Advocacy Resources
These downloadable resources include details about early childhood programs and services, investments in child care facilities, and fact sheets on our priorities for the 2025 Oregon legislative session.
For Advocates
Resources for advocates/Recursos para defensores
For Policymakers
With strong leadership, we can move toward a child-centered early learning and care system that prioritizes every child’s diverse strengths and needs, starting at birth. We need leaders to commit to building an equitable childhood system that works for all Oregon kids, so young children, families, and communities can thrive.
Latest on Policy from Children’s Institute
For Kids Going Back to School, Summer Experiences Matter
Educators and parents of school-aged children are likely familiar with the term “summer slide”— the loss of skills and knowledge kids can experience over summer vacation. The impact is widespread, with 90 percent of teachers spending at least three weeks...
SMART Helps Foster a Love of Reading in Young Children
In this podcast, we spoke with Chris Otis, executive director at Start Making a Reader Today, also known as SMART, and Michelle Gilmore, SMART’s senior program manager. SMART is a nonprofit organization focused on helping kids learn to read and getting more books...
Q&A: A Preschool Teacher in SE Portland, in Her Own Words
This summer Children’s Institute is highlighting the important work of early childhood educators teaching preschool through third grade. In this series of profiles, teachers from across the state tell us why they teach young children, what they wish people knew...














