Nicholson Foundation Funds Outreach Campaign and Poll on Infant and Toddler Care

8.18.2020
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News

High-quality care for infants and toddlers is essential for the future of New Jersey. The challenges faced by the child care industry have only deepened during the time of COVID-19, with parents unable to work, child care centers closed across New Jersey, and child care professionals left without jobs. Through it all, babies are still growing and learning, in need of stability and the loving care of all of the adults in their life.

Recognizing the urgency of this moment, The Nicholson Foundation and the Turrell Fund have launched a new campaign to build public support for accessible, affordable, high-quality care for infants and toddlers: Reimagine Child Care. Led by a coalition of early childhood expert organizations in the state, including Advocates for Children of New Jersey and the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children, Reimagine Child Care will engage the public and create new activists to push for the high-quality early care and education our youngest children need to help them learn, grow, and thrive.

Reimagine Child Care grew out of the Right From the Start NJ campaign, which ran from 2017-2020 and informed the public about the link between high-quality early child care and healthy lifelong development. Reimagine Child Care builds and expands upon this work, aiming to strengthen child care for the post-COVID world.

Reimagine Child Care

To inform the campaign, The Nicholson Foundation funded two surveys conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University to quantify the general public’s views around early childhood care and education, and understand the specific challenges parents are facing at this moment in time. The initial poll indicates that more than 90 percent of New Jersey residents believe it is important to have high-quality, affordable infant and toddler care available for our state’s families.

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