Vermont’s State Advisory Council Network Identifies Housing, Data Collection and Family Engagement as Top Priorities
Vermont Business Magazine On November 4, Vermont’s State Advisory Council (SAC) formally endorsed the 2025 Policy Recommendations of Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council Network. These recommendations represent the most pressing priorities and challenges identified by early childhood partners across Vermont. They are part of the SAC’s state and federal charge to advise Vermont’s governor, administration and legislature.
This year’s Policy Recommendations focus on a wide array of priorities for improving the well-being of young children and their families, strengthening the quality of the settings and services in which they spend their time, and supporting the early childhood professionals who serve them.
These recommendations represent needs and emerging priorities from across the state’s early childhood system, including these highlights:
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Elevate Families’ Voices: Enact best practices statewide for elevating the voices of families and community members.
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Invest in Housing: Invest to ensure that families have access to safe and secure housing in the immediate term and long-term.
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Improve Systems: Support families, children, staff and providers navigating the child welfare system by investing in system improvements that will improve service delivery.
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Ensure Inclusion: Invest to ensure inclusion and meet social-emotional health needs in early education and afterschool programs.
As an additional resource for policymakers and the public, BBF also released a Policy Playbook explaining what the recommendations mean, why they matter and how they can be put into action.
Vermont’s housing crisis was at the top of the minds of SAC members. Retired pediatrician and SAC member Debra Hartswick noted the importance of housing to child and family well-being.
“We see the opening of the two shelters recently—it's just a beginning,” Hartswick said. “There is emerging data that access to basic needs, particularly housing and food security, is really vital to the health of our children and our families. In the wake of the recent report to the Green Mountain Care Board, if we are really looking at health care costs, we need to be looking at supporting our communities so that we have healthier children and families.”
The SAC is mindful that addressing housing and other pressing issues will require the expertise of those with lived experience. Newly re-elected Addison District Senator Ruth Hardy highlighted her support of the recommendation to ensure families with relevant experience are included in certain legislatively mandated bodies. “I’m committed to doing some work in this area as Chair of Government Operations,” she said at the September SAC meeting.
SAC members also elevated the importance of data collection for the early childhood system to meet the needs of children and families. Multiple policy recommendations speak to the need for more robust and better aligned data collection and systems within and across state agencies.
“I appreciated the recommendations’ focus on data, technology and payment methods,” Janet McLaughlin, Deputy Commissioner for Department of Children and Families, said. “These details can really make the difference in whether or not our partners are achieving what we need them to for children and families.”
The recommendations seek to identify the current gaps and needs in policy, promote and monitor action in strategic areas for the coming year and move Vermont toward a more equitable early childhood system.
The SAC is Vermont’s governor-appointed, primary advisory body on the well-being of children from the prenatal period to age 8 and their families. In addition to the SAC, Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council Network includes seven Vermont’s Early Childhood Action Plan (VECAP) Committees and 12 Early Childhood Regional Councils. The SAC sets priorities and strategic direction for statewide initiatives using the VECAP and the most high-quality, up-to-date data. The Network is administered by Building Bright Futures (BBF), Vermont’s early childhood public-private partnership.
“I am proud of the work that the Network—including countless state leaders, parents and caregivers, early childhood professionals, regional partners and others—put into developing and formally endorsing the 2025 Policy Recommendations,” BBF Executive Director Morgan Crossman said. “The BBF team looks forward to the work of supporting partners with understanding, implementing and monitoring these recommendations.”
The mission of Building Bright Futures (BBF) is to improve the well-being of children and families in Vermont by using evidence to inform policy and by bringing voices together across sectors and within regions to discuss critical challenges and problem-solve. BBF is Vermont’s early childhood public-private partnership, charged under Vermont Title 33 § Chapter 46 and the Federal Head Start Act (Public Law 110-134) as Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council (SAC). The SAC advises Vermont’s governor and legislature on the well-being of children in the prenatal period through age 8 and their families. BBF’s network includes 12 Regional Councils, seven VECAP Committees and the State Advisory Council. BBF maintains Vermont’s Early Childhood Action Plan (VECAP), the vision and strategic plan for Vermont’s early childhood system. BBF is responsible for ensuring accountability and measuring the success of the VECAP and Vermont's Act 76, a child care law passed in 2023. BBF supports accountability through Vermont’s Early Childhood Data & Policy Center, which serves as a nonpartisan, independent source of data, research and publications for policymakers, researchers and the public. Learn more at buildingbrightfutures.org.
Source: Nov. 18, 2024 (RUTLAND, Vt.)—buildingbrightfutures.org
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