Legislative Priorities

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2024 Legislative Priorities

The Sheltering Arms Foundation’s legislative priorities use a racial equity lens on all public policies. We prioritize policies that will benefit low-income children, rural children and families as well as Black, Indigenous, and children of color and their families and the programs that serve them.

Affordable, high-quality, flexible, and culturally appropriate early childhood care and education to support families and prepare children to be ready for kindergarten

Childcare and Early Learning Family Affordability & Accessibility

    • Advocate for significant investment in childcare and early learning affordability to move towards the Federal Standard definition of 7% affordability for families.
    • Support funding and technical assistance strategies to strengthen the childcare and early learning business model sustainability.

Early Care & Education Professionals and the Workforce

    • Support policies that improve recruiting and retaining early care and education professionals through improved compensation, benefits, professional development resources, and other short and long-term solutions to support compensation and retention practices.
    • Support increased funding and resources for Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care (FFN) through professional development opportunities and access to other supports.

State & Federal Early Childhood Policy

    • Monitor federal policies impacting the lives of young children and families across Minnesota.
    • Monitor the implementation of state programs and the development of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
    • Monitor diversified funding streams and investments in Minnesota’s early childhood system.

Community Wellness and Mental Health Supports

    • Support the mental well-being of children, families, and early care and education professionals with early childhood mental health consultation, increased community mental health services resources, and sustainable investment in the Community Solutions Fund and targeted home visiting programs.
    • Support increased funding to address barriers to the mental health workforce. For example, establishing a mental health center will increase the number of professionals in the field, increase diversity, and provide targeted training to create a more culturally informed and responsive workforce; loan forgiveness programs, funding for provider supervision, funding for culturally diverse professionals to become supervisors, training pediatricians in mental health and establishing a mental health scholarship fund.

High-quality, developmentally and culturally appropriate out-of-school-time and mentoring programs for Minnesota children

    • Close access gaps to culturally relevant afterschool and summer programs through consistent and reliable grant funding.
    • Understand the potential of Targeted Services after school programs to close equity gaps and ensure coordinators/teachers have access to professional development and capacity-building to ensure high-quality youth development practice.
    • Expand school-age choices for children in low-income families by ensuring all Minnesota nonprofits can access Minnesota’s school-age care certification pathway, opening the door to Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP) reimbursement.