NEW FUNDING WILL HELP STATES AIMING TO ADOPT EVIDENCE-BASED POLICIES THAT HELP ALL CHILDREN THRIVE.
Press Contact: Molly Kramer, 615-343-8948, molly.m.kramer@vanderbilt.edu
The Bezos Family Foundation is investing in the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center with a strategic multi-year grant to provide direct support and collaborative learning opportunities. While any state can receive support, the grant will help us prioritize providing intensive support to states that can most benefit. The foundation’s gift will also help optimize the Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap, the annual guide on evidence-based policies and implementation progress.
“This year, we are reflecting on progress throughout America in the past five years,” said Dr. Cynthia Osborne, director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center and Professor of Early Childhood Education and Policy at Vanderbilt University. “With the help of the Bezos Family Foundation, whose focus on supporting young people to reach their potential aligns closely with the Center’s, we can ensure that children in all states benefit from evidence-based policies.”
The Center provides a range of state supports, including consultation, presentations, data analysis, program evaluation, and research summaries. In fiscal year 2023, services influenced policy in more than two dozen states. Through the Bezos Family Foundation funding, even more of these services will be available to states that have implemented relatively fewer Roadmap policies.
The new funding will also allow us to host two policy academies yearly to foster immediate policy progress. After the first policy academy on paid family leave, attendees reported the greatest impact came from connecting with and learning from states that had already succeeded. A recent policy academy focused on community-based doulas, offering legislative staff a no-cost opportunity to learn how to improve maternal and child health outcomes and disparities.
Finally, the Bezos Family Foundation investment will help optimize the development and dissemination of the Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap. The 2024 Roadmap will be the fifth, an opportunity to look back at progress over that time. The Roadmap release will be followed by an event to bring together early childhood leaders from across the country to look forward to the future of advancing evidence-based policies for young children and their families.
