Support ALICE Children During Week of the Young Child
by Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director – United Way of Charlotte County
When a child is born, parents are made. Parents who undoubtedly want to give that child the world and every opportunity in it. But like many things in life, there is often a price tag associated with even the simplest of opportunities.
April 2 through April 8 is nationally recognized as the Week of the Young Child. This annual celebration is sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. During this week, we celebrate the little ones in our lives and in our communities, recognizing the simplicity of who they are at this early season in their lives but also recognizing the potential that is there.
The national data brief, ALICE In Focus: Children, will be released during the Week of the Young Child, on April 4, 2022. We are excited for the release of a targeted data dashboard aimed at gaining insight into the realities of children growing up in hardship across the nation and across our state. This data will allow us to identify barriers to the potential of this next generation.
ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE households don’t earn enough to afford the essentials of housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care and more. ALICE families have incomes over the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), but still cannot afford the basics in the communities where they live.
United Way of Charlotte County (UWCC) fights for ALICE children and their families – families that fall below the ALICE threshold (including poverty-level and ALICE households combined). We know that we can only break the cycle of poverty in Charlotte County if we fully invest in our youngest residents.
Florida was one of three states to lead the nation in offering universal preschool (VPK), which was initially implemented in August 2005. There is no price tag for families for this program. It is available to all eligible children, regardless of family income. While there are barriers that prevent some families from accessing this resource (transportation, for example), universal preschool across the state is an open door for a large number of young learners in Florida.
Anne Bouhebent, Executive Director of the Early Learning Coalition of Florida’s Heartland, shared with me that many parents and caregivers are having a hard time finding available space for their children, in VPKs and other childcare programs. Anne said, “Providers are having a hard time securing staff.” Lack of staff equates to lack of capacity for children who could benefit from a quality childcare program.
But Anne said there is much that can be done. “The secret sauce to a child’s success in school,” she said, “is parents. Parents are the secret sauce.”
Anne explained that parent involvement can be difficult for ALICE families, as many are single parent households where Mom or Dad is possibly working more than one job. But she shared that in just a few minutes each day, parents and caregivers can make an impact on their children.
She suggested that adults read to their children every night, talk to the children about their day, and for those who are in a classroom, get involved in the classroom and communicate regularly with their children’s teachers.
Parents and caregivers undoubtedly are a child’s first teacher. But ALICE families are often burdened by the hardships that come with living in poverty or just over the poverty line that education isn’t always given the priority it deserves.
Children’s opportunities are our responsibilities. We must ensure that each and every child experiences the type of early environment – at home, at childcare, at school and in the community – that will promote their early learning to give them access to their full potential.
There is no price tag on the potential of a child. As we celebrate the Week of the Young Child, won’t you join with UWCC in support of ALICE children and their families? Donations made to UWCC support Charlotte County programs aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty.
To learn more about ALICE or to make a donation, visit www.unitedwayccfl.org.
For more information about United Way of Charlotte County’s mission: Mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty, please contact Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director. She can be reached at director@unitedwayccfl.org.