New report on NC pandemic response shows investment in early learning works

Our new resource, NCDHHS COVID-19 Response: North Carolina Rapid COVID Response to Early Care and Education, shares the ways in which North Carolina invested in its early childhood care and education programs during the pandemic. It explains:

• the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic raised for children and the early childhood educators who cared for them, 
• impacts on employment for parents of young children, 
• the coordinated response to the state’s early childhood challenges,  
• the breadth and depth of guidance and resources to support child and workforce health and safety, and 
• the resiliency of the early childhood education system and lessons learned. 

The support for early childhood care and education programs and educators had a positive impact on North Carolina’s children, families, and workforce. The state’s approach to using federal stabilization funding allowed its child care system to fare better than most states. While the nation lost on average 8% of its child care workforce, North Carolina is down less than 1%. 

Despite these successes, North Carolina’s system is still in crisis. Many child care programs report that without continued stabilization funding they will close programs, reduce the number of children served, and/or increase parent fees. With federal funding to stabilize the child care industry ending the year, continued funding is needed. 

We hope the experiences shared in the report will inform our collective work to stabilize the child care industry and ensure that it is there to support children’s healthy development, allow parents to work and keep businesses running.  

Download the report here.