This week, a bipartisan group of state Senators and Representatives convened for the official launch of the Ohio Children's Caucus with the support of Governor Mike DeWine. The caucus is a bipartisan effort to prioritize Ohio's kids by focusing public policy and state funding to support proven strategies and identify innovative solutions to support Ohio's kids. The issues-based caucus will focus on improving the effectiveness and reach of policy designed to positively impact children from birth to age eighteen, seeking to:
Improve the lives of all children throughout Ohio.
Identify legislators who are willing to support policy and funding for Ohio's children.
Provide research and identify best practices, utilizing experts from around the country, to assist in identifying a plan of action.
Identify and develop multiple "generations" of legislative leaders willing to set long-term, multi-budget goals for children and implement those goals.
Groundwork, along with a strong coalition of child advocates through the Children's Budget Coalition, looks forward to serving as a resource for the Ohio Legislative Children's Caucus.
Register Now for Next Week's Laying the Groundwork Summit
Groundwork Ohio’s Laying the Groundwork Summit will convene nearly 300 early childhood leaders from across the state to bring awareness to the importance of investments in early childhood education, especially evidence-based home visiting, high-quality child care and preschool. Participants will have the opportunity to meet directly with legislators to ask that they support investments in quality early education during the upcoming FY 20-21 budget. An esteemed bipartisan panel of policymakers and Governor DeWine's Director of Children's Initiatives, LeeAnne Cornyn, join Myra Jones-Taylor, Chief Policy Officer at ZERO TO THREE, the national leader on infant-toddler policy and program development, and David Melin, Dayton Regional President of PNC Bank, on a robust agenda curated to inform and mobilize early childhood stakeholders from across the state. We hope you will join us for this exciting day and help us bring awareness to the importance of investments in early childhood education and communicate this important information to our legislators. If you wish to participate in afternoon legislative meetings, you must register for the event by today (Friday) at noon.