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Wisconsin’s Early Care and Education Advisory Council

Background
The Wisconsin Early Care and Education Advisory Council, like all state councils, was established as a result of a requirement included in the Head Start Act of 2007 that each state Governor “designate or establish a council to serve as the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care for children from birth to school entry” [642(b)(1)(A)(i)].  All state Councils are charged to lead the development of a high quality, comprehensive system of early childhood education and care that ensures statewide coordination and collaboration among the wide array of early childhood programs and services in the State, including Head Start, child care and pre-kindergarten programs and services.

Responsibilities & Activities
Wisconsin’s Council is working to ensure that every young child will be healthy, nurtured, safe, and successful.  As outlined in the Head Start Act of 2007, the Council’s specific responsibilities include:

  • Conducting a periodic statewide needs assessment concerning the quality and availability of early childhood education and development programs;
  • Identifying opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration and coordination among federally-funded and state-funded child development, childcare, and early childhood education programs and services;
  • Developing recommendations for increasing the overall participation of children in existing federal, state, and local childcare and early childhood education programs, including outreach to underrepresented and special populations; and
  • Developing recommendations regarding statewide professional development and career advancement plans for early childhood educators in the state.

Currently, the Wisconsin Council is actively working to plan and implement a statewide early childhood system composed of early childhood care and education, family support, mental health and social-emotional well-being, parent education, and child welfare programs.  The system will feature the following dimensions: access, outreach, and engagement; accountability and evaluation; financing; governance; professional development; and quality standards.

Membership
Department of Children and Families (DCF) Secretary Reggie Bicha and State Superintendent Tony Evers co-chair the Council.  Appointed members of the Council include representatives from the highest level of state agencies; leaders from associations related to early childhood care and education, higher education, and communities; and, organizational representatives for business and philanthropic interests.  Both the Wisconsin Head Start State Collaboration (HSSC) Director and the WHSA Executive Directors are Council members as is the President of the WHSA Parent Affiliate.  A list of members is available on the DCF website.