Last year, we came together as child care program owners and early childhood educators from around Vermont to sound the alarm on the dire state of Vermont’s child care system. Pandemic-era federal funding was running out, and we were facing the impossible decisions of drastically raising tuition for families that already struggled with the cost, decreasing capacity, or closing our programs altogether. We needed the Vermont Legislature to act — and it did.

Today, as we approach the end of another legislative session, we write again about Vermont’s child care system, but from a place of greater hope and confidence.

Last spring, Vermonters came together from across all backgrounds and political affiliations to call on our lawmakers to provide much-needed public investment in our child care system. Our legislators listened and took bold action passing Vermont’s newest child care law, now called Act 76, in June 2023, and its implementation is successfully underway.

Thanks to this public investment in our programs, Vermont is now a leader in the nation on child care. Last fall, our programs began receiving readiness payments to help us stabilize. Then in January, the state rolled out the first long-term funding as part of the new law — increased reimbursement rates to programs. We are already seeing the results of all this new funding: Our programs are expanding, increasing compensation for our staff, and in some instances, offering health insurance and other employee benefits for the first time. In some of our communities, we are even seeing new programs open to meet the demand for quality child care.

Earlier this month, the state expanded eligibility for child care tuition assistance for more children and their families, and a larger expansion is coming in October. By the end of 2024, thousands more children and their families may be eligible for free or reduced tuition. We encourage all Vermont parents of young children to look into whether they qualify for child care tuition assistance!

New, sustainable funding from Act 76 is not just impacting child care programs and our youngest children — it’s also having an impact on small businesses and employers across the state. Improving access to child care allows parents to reenter the workforce.

While this tremendous progress is something to celebrate, it’s also clear that we have more work ahead of us. Act 76 proves that solving our state’s child care crisis is within our reach, but there’s more to do to reach our shared vision of quality, affordable child care for all of Vermont’s children. We thank our lawmakers for their precedent-setting work on child care and look forward to continuing to work together in the years ahead to fully realize the potential of a child care system that works for everyone.

Sithembiso Muhlauri is the Owner and Director of Tee’s Little Stars Child Care and Preschool in White River Junction. Tammie AB Hazlett is the Owner of Tammie’s Early Care and Education in Thetford. This op-ed also was signed by 13 other day care and preschool operators from around Vermont.