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Two years after declaring racism a public health crisis, Cuyahoga County officials have released a follow up report on accomplishments aimed at addressing socio-economic and racial disparities. Legislation passed in May 2021 created the Department of Equity and Inclusion to enhance diversity both internally – as it relates to recruitment, hiring, and promotion – and externally – as it relates to awarding contracts, providing services, and making other investments. An article published by The Land highlights the county’s efforts.

2022 is off to an ambitious start. This year holds many challenges but lots of promise. ACS is closely watching five issues that will have big impact on our clients: issues related to election laws, how states use federal dollars, abortion access, debates on critical race theory and if we will continue to see governments and foundations cut red tape. Our latest newsletter offers a primer on these five issues so you can get up to speed quickly. Read it now.

A Field Guide to the 2021 World of Public Policy and Advocacy

Grantmaking foundations have a new go-to guidebook on how to navigate today’s world of public policy, thanks in part to Advocacy & Communication Solutions’ contributions to a new report from the Council on Foundations.

Public Policy and Advocacy for Grantmakers dropped in August 2021. It brings ACS combined decades of experience to bear with the Council’s resources for a clear, concise summary guide for grantmakers.

It includes “The Rules in a Nutshell,” two pages of do’s and don’ts for both private and public domains, and “10 Ways for Foundations to Contribute to Effective Public Policies.” These include:

• Building internal support for policy engagement
• Spotlighting issues needing public-policy attention
• Working for judicial system reforms
• Educating decision makers
• Developing partnerships with government
• Building funder coalitions around shared goals

There’s even a comprehensive “cheat sheet” appendix on political lobbying as seen from the foundation and grantee perspective.

To see the full report, visit the Council on Foundations.

To learn more about how ACS works with foundations and grantees across the country and about ACS’ expertise in local, state and national lobbying, see ACS Case Studies.

What’s in a Name? First Things First Knows….

First Things First, an earliest-childhood advocacy group in Arizona that focuses on birth to age 5, does not believe in daycare.

They do believe in childcare.

“We are trying to help families understand that we don’t take care of their day. We are taking care of their children,” said Amy Corriveau, chief program officer for First Things First, which has worked closely with Advocacy & Communication Solutions on a number of issues.

“Child care implies that something is happening in the environment to help my child develop and grow,” she said in a recent First Things First news item.

Evidence continues to roll in and practices continue to evolve, regarding the brain growth and learning capacity that each child develops in the first five years of life. The child’s environment during that time is critical to how growth and development play out.

Saying “childcare” instead of “daycare” is a more precise and fully-informed approach to that reality.

Days go by, but children deserve care. First things first, indeed!

Check out the whole article here

Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC takes Silver in coveted Stevie® Awards International Business Award for Company of the Year 

Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC (ACS) was selected out of more than 3,700 nominations to receive a Silver award for Company of the Year in the Small Business or Professional Services category.

ACS, an Ohio-based minority and women-owned firm that has been in business for almost 20 years, received the award for its work in helping non-profit organizations, government agencies, philanthropic organizations and for-profit companies advocate for policy change and communicate effectively with audiences that have the power to effect change. ACS previously won the Bronze Company of the Year Stevie® Women in Business Award in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

One judge commented, “Highly impressive submission clearly and concisely articulating the inspiration and impact of this regional powerhouse gaining national recognition.”

The International Business Awards are the world’s premier business awards program. All individuals and organizations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – are eligible to submit nominations. The 2021 IBAs received entries from organizations in 63 nations and territories.

ACS is one of four US small businesses honored with the award; other winners are located in Australia, the United Kingdom, India, Cyprus and Canada. It is an honor for ACS to be acknowledged among such a large field of impressive companies from around the world. The winners were announced by the Stevie® Awards on Monday, August 16 as part of the 18^th annual International Business Awards®.

In the report Driving Implementation of State Paid Leave Programs: The Role of Philanthropy in Ensuring Access to Paid Family and Medical Leave, ACS client, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) examines the role that philanthropy can play in expanding access to paid leave. This report was published in June of 2021, during a time when discussion of paid family leave is being framed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The United States does not have a federal paid family and medical leave policy, despite its importance in advancing economic, gender, and racial equity. Employers are required to provide unpaid leave to some qualifying employees, but many workers cannot afford to take unpaid leave. Some states have passed their own policies providing paid family and medical leave, but many barriers still exist―even in states with these policies.

The RWJF report distinguishes philanthropy’s role into four main categories:

• State administration
• Outreach and communications
• Culture change
• Policy development

In terms of state administration, RWJF suggests that philanthropy intervenes to improve state systems that allow workers to claim benefits. Often, these systems are difficult to navigate and therefore limit access to paid leave in states where it is available. Philanthropists can fund advocates to help states address any issues workers elevate with enrolling or claiming benefits. Advocates can engage in user testing, provide feedback to states, and help states implement best practices in accessibility and human-centered design.

