Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson and Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe today hosted Jennifer Garner and Mark K. Shriver, CEO of Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), at the Robin’s Nest Child Care Center in Burlington to highlight the educational and economic impacts of increasing access to high-quality, affordable child care.
“I’ve seen kids all over this country in my work with Save the Children for the last decade who are going into kindergarten and never held a book,” said Garner at Thursday’s press conference. “It’s amazing to see this bipartisan support here in Vermont to make places like Robin’s Nest more accessible to moms who couldn’t otherwise afford it. Vermont’s going to be a real leader in this area, and I’m thrilled to be here to witness it.”
Garner is a Save the Children trustee and an advocate for expanding child care and early learning opportunities. She has spoken on the issue at the state and national level, including addresses to Congress and the National Governor’s Association. As the political advocacy arm of Save the Children, SCAN works to build bipartisan support to make sure every child in the U.S. has access to high-quality early learning.
“As we work to attract working families to Vermont, our commitment to education could be a draw to young families and quite possibly the best economic development tool we have in our tool box,” said Governor Scott. “Investing in early care and learning is a rare opportunity to achieve all three goals I set on my first day in office: To grow the economy, make Vermont more affordable and protect the most vulnerable.”
“Increasing access to quality child care is a social justice issue, a workforce development issue, a return on investment economic issue,” said Shriver. “Whether you look at it from the perspective of families who are struggling to make ends meet or kids who don’t have the same opportunities to succeed as their peers, this is a winner for everyone involved.”
Governor Scott, who has supported increased investment in childcare in Vermont, also hosted an afternoon luncheon and roundtable discussion at the State House, where Garner and Shriver were able to engage with state lawmakers, government officials and local advocates and stakeholders about child care best practices from Vermont and other states.
Organizations represented at the event included Let’s Grow Kids, A.D. Henderson Foundation, Building Bright Futures, South Burlington Schools, Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children, Vermont Community Foundation and the YMCA of Greater Burlington.
For more information about SCAN, visit www.SavetheChildrenActionNetwork.org.
###