RIght Start Fact Sheet: Child Care Is Essential 2024
H-7124 (Diaz) & S-2847 (Cano) Child Care is Essential Why Focus on Child Care? Families need access to affordable, high-quality child care so parents can work, and children can learn and thrive. Experts agree that 9 out of 10 families cannot afford child care. Because middle-income families cannot afford the cost of quality care and […]
RIght Start Fact Sheet: Stabilize Health Coverage For Young Children By Adopting Continuous Medicaid Coverage Birth Up To Age 6
Stable health insurance coverage for babies and young children helps children receive high-quality and timely preventive health care, including vaccinations and screenings, routine care for illnesses, specialized health care when needed, and emergency health care services. Continuous eligibility for Medicaid/RIte Care during infancy and the early childhood years will help prevent gaps in coverage and […]
RIght Start Fact Sheet: Early Intervention Legislation 2024
Governor’s FY25 Budget Proposal Article 9, Section 5 H-7334 (Cotter) & S-2359 (Valverde) H-7123 (Diaz) & S-2344 (DiMario) Rhode Island’s Early Intervention program provides special education services to infants and toddlers who have developmental delays or disabilities. Early Intervention is required under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Researchers have found that about […]
RIght Start Fact Sheet: Meeting Rhode Island Young Children’s Mental Health Needs
H-7900 (Fogarty) & S-2608 (DiMario) In 2023, the Rhode Island Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Taskforce issued a plan with 10 recommendations to address and improve the mental health needs of Rhode Island’s youngest children. The number of young children enrolled in Medicaid presenting with Serious Emotional Disturbance has grown from 12% in 2017 […]
RIght Start Fact Sheet: Expanding RI Pre-K Equitably In Birth To 5 Early Care & Education System 2024
H-7497 (McNamara) & S-2843 (Gallo) The 2022 RI Pre-K Expansion Report commissioned by the General Assembly points out that expansion requires careful planning and implementation to ensure equity and sustainability. The RI Pre-K model has expanded without attention to the funding needed to provide compensation parity for teachers and without attention to the investments needed […]
Join Us May 9th For Rhode Island Strolling Thunder 2024!
Join us on May 9th for Rhode Island Strolling Thunder 2024! We are strolling with babies to the State House! Join us at the Downtown Providence Marriott on May 9, 2024 at 12PM. We look forward to working alongside families who have babies and young children to advocate for state policies and funding that will […]
RIght Start Fact Sheet: Save First Connections & Family Home Visiting
H-7899 (Giraldo) & S-2360 (Valverde) First Connections is Rhode Island’s frontline home visiting service for families with newborns statewide. Currently delivered by four non-profit agencies, it is designed to identify babies’ and families’ needs as early as possible and connect them with services to address those needs, including mental health services, WIC, help with affordable […]
RIght Start Fact Sheet: Early Childhood IDEA Task Force Legislation 2024
H-7438 (Carson) & S-2512 (Valverde) The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) makes states responsible for delivering Early Intervention services to infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities, and it makes states and school districts responsible for overseeing and delivering special education services to young children from age three to kindergarten entry. In […]
Big Week for RIght from the Start! 8 Opportunities to Support Priorities for RI’s Young Children & Families
This week is a big week for the RIght from the Start Campaign, with at least 8 opportunities to support priority legislation and advocate for budget items to help ensure all babies and young children in the state can get good start in life. This is a long email organized by date of hearing with […]
Fact Sheet: Solving the Early Educator Staffing Crisis in Rhode Island
Check out our full fact sheet on policies and investments needed to Solve the Early Educator Staffing Crisis in Rhode Island.