Another barrier to accessing paid leave is misinformation or lack of information. RWJF recommends that philanthropy empower messengers that employers trust to communicate important information about paid leave laws, and support efforts to align the communication with the state’s messaging. Funders can also invest in advocates that enact tailored, culturally and linguistically relevant information campaigns—specifically aiming to reach workers of color and low-income workers.

Workers with access to paid leave will also avoid taking advantage of it due to workplace cultures. Low-wage workers especially fear that taking leave will reflect poorly on their performance and cost them opportunities for advancement. Management may perpetuate this culture by telling employees how challenging it would be for the employee to take leave, complaining to an employee about another employee taking leave, or outright telling employees to not take leave. In response, funders should consider supporting corporate accountability campaigns, finance the development of training content for employers and employees specifically designed to shift workplace culture around taking paid leave, and support advocates to change the narrative of taking paid leave and caregiving more broadly.

Lastly, philanthropy can support ongoing advocacy efforts related to a paid leave policy’s provisions can help ensure states pass a paid leave law that is more responsive to workers’ needs. Philanthropic support can also help create regulations that enhance rather than diminish the effectiveness of a paid leave policy.

In June of 2021, sixteen academics from top Universities and policy research organizations authored the report, Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity: Using Evidence to Mitigate the Effects of the Covid-19 Crisis on Young Children and Early Care and Education Programs. This report compiled the findings of 76

high-quality studies, spanning 16 national studies, 45 studies from 31 states, and 15 local studies on the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on young children’s educational experiences and learning outcomes.  In the short term, the report aims to help policymakers make evidence-informed choices about how to leverage new resources. Ultimately, it aims to support efforts to build a stronger early childhood education (ECE) system.

The report provides findings on young children’s learning experiences and outcomes, on early care and educational programs, on the care and education programs themselves, and then offers solutions.

Findings on the effects of the pandemic on young children’s learning experiences and outcomes:

• Some of the necessary changes that were made to young children’s in-person learning environments to enhance safety were not conducive to learning and social skill development.
• Remote/hybrid learning was challenging for children, families, and teachers and resulted in significantly less learning time and lower-quality instruction.
• Young children’s learning and development suffered setbacks during the crisis.
• Effects of the crisis have not been born equally. Children of color, DLLs, and children from families with low incomes appear to have been more negatively affected. Young children with special needs may not have been identified and may not have gotten the services they needed to thrive.

Findings on the effects of the pandemic on early care and education programs:

• The public health emergency highlighted pre-existing inequalities across early childhood program types. Child care centers and family child care homes ( providers care for small groups of children in a residential building) experienced serious financial challenges. In contrast, public schools and Head Start programs experienced more stable funding and were not as affected.
• Early stabilization efforts left substantial unmet needs, particularly in child care centers and in family child care homes. Pandemic recovery continues to be uneven, with tremendous need for new funding.
• The pandemic increased the complexity and stress of early educators’ jobs across all program types, in ways that negatively impacted teachers’ mental health. Teachers reported high levels of stress and depressive symptoms, as well as concerns that these challenges would affect their ability to provide high-quality experiences for young children.
• More challenging working conditions, financial concerns, and mental health struggles may have contributed to programs’ challenges recruiting and retaining teachers. Data from fall 2020 and spring 2021 suggest that teachers’ commitment to both their jobs and the field of ECE has decreased, and programs are struggling to hire qualified teachers.

Evidence-backed and equity-centered solutions:

• Act on the best science of teaching and learning for young children. For example, eliminating wasted time on activities common in early learning and early elementary classrooms like calendar activities and inefficient transitions would also allow more time on the highly effective play-based instructional practices that accelerate young children’s learning.
• Make the most of summer by offering summer learning opportunities that abide by best practices (program length, small class sizes, cultural relevance, etc.)
• Offer tutoring as early as kindergarten.
• Hire assistance teachers. New federal funding can support additional assistant teachers in the classroom, increasing the amount of time students spend in small groups and as well as the time teachers spend differentiating instruction to meet students where they are.
• Place extra weight on socioemotional development and consider trauma-informed approaches.
• Prohibit harsh discipline as children return to ECE settings. Children have had an unusually wide array of experiences during the pandemic, and their behavior may also vary widely during reentry into group settings.
• Continue virtual options to connect with families.
• Consider free, technology-based learning supports.
• Ensure public investments are sufficient to pay all ECE workers a living wage and close the pay gap between K-12 educators with matching qualifications
• Offer additional healthcare subsidies for ECE workers.
• If vaccine boosters are necessary, prioritize ECE educators.
• Expand publicly funded ECE options.
• Consider public supports to stabilize child care providers in the short and long term.
• Anticipate and stave off cuts to Head Start and public schools.
• Invest in data systems and analytic capacity. Better data on ECE settings can only drive improved outcomes if there are analysts to synthesize data and put findings in context for policy and practice.