United Way of Central Indiana’s Post

The Federal fiscal year runs September to September. We are currently on a 1 TRILLION Dollar ANNUAL run rate for interest on all of the Federal debt we have issued and outstanding. For comparison this is the same, or actually a bit more than was recently budgeted amount to fund our whole defense department! We will be paying more to finance all of our borrowings than to outfit and care for every member of the arm forces, to maintain every tank, ship and plane, to maintain every armed services base domestically and abroad, and not for nothing to aid and supply our allies world wide. It seems to me, if we can commit that level of funding and organizational support to those endeavors, national child-care should be a walk in the park. We’ve commented on it before, here,  https://lnkd.in/e7CHmsnE and here. https://lnkd.in/eyssejmX The problem is getting worse with no wide ranging viable options in sight.  We need to acknowledge what the pandemic shutdown made clear to every employer in the country, and what every school aged parent already knew, the US grade school and middle school systems are a de facto national child care entity allowing working parents to, you know, actually work, acquire spendable income and generate income tax revenue for states and federal governments. "Child Care is Infrastructure" Biden Harris White House plans here https://lnkd.in/en4Ehkhz This “oversight” that exists for kids from ~8am-3pm needs to be expanded to ~7am-~5pm and expanded to ages ~6 months to ~12-14 years of age. The benefits of access to quality, very affordable childcare for parents who choose to work will have likely have much higher economic and societal benefits than building the next Ford Class aircraft carrier or borrowing hundreds of billions to fund profligate spending. The country is currently awash in underutilized or empty corporate and retail structures than can be easily converted to day care facilities. As traditional youth employers like fast food etc. go digital and self-serve, more people will be available for this kind of work. Imagine generations of young people who get a real world taste of responsibility, oversight and parenting before they actually become parents! Clearly the Federal government has no qualms about borrowing eyewatering amounts for “needed” items. It is hard to argue anything is more needed nor a better investment than in our kids and their futures, full stop! #childcare #minimumwage #workfamily #savingforretirement #livelihoods #liveablecities #business #childhooddevelopment #moms #economy #labormarket #jobs #workingparents #workingmoms #daycare

A new report from the Comptroller of Maryland on Child Care and the Economy explores factors that have fueled child care and early education challenges and opportunities over the past 5 years. It also highlights “how ongoing investments in child care can help boost the state’s labor force participation—especially for mothers with young children—and our overall economic growth.” Read the full report here: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e7D3ndrX #MontgomeryCountyMD #EarlyChildhood #CommunityDevelopment #EarlyCare #Education #ECE

ICYMI: the Office of the Comptroller released our latest report in the State of the Economy Series, “Child Care and the Economy.” Key highlights include: - An increase in women’s labor force participation here in Maryland - Significant investments in child care scholarships over the last two years - Stable child care seats for children under 5, but a decline in family-based providers - Major changes in child care due to Pre-K expansion and Community Schools growth - Implications for access, affordability, and equitable economic growth Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/eUZQi3BD

Published today: Invisible Labor, Visible Needs: Making Family Policy Work for Stay-At-Home (And All) Parents In this new report, Elliot Haspel & Ivana Greco give a first-of-its-kind look at how family policy can better support stay-at-home parents (and help all parents along the way). Key messages: 1️⃣ Stay-at-home parents provide incredibly valuable services to their families, the U.S. economy, and the country at large. 2️⃣ To continue providing care to their families and communities, stay-at-home parents want and need government support. 3️⃣ Today’s stay-at-home parents are not who conventional wisdom says they are. 4️⃣ Supporting stay-at-home parents represents a rare opportunity for bipartisan cooperation. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dDggfX46

Great article shedding light on the significant negative impact of the lack of child care on small businesses nationwide. It's an eye-opening read! Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gJkyFvQV.

