San Juan County expands ECAP slots on San Juan Island even as statewide ECAP funding drops

The San Juan County Board of Health heard Sept. 17 that local early-learning providers have expanded services on San Juan Island and that county staff are stepping up outreach to keep children immunized, even as the state cuts ECAP funding.

Ethna Flanagan, an early‑learning staff member working with the county ECAP team, told the board the county has increased preschool capacity through partnerships with the school district and local providers. "This past year, this was a snapshot of 67 children that were enrolled for 120 or longer," Flanagan said, summarizing a cohort of children served and the program’s follow-up results: by year’s end 100% of those children had a medical home, 99% had dental coverage in a dental home and 97% were up to date on well‑child exams. Flanagan added that 78% were fully immunized and that public‑health nurses are prioritizing catch‑up immunization clinics.

The county described how a small program opened in the vacated Head Start building at Bridal Harbor Elementary (district cooperation and grant support helped convert the space) and scaled from part‑day to full‑day service; Dr. Becky Bell said the program now serves 12 students in developmental pre‑K and can expand to about 15 depending on staffing and funding. "We opened a early learning center," Bell said of the district partnership that supported the expansion.

Local expansion comes amid deeper funding pressure at the state level. Katie Warren, deputy director with the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECAP, told the board: "This last year, we had a huge, cut in ECAP. 2,037 slots were eliminated across the state." Warren said advocates are collecting local impact data and will push for legislative backfill as state budget decisions approach.

County staff also described a sharp local loss in a separate "complex needs" funding stream used for mental‑health supports inside early‑learning programs. Presenters said the county lost roughly $145,000 of a $175,000 allocation (an approximately 83% reduction) for those specialized supports; staff characterized that reduction as effectively eliminating the prior funding level for counseling and specialist services.

Panelists flagged affordability pressures for parents: the county presented ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) data showing a household survival budget of roughly $67,000 a year for a single adult with one child and about $121,000 for two adults with two children. County staff also reported that local full‑time infant, toddler and preschool care can run as high as about $2,000 per child per month, creating a sharp gap between local costs and ECAP eligibility thresholds.

County staff outlined short‑term steps: continuing immunization catch‑up clinics with public‑health nurses, running MERIT/TSG database training for providers, pursuing additional ESE (over‑income) slots to reach more families, and working with community partners (including the community foundation and an "Umbrella Group") to identify sliding‑scale options for families not covered by DPK/TTK/ECAP. Ethna invited board members to tour preschools in the county to see services firsthand.

Next steps: county staff said they will track how many children remain without placement and report updated enrollment and readiness metrics; presenters offered to provide further numbers on waitlists and placements.

Why it matters: Early‑learning access affects kindergarten readiness and caregiver workforce participation, and local officials said San Juan County’s efforts to fill slots likely reduced the county’s share of state cuts. The county urged board members and the public to raise ECAP and childcare funding priorities with state lawmakers as the 2026 budget process approaches.