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Providers give input to ELAC on Fair Start for Kids Act recommendations in DCYF session
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Summary
DCYF hosted a breakout-session activity to collect provider input for the Early Learning Advisory Council's Fair Start for Kids Act report, focusing on provider supports, subsidy and access strategies, and systemic innovations including grants and shared services.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families convened child-care providers in a breakout-session exercise designed to gather ground-level recommendations for the Early Learning Advisory Council's annual Fair Start for Kids Act (FSKA) report to the Legislature.
Marlene (DCYF community engagement manager) led the activity and Courtney Parker, a policy adviser on DCYF's government affairs team, provided a brief framework for drafting recommendations. Parker urged participants to align suggestions with statutory spending goals and implementation strategies in the Fair Start for Kids Act, specifically citing the RCW provisions that define the report's audience and the act's spending goals.
The exercise Participants split into English and Spanish breakout rooms and worked in three 20-minute rounds. Each round focused on one of three topic clusters derived from the statute: 1) Child-care provider supports — subsidy, compensation, health-care access and operations support for providers; 2) Subsidy/access strategies — eligibility, subsidy design and reach, and policies affecting families; and 3) Systemic improvements and innovations — grants, loans, shared services and business incentives to expand capacity.
Courtney Parker advised providers to craft recommendations that name the legislative or gubernatorial audience, identify an observed unmet need in local practice, and propose an actionable solution tied to RCW 43.216.772 (the statute that lays out FSKA spending goals and strategies). "These recommendations are for the legislature and the governor," Parker said, and should prioritize clear, actionable requests linked to observed needs.
Why it matters The FSKA report is a statutory requirement that guides the Legislature and governor on early-learning spending goals, priorities and policy changes. Provider input shapes recommendations about how state funding and programs should change to increase access, affordability and workforce supports.
Follow-up and how to participate DCYF made an editable online document available after the meeting and encouraged providers to add stories, examples and explicit recommendations tied to RCW sections. The agency said it will compile provider input and share draft recommendations with ELAC and DCYF teams for the spring legislative cycle.