Today's #StartingEarly tackles the critical need to build bridges and take bold action to support families and young children in New Jersey and beyond. Programs like nurse home visits, expanded paid family leave, and universal pre-K aren't just policies—they’re lifelines that strengthen families and create a more equitable future.   This issue also explores how efforts like these are gaining traction, thanks to champions on both sides of the aisle. Future Caucus, led by Layla Zaidane, is a bipartisan group of young state legislators that’s leading the charge to advance forward-thinking policies that prioritize children and families, showing that shared values can overcome political divides.   We also spoke with Joe Waters, CEO of Capita, who shares his vision for a child-centric society and the systemic reforms needed to prioritize families. We agree with Joe — now is the time to bridge divides, align values, and push for policies that give every child a fair shot at success. Look out next week for a deeper dive with Joe.   Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e5AfabEB And subscribe to receive future issues of Starting Early: https://lnkd.in/gupUwZGr

This article highlights why it’s essential to begin pairing childcare providers and businesses together to align forces and provide the supports our workforce needs. A Place to Grow has developed an in ovative franchise model that can bring childcare models of any size to a business. Www.aplacetogrow.com

Did you know that child care breakdowns are costing North Carolina a staggering $5.65 billion in lost economic activity each year? Check out this eye-opening report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the NC Chamber Foundation and NC Child to learn more about the impact of inadequate child care on our state's economy. North Carolina is not alone in facing this challenge, but I'm particularly proud of the work being done by the business community, and the role we are playing at Lumin Strategies to address this pressing issue. #ChildCareCrisis #EconomicImpact #NorthCarolinaEconomy 💰👶🏽📈 Check it out here: https://bit.ly/4bjeuCZ

Estate planning can be particularly complex for the Sandwich Generation. It’s still possible to balance the needs of caring for both children and aging parents while planning for the future. https://lnkd.in/dzJJGxVW #MDS #consulting #lawfirms

“We (on the West Coast) need to get our act together. Less purity and more pragmatism would go a long way. But perhaps the first step must be the humility to acknowledge our failures.” Among them, growing homelessness, crime, wealth gaps, and untreated mental illness. All are linked, mind you, to politically unchecked, at times wasteful, and rarely accountable spending and politicking by local and state government agencies. This by people whose professed ideals ignore the honesty in data-driven transparency and downplay the integrity in being accountable. People for whom looking like they care and want change is peacock-like transmitted through sultry-kind buzzwords. Meanwhile, behind the scenes they keep status quos and torpedo those who raise questions or suggest new paths, all to stay in power. Connected. Untouchable. You know who they are just as I do. They lead all sorts of Departments, organizations, projects, and initiatives meant for our most downtrodden, ill, and impoverished communities. Their efforts ‘fail’ on the regular if you look 3-7 years down the line. But they don’t really fail. They do what they’re supposed to, which is to give bosses and the public an emotional, ever-present sense of caring about progress. Not actual progress, because for that they can hand wave and blame “fragmented, underfunded systems“. Let go person X on day Y. Collect a pension balancing bullying and obfuscation. Bringing transparency and accountability to mental healthcare financing in California, for example, is requiring billions and decades to undo with CalAIM because of what we let fester for too long. Los Angeles County is among the greatest offenders in this arena. A place where even as we voted for transparency and accountability via Prop 1, few could tell you how our county will implement that. Where will all the bond money and new MH jobs go? Who knows? Dashboards on progress? Meh. As Nicholas Kristof points out, liberal progressivism hasn’t fully accepted the chasm between our values and our outcomes. But I would add it’s because the people who could and should are too incentivized not to. Liberal and progressive as I have been in my career, I hit enough roadblocks asking where evidence was or where money went to know intentions. That’s just it, Nicholas. It’s all nice and theoretical to espouse accountability. But what we really need is to hold people accountable for every dollar and cent they say is for #healthequity, #antiracism, #housingfirst, care that sees #mentalhealthishealth. And when (not if) the outcomes aren’t there in a cost-effective manner, let’s stop hand-wringing beside peacock ideologues. Pull their plug and give someone willing to put #impactfirst a turn.