[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're joined once again, by Mary Coogan, the CEO and President of Advocates for Children of New Jersey.

Their website will be up.

Mary, good to see you again.

- Nice to see you too, Steve.

- Mary, as we enter into the fourth quarter of 2024, it'll be seen now and later.

The number one childcare challenge in the state as you see it, is?

- Affordable childcare in which you have workers who are paid a wage that keeps them at that childcare center.

So centers are struggling to find staff that will stay and parents are trying to find childcare centers that they can afford.

- Well, as you look at, check out the website to find out more about ACNJ, but the interesting thing that you've been saying that I wanna follow up on, is you have argued that the rollout of free preschool, that as free preschool has expanded for three and four-year-olds, it's created a problem as it relates to childcare centers.

Explain that.

- Okay, so we, first, I wanna say is ACNJ has promoted preschool expansion.

We are very supportive of preschool.

We just think there's been some unintended consequences, which were exacerbated by, you know, COVID and childcare centers having to close.

And then we had, you know, billions of federal dollars coming into New Jersey, which are now gone, right?

So as the preschool expands into the suburbs, we are finding that school districts are creating their program at the school and they are not able to, or not able to partner with the community providers.

So the community providers that have been taking care of three and four-year-olds, naturally a parent will take their child out of the community provider and enroll them in the free preschool program.

And so that's having an unintended consequence.

And in fact, of the 20,000 children that had been enrolled in the preschool expansion, only 17% of them as of 2022, are actually in community providers or Head Start programs.

- Unintended consequences.

Even when you're trying to do the right thing, we have to understand that there are consequences.

The other thing I wanna follow up on, I wanna make it clear that that Mary is part of the First 1000 Days Coalition.

What is that coalition, Mary, and why does it matter?

- So the coalition is several of our early learning funders, right?

The Turrell Fund, the Burke Foundation, and some of their partners have decided to team together to see if they can't address this childcare problem.

But they're looking at the first thousand days of just prenatal to age three.

And what supports can a new family use to really ensure that they thrive?

And recognizing that that period of time is critical development for a child.

- Lemme also disclose, you mentioned the Turrell Fund, an underwriter of our programming.

Let me, let me ask you this, the kids count, Newark Kids Count 2024 Report, I saw an interview you did on NJ Spotlight News.

People should check that out that Mary did.

I want you to talk about a couple of the most significant findings in the Newark Kids Count.

There's a report that's done on a regular basis about the state of children, of kids, and there's a report that ACNJ is Advocates for Children of New Jersey did on Newark children, also, it's in Spanish, which is particularly important.

Couple of the most important findings about the state of our children in Brick City, Newark, New Jersey, please, Mary.

- Okay, thank you.

So, yes, this is our first translated kids count into Spanish.

We've been doing the book since 1997, and part of translating it was in recognition of the increasing population of Latino or Hispanic heritage.

So that's like 42%.

And we do think that parents have a role to play in advocating for positive incomes for their children.

So in terms of like the childcare centers, there has been a decrease in the number of childcare centers available in Newark as well as a decrease in what you call family care providers.

So these are people that provide childcare at their home.

I think to me, most critical is the literacy problem, right?

So you have, there's just too many children who are not proficient in reading by third grade.

As we know, you learn to read by third grade, and then after third grade you read to learn, right?

So if you're not proficient, you're always gonna be behind.

And so... well statewide, there's only 42% of kids who are proficient by third grade.

And so that means there's 57, 58% who are not proficient.

But in Newark, you have 19% of kids are proficient in reading and in math, which is the other category they score by eighth grade, you have 37% are proficient.

But that's abysmal too.

And kids need to know basic math even if they don't go on to higher learning.

You need basic math skills to get by and be successful in life.

- And P.S., check out the interviews that we've done with State Senator Teresa Ruiz, who represents the city of Newark.

She's been a leader in the state legislature on the issue of literacy.

One more quick one on this, Mary.

I'm curious about this question.

You've talked about a quote, mixed delivery model of childcare.

What the heck is that and could you give an example of it real quick?

- Sure, so mixed delivery says that the school district partners with a community provider.

So a childcare center that has been providing childcare to children and they run a preschool program in the childcare center.

And in that partnership, you have the benefit of kids being able to stay there the whole day.

You don't need before care and aftercare.

You don't need to transport kids like you do if they're just in the preschool program in the district, right?

You have parent choice.

And so to us, it's very important that school districts partner with community providers.

Also school districts don't have to build more classrooms, right, as we try to expand.

So I think it's a win-win, but it definitely helps parents not have to shift their kids.

They can have summer care if they continue with a community provider, and holidays when schools aren't open.

- Final, final state support for childcare, strong enough in your opinion?

- No, but neither is the federal, it needs to be a partnership.

So that is one thing that the First Thousand Days Coalition is looking at, but really to determine what's the best way to do it.

So there's several bills that are pending, which could help, but we do need to view childcare like a public good.

It's just like our trains and our roads.

It's part of our infrastructure.

It is what enables people to go to work, right?

And enables people to pay taxes.

So we do need to make sure, even though childcare is a business, that it is supported.

- Mary Coogan, CEO, and President of Advocates for Children of New Jersey, ACNJ.

Mary, as always, thank you for joining us, we appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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