HARRISBURG, PA (July 12, 2026) – Today, the principal partners of Early Learning Pennsylvania (ELPA), a statewide coalition of advocates, expressed appreciation for some small steps forward in addressing early education workforce shortages in the 2026–27 state budget. They also emphasized that the commonwealth must do far more to support programs such as infant and toddler Early Intervention to ensure that every Pennsylvania child from birth to age five has access to affordable, high-quality early care and education by 2030.  

ELPA operates issue-based advocacy campaigns, including: Pre-K for PA, Start Strong PA, Childhood Begins at Home, and Thriving PA. The partners of ELPA issued the following statements regarding the 2026-27 state budget:

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On November 18, 2019, across Pennsylvania, Start Strong PA released a new report demonstrating the benefits and need for high quality infant toddler child care. According to the Pennsylvania KIDS COUNT Data Center, Pennsylvania is home to 1,270,433 families with children and 418,455 of the children are under three years old.

The FY 2019-20 budget agreement allocated $27 million in new federal resources to expand subsidized child care in Pennsylvania and invest in quality improvements to the system. Start Strong PA stands with state policymakers in its firm belief that this is an example of a budget that “funds what works” and helps “put Pennsylvanians to work”. However, these federal gains in the child care line items were offset by a $36 million reduction in state funding which was replaced with federal dollars.

Start Strong PA observed the 2019-20 PA budget as an important down payment to ensure all infants and toddlers learn, grow, and succeed. The following statement was issued by the ten principal partners leading Start Strong PA, a campaign to ensure that children across the state can access affordable, high-quality child care programs during the most critical period of brain development, the first three years of life.