Our Mission:

Support healthy child development, working families and the economy.

Through a statewide collaboration of partners, Start Strong PA aims to support all three by advocating for increased access to and affordability of high-quality child care programs, beginning with infants and toddlers.

“

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

All our staff deserve to make enough to provide for their families.

— Carol Wong
Chinatown Learning Center, Philadelphia, PA

Speak Up!

Pennsylvania state child care funding continues to do little to improve accessibility and affordability for families and does nothing to address the child care staffing shortage.

PA must Speak Up! Our elected officials must hear from child care directors, teachers and the families that depend on child care.

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About

Start Strong PA supports healthy child development, school success, working families, and the economy by ensuring everyone in Pennsylvania has access to high-quality child care choices.

Learn more about Start Strong PA.

Share Your Story

We need educators, caregivers, and families like you to share your experiences to help us advocate for the necessary changes to make healthy development outcomes for infants and toddlers possible.

Share your story.

 

Recent News

Featured
State Budget Fails to Address Crisis in Early Childhood Sector to the Detriment of Working Families and Employers
State Budget Fails to Address Crisis in Early Childhood Sector to the Detriment of Working Families and Employers

HARRISBURG, PA (July 11, 2024) – Today, the principal partners of the Pre-K for PA and Start Strong PA Campaigns issued the following statements regarding Senate Bill 1001 that awaits the expected signature of Governor Shapiro to become the enacted 2024-25 Pennsylvania state budget. 

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Shapiro Budget Offers Progress - Early Education Advocates Warn Historic Early Childhood Staffing Shortages will Persist
Shapiro Budget Offers Progress - Early Education Advocates Warn Historic Early Childhood Staffing Shortages will Persist

HARRISBURG, PA (February 6, 2024) - Today, the principal partners of Early Learning Pennsylvania (ELPA), a statewide coalition of advocates focused on supporting young Pennsylvanians from birth to age five, issued the following statements regarding Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2024-25 state budget proposal. ELPA operates four issue-based advocacy campaigns: Pre-K for PA, Start Strong PA, Childhood Begins at Home, and Thriving PA.

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Historic Shortage of Child Care Teachers Shrinks Child Care Availability for PA Families by 26,000 Slots
Historic Shortage of Child Care Teachers Shrinks Child Care Availability for PA Families by 26,000 Slots

HARRISBURG (January 2024) – A recent survey conducted by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Policy Lab on behalf of Start Strong PA demonstrates Pennsylvania’s ongoing child care crisis continues to threaten parents’ ability to work and the overall economy.  The survey, conducted between August 29, 2023 and September 21, 2023, details the child care staffing crisis in 762 of Pennsylvania’s child care programs and its effects on working families' ability to access care.

According to the survey:

●        Nearly 26,000 additional children could be served at child care programs’ sites if they were fully staffed.

●        Programs reported 2,395 open positions resulting in the closure of 934 classrooms.

●        Child care providers’ inability to recruit and retain staff is having a direct impact on the quality of their programming.

This historic shortage of child care workers is dramatically reducing the availability of care options for working families, and these incredible numbers are only those reported by a fraction of the total number of child care programs in the state.

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Sign-on Support

We need individuals like you and organizations like yours to sign-on support our campaign. Our coalition’s size and strength will demonstrate to Pennsylvania lawmakers that they can not ignore or deny that child care works and that increasing funding is critical for children, families, businesses and our economy.: