About the Early Childhood Task Force

The Santa Monica Early Childhood Task Force is a dedicated group of early childhood advocates based in Santa Monica. Its members include parents of children under five, childcare and early education providers, concerned community members, and organizational partners such as Connections for Children and Family Service of Santa Monica.

Created in 1980, our Task Force brings together advocates with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), Santa Monica College (SMC), and the City of Santa Monica.

Since our founding, we have

Increased local access to early care and education
Helped to improve kindergarten readiness
Boosted workforce participation by working mothers.

We are proud to be known throughout LA County as an authoritative voice and source of credible information

in early childhood public policy.

Our Story

Over 40 years of advocacy for Santa Monicans Under 5

The Santa Monica Early Childhood Task Force (ECTF) was founded in 1980 by a group of advocates, providers of early education and childcare, and working parents who came together after facing their own challenging searches for affordable, high-quality childcare.

As a result of our advocacy, in 1991 the City of Santa Monica formally launched an ambitious effort to ensure that children whose parents live or work in the city will have access to affordable, high quality child care. These efforts have been the focus of the ECTF over the past 30 years.

With staff support from the City of Santa Monica (through 2020), the Task Force met monthly, bringing together community members and institutional partners to learn, strategize, collaborate, and move public policy and dollars to support young children, their families, and their early education providers.

Key areas of focus include:

Ongoing advocacy to raise awareness among elected officials about the critical importance of early childhood
Developing a City of Santa Monica Childcare Master Plan and Early Childhood Initiative Plan
Increasing infant care openings
Funding to subsidize the high cost of care for income qualifying local families
Promoting collaboration and partnerships among civic agencies like libraries, schools, and non-profits
Analyzing Early Development Instrument (EDI) data to assess kindergarten readiness strengths and gaps
Shaping and participating in the City's Cradle to Career Initiative,
Developing the Youth Wellbeing Report Card, and
Serving as the umbrella group for the Building Blocks to Kindergarten workgroup
Establishing a premier early childhood lab school at Santa Monica College to prepare future early education teachers.

The Task Force was staffed by the City's Human Services Division from its inception until the pandemic. While now fully volunteer-run, we continue to foster participation and build collaborations among the participating agencies.

Our Accomplishments

Moving public resources and stakeholders to support young children, their families, and early care providers

Since our start in 1980 we have employed many tactics - big and small - to advance our mission:

Regular communications with city council and school district board members and staff to emphasize the importance of early childhood development and to direct funding and policy to support young children and their families
City funded grants, provider stipends, and child care subsidies for income qualifying families, annually since 1998
A Nexus Study and Development agreements that resulted in new high quality early education centers that include infant care
Inclusion of early childhood in the City's Human Services Grants Program
Establishment of the Early Childhood Wellbeing Project under Family Services, a case management whatever-it-takes program to support Santa Monica's most vulnerable families
After 30 years of persistent advocacy, the realization of Santa Monica College's state of the art Lab School in the Civic Center, operated by Growing Place
Annual school district investment of over $1 million per year in early childhood programs and quality improvements at all sites
We Love Data! We launched the Early Development Instrument (EDI) in 2012. This collaboration among Connections for Children, the Santa Monica Malibu School District, and the City of Santa Monica, working with UCLA, provides the ECTF and other stakeholders with data on how well-prepared our youngest children are for kindergarten, and guidance on areas to prioritize.
Founding membership in the City Cradle to Career Initiative and inclusion in the Youth Well-being Report Card.
Forming the Building Blocks for Kindergarten workgroup to respond to EDI data by creating the BBK handbook (in English and in Spanish) and promoting ongoing programs and collaborations among stakeholders including messaging at Kindergarten Open Houses, library videos and story times, and the annual Arts & Literacy Festival.
Advocacy in support of building the Pico Branch Library and early childhood programming and family support in all of our libraries
Regular Task Force meetings that bring together local organizations, parents, and providers to learn and collaborate on local issues
Partnerships with allied local and regional organizations and also those whose work takes them beyond early childhood
Sharing policies and best practices among child care providers

What's Next?

Worries about the future of child care

The Task Force continues our core advocacy and focus on local investments, collaborations, public policy, and other solutions that support Santa Monica's youngest children, their families, and their early care providers. But we face new challenges, especially for providers:

Despite concerted efforts, the EDI identifies a stubborn equity gap in our community. How can we close that gap?
The City's pandemic-related budget woes resulted in deep cuts to library hours and youth-serving staff. Can we work to restore those services, positions, and programs?
Low pay for early care teachers has created a workforce shortage
Can we work with housing advocates to prioritize affordable housing for early education teachers?
Lack of secure, affordable housing for our most vulnerable families is an ongoing threat. How can we help them?
How will SMMUSD's expansion of T-K impact our existing mixed delivery system of preschools that include non-profit, church, and private centers?
And lastly, but not least, how can the TF attract new membership to sustain and build upon our mission and accomplishments to date?

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