Communities as Decision Makers: Southwest Early Learning Coalition
Author: Brenna Bream
Communities are powerful in their potential to organize and enact change toward shared goals. Support for Early Learning & Families (SELF) is the lead for the Southwest Early Learning Coalition (SWEL). SWEL builds partnerships within the early childhood system to advocate for positive change and empower local voices. SWEL is a multi-county region including six of Washington’s southernmost counties—Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark, Skamania, Klickitat, and South Pacific. Debbie Ham is the coalition’s Regional Lead, and she explains that, while each county faces its own diverse circumstances, a mindset shift toward collaboration is gaining traction within the region. While striving to build authentic connections, the coalition aims to be as inclusive as they can be. "How do we all do this together?" Debbie says. "Together, we're more powerful than we are as individuals."
Caregivers are best able to determine their families’ needs. Placing them in decision-making spaces is integral to the health of a child’s ecosystem…
In the interest of centering families, SWEL is working on a project to identify how to better support young children in the region. Debbie notes that, “the goal should be to have the highest quality services, but it can only happen if we’re providing what kids need.” Caregivers are best able to determine their families’ needs. Placing them in decision-making spaces is integral to the health of a child’s ecosystem, which the SWEL coalition recognizes as a complex web of public and private support services that go beyond the education sector. Clark County Public Health recently conducted a survey asking families with kids from birth to 5 years old to provide input on existing and needed community support services. The survey has only been sent out to Clark County so far, but SWEL plans to partner with Point North Consulting to scale the survey for the rest of the counties in the region. By gathering a large body of information this year, they will be able to determine their next steps in creating a system that works for families, based on their feedback.
“…People in the community need to be in positions of decision-making. It’s time to quit talking about it, it’s time to shift power,” Debbie urges.
Relationships catalyze change through connection. With that in mind, SWEL formed a partnership with their local Washington State Representative, Monica Stonier. Through education, the coalition has helped Rep. Stonier to become a champion for early learning. It can be difficult to navigate the complexities of early learning without enough knowledge to ask targeted questions of decision makers who may be presenting good, but incomplete, data. Policy is often not driven by the communities who are affected, and policymakers may lack an understanding of the impact of their decisions. Debbie reflects on times she has encouraged child care providers to speak to legislators and has been met with hesitation, because providers are resigned to think their voices don’t matter, that the decisions have already been made. Communities need decision-makers that have, “the ability to be adaptable to what families need. People in the community need to be in positions of decision-making. It’s time to quit talking about it, it’s time to shift power,” Debbie urges.
Clark County is practicing that shift in power through the Southwest Washington Child Care project. In 2020, Clark County received a Department of Commerce grant for a pilot project to do outreach in central Vancouver, which is a child care desert. The project garnered much attention because it underscores the necessity of child care. Some neighborhood residents want to become licensed providers and, in January 2021, the coalition brought on a local leader in the Latino community to lead the project and support the people who want to be licensed. The project, "addresses the child care gaps, which is good, but we still see quite a few barriers related to immigration status," Debbie notes. SWEL recently licensed the first provider and learned a lot from the process - from transferring degrees, to searching for GED prep classes in Spanish, and other associated costs. “We’re building the list, noting all the barriers,” Debbie says. The pilot project has opened doors for funding and expansion. Legislators are now coming to SWEL to learn from them, and the coalition aims to filter needs through the community’s voice, less so through state agencies. The coalition looks forward to continuing the project through funding from philanthropists as well as Vancouver’s City Council.
Members of SWEL gather for a photo after a round table discussion with Representative Herrera Beutler.
The pilot project also highlights the role shared services can play in strengthening connections. “The child care system keeps good people out because they can’t afford to work in the system due to pay and burnout,” Debbie explains. Additionally, those who do get into child care choose to because they love kids, but they also need to know how to run a business to be successful. Those skills can be a barrier for folks interested in becoming licensed providers. A hypothetical example of shared services in action could be a cohort of providers sharing a bookkeeper. Shared services have the potential to stabilize and grow the child care industry, aided by policies to help streamline resource availability. This is grassroots work with a big impact.
In addition to the progress Clark County has made in addressing child care deserts they are also focused on elevating the voice and wellbeing of their youngest citizens (children B-5) and their families, through the formation of the Children’s Council. The Children’s Council is a place where a diverse group of community partners come together to understand and address dipartites and expand opportunities that exist in early care and education. “As long as young children’s needs are invisible, there’s no collective voice around them and we’ll never see change,” Debbie says. There’s not a lot of debate surrounding what kids need, there is plenty of data, what’s needed are community leaders actively engaged in ensuring that every child growing up in the community thrives. The formation of the Children’s Council is made possible through a state budget proviso supported by Rep. Monica Stonier.
By ushering more community members into places of authority and partnership, SWEL is advancing their commitment to families
By ushering more community members into places of authority and partnership, SWEL is advancing their commitment to families by promoting collaboration and engagement among early childhood providers. These relationships are the ties that bind communities together, illuminating interdependence. “We can’t build a system if we don’t have authentic partnerships, relationships, and community voice,” Debbie reflects. Others can stay connected to Southwest Early Learning through their website, where you can sign up for their newsletter. They will have a new website coming this June. You can also find them on Instagram or Facebook.