The task force is committed to a fully financed high quality childhood care and education system. This system can be built only through investments in:

• Support for parents who need assistance in finding and purchasing child care,
• The infrastructure that supports building quality child care, and
• The workforce that provides care for children.

To achieve this goal, the Task Force supports the following priorities for the 2003-2005 Biennial Budget. These priorities include maintaining the gains that were evidenced in the 2001-2003 budget and continuing to build support for other programs that support excellence on a statewide basis. These include:

• Full funding of the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy program without waiting lists, increases in co-pays or restricting eligibility for the program that will continue allow low-income parents to got work and still afford their child care. We also continue to advocate for improving the Wisconsin Shares program to better support high quality child care programs.
• Another key gain supported by the CCTF was increased support of the T.E.A.C.H Early Childhood ® WISCONSIN scholarship and bonus program and R.E.W.A.R.D. ™ WISCONSIN stipend program that provide support to the child care workforce to improve their education, and reward them financially for staying in the child care field. We know that consistency in child care givers are essential ingredients in high quality child care.

While we were pleased with funding increases for these major projects, the CCTF has also prioritized increasing investments in other programs that build high quality child care and support for parents, including information on what is a quality child care program and how to find a quality program. In particular, the CCTF would like to see:

• CCR&R funding restored to its base level prior to the 2001-2003 budget, and,
• Development of a program that would support child care programs achieve excellence statewide.

If sufficient funds were available, the Task Force would also support the following.

• Full funding of the R.E.W.A.R.D. ™ Wisconsin program that offers bonuses to all child care providers who qualify.
• Health insurance for child care providers through exploring alternative funding sources not currently being used to support child care efforts in the state.”

Opportunities for Involvement

• Attend monthly CCTF meetings.
• Speak out about the importance of early education and care and the system that supports it. The CCTF can provide supportive materials for you in this regard.
• Work with the CCTF to identify how child care can become a partner with other parts of service delivery, e.g., Intergenerational Unity Day
• Looking to increase collaboration and communication with other WWN Task Forces about their legislative issues.