, loans and other financial assistance programs, effective the following at 5:00 P.M. This action had the potential to impact trillions in government spending and halt public programs that would affect millions of Americans. Federal agencies were instructed to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance,” White House Office of Management and Budget acting director Matthew Vaeth said in a memorandum. 

On Tuesday afternoon, minutes before the federal OMB pausing of federal grants and loans was to take effect, a federal court issued an “administrative stay” that allowed federal agencies to continue to make disbursements to existing grantees through the following Monday. 

The next day, we were happy to announce that President Trump through the federal OMB had rescinded the order to freeze spending on federal grants. In the days following this initial Executive Order, a flurry of other executive orders was signed by the President. In what remains a rapidly evolving situation, we are optimistic after reversals and court orders limiting the President’s power, but we know that programs and services may be further targeted in the future. 

Additionally, there have been recent federal immigration policy changes that may raise concerns for both the communities we serve and the incredible staff who support them. Additionally, we have been threatened with policies eliminating DEI initiatives. These are unprecedented times, and I am afraid we have only seen the beginning of sweeping changes that may be forthcoming.  

I encourage you to support child care providers, families and advocates by reminding them to follow the applicable laws, rules and regulations to keep the children, families and educators healthy and safe during these challenging times. You can also reach out to your federal legislators to let them know how important early education and care is to you. You can find their contact information here. Now is also the perfect time to reach out to your state representative and state senator to let them know child care is your top issue. Click here to find your state legislators’ contact information.

Your continued leadership and commitment to children, families and communities inspire us all. By working together, we can face these challenges with empathy, resilience, and a steadfast focus on our mission.

We understand these changes are unsettling.  We are in this together, and I know we are united in our goal to ensure that all young children and families have access to high-quality, affordable early care and education, that children are healthy and flourishing and that our educators are supported and recognized for the work they do each day.