VAEYC is polling its membership to see what they feel should be priorities for the 2015 legislative session. The information from this survey will be used by VAEYC to inform decision making groups (like the Early Childhood Alliance) about what VAEYC's policy priorities are. This survey should take you no more than 5 mins to complete.

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* 1. The 2014 Early Childhood Alliance's legislative agenda included the following issues that still need work. Please rate how important you believe each issue is to include in the 2015 agenda.

  not important somewhat important very important
Child Care Financial Assistance Program--CCFAP (Subsidy): Raise the base financial payment for all child care providers to 50 percentile of the current market rate, with the long-term goal of raising the base to 75 percentile of the current year market rate.
CCFAP: Mandate that market and Federal Poverty Level guidelines used to determine payments and eligibility for CCFAP be adjusted annually and kept current.
CCFAP: Continue the tiered reimbursement system for providers who advance in Vermontʼs STep Ahead Recognition System (STARS)
CCFAP: Increase the infant/toddler differential.
Permanently dedicate $100,000 of Vermont’s Workforce Education and Training Fund to the early childhood and afterschool work force
Provide an annual quality differential payment to each provider in STARS beginning in FY2015 (this will happen through Race to the Top/Early Learning Challenge Grant, but will need to be funded at the conclusion of that grant in 2017)
Change the start date for the 60-month lifetime limit for participation in Reach Up from the age of 18 years to the age of 24 years.
Passage of H.73: An Act Relating to the Office of the Child Advocate, which would support the creation in Vermont of an Office of Child Ombudsmen in FY2015.
Vermont Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies to restore $200,000 in funding in the FY2015 budget.
Vermont Parent Child Center Network to increase the current base funding allocation by $1.25 million for FY2015.

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* 2. In addition, the Early Childhood Action Plan and the VAEYC strategic plan point to potential policy asks related to VAEYC's mission to enhance the quality of early childhood programs and professional practices, and advocate for young children (birth through 8 years) and their families in order to realize the promise of every Vermont child. Please rank the below according to their importance to you:

  not important somewhat important very important
Create a dedicated funding source for TEACH scholarships to enable financial access to higher education degrees for those professionals who want them. (Race to the Top/Early Learning Challenge grant, which currently funds the AA degree scholarships, will end in 2017)
Find funding for additional Early Childhood Program licensors to bring VT case loads closer to the national recommendation.
Create a legislative study committee to explore innovative funding streams dedicated to early childhood programs and services.

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* 3. Are there additional issues that you feel are important to see VAEYC address as part of its policy issue priorities?

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* 4. Of all the early childhood issues that you care about, which issue do you feel needs the most attention in the next legislative session? Why?

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