Oregon’s 2016 legislative session begins on February 1 and the Children’s Institute is already meeting with legislators and attending hearings to discuss issues impacting Oregon’s at-risk young children and families. We have developed an advocacy platform built on the foundation of our 2015 legislative victories.
The Children’s Institute’s 2016 legislative priorities include:
- Releasing the $17.5 million allocated to begin the Preschool Promise program and start providing preschool to more than 1,000 3- and 4-year-olds in the 2016-17 school year. Preschool Promise was created by the 2015 Oregon Legislature’s approval of House Bill 3380, which envisioned a future where all low-income children have access to a high-quality preschool that will meet their needs. Stakeholders have spent the past eight months fleshing out the details for how to spend this money, and now the Legislature must move the funds to the Early Learning Division of the Oregon Department of Education so that it can distribute the funds to the communities most ready to pilot the new approach.
- Fixing a $5.2 million Head Start budgeting mistake. During the 2015 legislative session, lawmakers thought they were allocating $8.7 million to expand access to Head Start for low-income preschoolers. But due to a staff error in estimating the cost to continue the existing services, Head Start only received $3.5 million in new funding. This has left hundreds of Oregon’s most vulnerable children unserved.
- Allocating $5.4 million to ensure young Oregon children who are identified with developmental delays get the help and services they need. Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education services help children from birth to five years old with a diagnosed developmental delay, along with their families. With Oregon’s commitment to universal developmental screenings, more children with delays are being identified earlier and accessing services. Unfortunately, funding for the program has remained essentially flat while the number of children and families served continues to grow. Intervening early saves money down the road in reduced special education costs.
Through the Early Works program, the Children’s Institute has deepened our understanding of how important early learning opportunities are for Oregon’s young children. At Earl Boyles Elementary in east Portland, we see the smiling faces of 3- and 4-year-olds entering the preschool. And we hear from kindergarten teachers, reinforced by the data, about how dramatically preschool is improving these children’s school readiness. At Yoncalla Elementary in Yoncalla, we work with a wonderful community preschool struggling to meet growing parent demand while lacking local funding.
These stories mirror communities across Oregon. Getting more children served in high-quality early learning remains a top priority for The Children’s Institute. We will be working throughout the legislative session over the next several weeks to urge legislators to continue making headway for Oregon’s youngest children. We will also continue to report on our progress and on developments during the session.