Advocacy 101: How childcare directors can shape the policies that shape their programs

If you've ever sat across from a licensing inspector, scrambled to meet new ratio requirements, or watched a family leave your program because the subsidy they depended on disappeared, you already have already felt the effects that policy changes have on your day-to-day. What you might not know is how much your voice could affect those same policies.

Right now, decisions are being made in state legislatures and federal offices that will determine how many families can afford to enroll in your program next year. These policies cover an array of topics from subsidy rollbacks, universal pre-K expansion, licensing changes, and funding allocation. And, they are a direct link to your enrollment numbers, budget, and staff's working conditions. In response, many educators aren't sitting back watching these changes happen. Now is the time to show up at local, state, and federal offices and shape the systems your programs operate within.

Advocacy tends to get a reputation for being something formal, complicated, or better left to people with law degrees. But, that’s not accurate at all. At its core, advocacy means speaking up to the people who make the rules, whether that's a city council member, a state legislator, or a federal representative. It looks like an email. A phone call. A coffee meeting. A tour of your program with your state senator in tow.

You already do harder things before 9 am on a Tuesday.

What is childcare advocacy, really?

Advocacy in early childhood education means communicating directly with local, state, or federal lawmakers about the issues that matter to your program and the families you serve. That can take the form of emails, phone calls, in-person visits to legislative offices, or attending organized events where you show up alongside other providers and parents to make the case for better policy.

The misconception that stops a lot of directors from ever getting started is the idea that advocacy requires expertise in legislative procedure, a polished talking points memo, or some kind of formal credential. It doesn't. What it requires is your story and your willingness to tell it to someone who has the power to act on it.

Why should early childhood directors advocate?

Your voice shapes the policies that shape your bottom line

This is the most direct benefit, and the one that tends to resonate most quickly. Subsidy structures, licensing requirements, pre-K expansion decisions, funding allocations: these policy choices determine how many families can afford to enroll in your program, how many staff you're required to have on the floor, and how much administrative burden your team carries. Directors who advocate have a real hand in shaping those decisions. The change may take time, but the impact is lasting.

Maria-Isabel Ballivian, Executive Director at ACCA Child Development Center, has seen both sides of that equation firsthand. "I have seen what happens when families have access to high quality early childhood education. It is not just about the children. It creates protection for the entire family. Children are better prepared, families are more stable, and communities benefit."

And parents can make it just as powerfully as providers. In Kansas, parent Kim Engelman helped lead the advocacy efforts that contributed to the passage of Lexie's Law, which enhanced safety standards after her daughter, Lexie, tragically died in a childcare program in 2004. 

“Advocacy is how I honor my daughter Lexie every day—by fighting for the safe, quality child care every child deserves. It is the most rewarding way to create 'good' in the wake of tragedy,” says Kim. 

“I wish people knew that advocacy isn't just for experts or those with tragic stories; it’s for anyone with a stake in our future. Leaders need to hear from all of us because, at its core, ECE is a bipartisan issue that relies on the power of our shared experiences to improve the system for everyone.”

Parents and providers showing up and speaking out made that happen. Not lobbyists. Not policy professionals. People like the ones in your community.

You become the expert that lawmakers turn to

Most legislators don't have a clear picture of what it actually costs to run a quality childcare program, what a staff ratio means in practice, or why a small change in subsidy reimbursement rates creates a big problem for your budget. When you introduce yourself, invite a lawmaker to tour your center, and explain what's working and what's not, you're giving them something genuinely valuable: ground-level insight they can't get anywhere else.

Courtney Penn, former Director of the Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning for the state of Indiana, sat on the receiving end of those conversations for years - and she's clear about what actually moves policymakers. 

"People want to hear the data and the return on investment," she says. "How is this going to affect the economy? Show me the data that backs up what you're saying." Leading with emotion alone, she notes, risks losing the room. Coming in with one to two specific, concrete points is far more effective than covering everything at once.

And the data you're living with every day makes for a compelling case. Consider bringing a few concrete numbers into those conversations. You might share that according to Famly's burnout research, 89% of early childhood staff work after hours each week, and 53% stay late three or more days, almost always to complete administrative tasks that get deprioritized during the day because caring for children comes first. Or that nearly 70% of the top stressors in the field center on parent communication and staff management tasks that policy changes around funding and administrative burden could meaningfully address.

Over time, showing up with that kind of specific, firsthand knowledge makes you a trusted resource and someone legislators think to call when early childhood policy is on the table.

Courtney also speaks to what happens when providers make the effort to invite policymakers into their world directly. Early in her tenure, a home-based provider asked her to come see her program. Courtney drove across the state for a day trip to visit. "She's in the middle of a part of the city where care is needed the most." She teared up during her reflection on that visit: "I think about the impact she's having in that one neighborhood over the course of generations she's been serving." 

That visit changed how Courtney's office approached support for home-based providers - not because of a formal policy proposal, but because one provider asked someone in power to come and see.

