Erie County Investing In Families

Erie County Investing In Families - An Early Childhood Education Initiative

What is the Early Childhood Education & Daycare Initiative?

Across Pennsylvania, tens of thousands of parents are struggling to find safe and reliable childcare that allows them to work and support their families.  As more childcare centers close, the number of facilities without access to essential services continues to grow.  According to the 2024 State of Early Childhood Education report, the situation is dire.  PA is facing an historic shortage of early learning educators, exacerbated by unlivable wages that do not meet the cost of living.  According to a recent report, there is a deficit of approximately 1,500 childcare slots in the city of Erie and an estimated 1,000 slots throughout the county.  Every Erie County community is considered a childcare desert judged against this standard.

The ECGRA partners with a vast network of nonprofits and small businesses engaged in community development, job creation, wealth building, local business growth, and strategic projects.  Many of the projects initiated by these entities have the potential to be transformative to Erie County.  Utilizing this network, ECGRA has developed a three-pronged approach to address stabilizing and developing the childcare industry.  The three prongs are:

• Stabilizing the Workforce
• Incentivizing Facility Expansions
• New Facility Construction

Each of these areas will solicit grant applications that follow an evidence based approach to addressing Erie County's childcare industry needs.

Why is the Erie County Investing In Families Funding Important?

Since this initiative is being supported, in whole or in part, by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF) grant awarded to Erie County, Pennsylvania by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the ECGRA has identified three areas that the CSLFRF and Erie County have deemed to meet the requirements of this federal funding:

1. Fight the pandemic and support families and businesses struggling with its public health and economic impacts,
2. Maintain vital public services, even amid declines in revenue resulting from the crisis, and
3. Build a strong, resilient, and equitable recovery by making investments that support long-term growth and opportunity.

The ECGRA was encouraged to go in front of Erie County Council in November 2024, along with members of the childcare community, to request that a portion of the CSLFRF funds be appropriated to ECGRA to help fund this initiative.   Some of those present include the Early Learning Investment Commission (ELIC), Child Development Center (CDC), Early Connections, the JAM Team Foundation, Pre-K Counts, Northwest Industrial Resource Center (NWIRC), and several owners and directors of local childcare centers. 

Resources:

• Following Up With Erie's Early Childcare Crisis: A Key Component of Economic Growth
• Jefferson Educational Society Study
• Early Childhood Development: A Call to Action

 An impact investing organization, ECGRA's mission is to empower the nonprofit sector, municipal governments, and economic development agencies to revitalize Erie County.  ECGRA is endowed with local share gaming revenue from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania via the Horse Race Gaming Act.  Local share gaming revenue is an assessment of the licensed gambling industry in Pennsylvania.