Strategic Initiatives
Reimagine Child Care
New Jersey
Purpose
High-quality child care for infants and toddlers is essential for the future of New Jersey, and the challenges faced by the child care industry have only deepened during the time of COVID-19. Recognizing the urgency of this moment, The Nicholson Foundation and the Turrell Fund launched Reimagine Child Care (RCC) to build public support for accessible, affordable, high-quality care for infants and toddlers led by a coalition of early childhood expert organizations in the state, including Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) and the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children (NJAEYC).
Approach
Reimagine Child Care is engaging New Jersey audiences such as parents, early educators, the business sector, and the general public with tailored messages to create champions for the high-quality early care and education our youngest children need to learn, grow, and thrive. Champions will go on to engage policy makers and emphasize the need for funding and support for parents and educators. This engagement work is led by ACNJ with the support of NJAEYC and supplemented by the expertise of strategic communications firm BerlinRosen.
Impact
The messages and initiatives in development support and enhance the child care goals defined in the Pritzker Children’s Initiative. This planning grant, awarded to New Jersey and spearheaded by ACNJ, aims to strengthen and streamline a more efficient, effective and well-funded system of early care and education. The goal is to ensure 8,750 more children, birth to 3, will have access to high-quality child care by 2023. To this end, a consistent goal for RCC is to increase public investment in child care.
Additional Strategies
Utilizing a robust paid ad campaign to attract new supporters: as of October 2020, ads have run 1.1M impressions, generated 2.8K clicks to the website, and 895 email sign-ups.
Capitalizing on state level opportunities with an administration that recognizes the importance of child care and birth to three, most recently directing $250 million in federal dollars to address child care during the pandemic. This investment was made possible due to the advocacy of ACNJ and numerous early childhood partners.