It builds trust in your community

There's a kind of credibility that comes with being a director who shows up beyond your four walls. When your staff, your families, and your wider community see you engaging with policymakers on issues that affect children and families, it communicates something about the kind of leader you are. 

It fights the loneliness that comes with the job

This one doesn't always make it into professional development conversations, but it should.

Famly's research on burnout in early childhood found that 70% of directors and staff report feeling some degree of loneliness, despite 77% having a support network made up of friends, family, or coworkers. The issue isn't that directors don't have people around them. It's that those people don't really understand the job. As ECE consultant and former director Summer Picha put it: "Have you ever pulled up a chair at a happy hour or gone out to dinner with friends, ready to talk about your day, only to realize the words coming out of your mouth sound like a foreign language to those around you?"

The advocacy community is the antidote to that. It's a small world of genuinely passionate people who do understand, because they're living the same reality. Directors who have stepped into advocacy describe meeting people at events and walking away feeling like they've made friends for life.

How do you get started with childcare advocacy?

First - make the time

The number one reason directors say they can't advocate is that they're already running on empty. And the data backs that up. Famly's  research found when directors are working late, they are mostly likely finishing administrative tasks that got pushed aside during the day. When you're spending your evenings catching up on emails, attendance reports, and invoicing, writing a letter to your state senator feels like a fantasy.

That's why reducing administrative load isn't just an operational nicety. It's what makes space for the kind of leadership that exists beyond your four walls. Famly co-founder and CEO, Anders Laustsen, puts it this way: "Being in childcare shouldn't be about using software. It's about getting back to the children and staff." Getting back to your staff means having the headspace to advocate for the systems they work within, too.

Stay informed and share what you learn

The easiest entry point is simply signing up for emails and action alerts from organizations working on early childhood policy in your state. NAEYC and its state affiliates, Child Care Aware of America, and local advocacy groups are all good places to start. Searching "childcare advocacy organization near [your city]" will often surface hyperlocal groups that are actively looking for providers and parents to join their efforts.

From there, consider sharing what you learn with your community. One Virginia director I spoke with runs a Substack for families and staff at her program. She uses it to explain proposed licensing changes in plain language and what those changes could mean day-to-day. Because of her efforts, her families helped submit more than 50 comments on the state’s call for comments on proposed changes to regulations. 

Something as simple as a monthly post in your newsfeed to families keeps your community informed and signals that you're paying attention on their behalf. There's real power in numbers, and your families are part of that equation.

Remember Courtney, the former Director of the Office of Early Childhood in Indiana? She also recommends that all providers take time to read their state's CCDF state plan. That's the document that outlines how your state uses federal childcare funding. It's not light reading, but it tells you exactly how money is being allocated and where the pressure points are. Every state plan includes contact information for questions.

Introduce yourself to your lawmakers

You don't need to wait for a policy fight to get in touch with your legislators. A simple introductory email is one of the most effective things you can do, and most directors don't do it.

Here's what a strong first email looks like in practice: keep it brief, introduce yourself and your program (how many children you serve, how long you've been operating, what your community looks like), name no more than one or two issues that are affecting your ability to provide quality care, and invite the legislator to visit. Something like:

"I'm the director of [Center Name] in [City], where we’ve been caring for [X] children from infants through pre-K since [Year]. I'd love to invite you to visit our program and see first-hand what early childhood education looks like from the inside. There are a couple policy areas I'd love to talk through with you, including [subsidy reimbursement/licensing requirements/ funding], and I think a visit would give you useful context. I'm happy to work around your schedule."

Most lawmakers rarely receive invitations like that, and some will take you up on it - or at least send a staffer. Give them a tour. Walk them through your classroom ratios. Help them understand what a high-quality childcare program looks like and what gets in the way of providing one. As Maria-Isabel puts it: "When they spend time in our classrooms, they begin to understand that high quality early childhood education is intentional, skilled, and deeply important work."

Join organized events

National organizations often run events at Capitol Hill, like Zero To Three which hosts the annual Strolling Thunder event. State organizations often host days at your state’s capitol, like Child Care Aware of Virginia’s annual Curbside Coffee where advocates serve coffee and pastries to state staffers. 

These structured opportunities allow providers and families alike to meet with lawmakers in numbers. Plus, these events are typically designed for people who are new to advocacy. You don't need to be fluent in legislative language or have specific policy positions memorized. Most of the time, organizers will arm you with "leave-behinds," which are materials with detailed talking points. Your job is to show up and speak about your experience.

Ready to go deeper?

On April 22 at 1 pm EDT, two childcare directors are sharing exactly what advocacy has looked like for their programs: what they pushed for, what changed, and how they got their families and staff engaged along the way.

This is the conversation for you whether you've testified at the Capitol before or have never thought of yourself as an advocate. You'll leave with real stories, practical starting points, and a clearer sense of why showing up beyond your four walls is one of the most powerful things you can do for your program and the families in it. Register now on edweb.