Inside Voices, Community Conversations:

The Cost of Getting Ahead CT Affordability, Childcare & Economic Opportunity

Inside Voices Exclusive: Governor Ned Lamont on the Future of Child Care in Connecticut

 What will it take to build a child care system that truly works for every Connecticut family?On this episode of Inside Voices: Community Conversations, we sit down with Governor Ned Lamont to talk about the future of child care in Connecticut, including the state’s early childhood endowment, what greater access will require, and how child care connects to the economic security of families and communities across the state.After the conversation, Georgia and Kim debrief on what they heard, what stood out, and the questions Connecticut still needs to grapple with as this work moves forward.

Tiffany Reed, Parent Voices and a Growing Movement for Child Care Change

On this episode of Inside Voices, Georgia Goldburn speaks with Parent Voices Contra Costa Parent Leader Tiffany Reed about turning lived experience into advocacy. From speaking out about concerns at her daughters’ child care center to joining advocates from across the country at the National Child Care Convention in Chicago, Tiffany shares her perspective on parent power, accountability, universal child care, and why families must have a voice in shaping the systems that serve them.

What Does a Fair Child Care System Look Like?

The conversation continues on Inside Voices with our host, Georgia Goldburn, takes a closer look at what equity should mean within Connecticut's mixed-delivery early childhood system.  Building on CERCLE’s Restorative Justice Agenda, this episode examines the relationship between public investment, access, and the providers families depend on daily.  As the state reshapes its early childhood landscape, we consider the larger questions: what will it take to form a system that fairly serves our families and those providing their care? 

CERCLE Provider Forum with Governor Ned Lamont Debrief pt.2

This week on Inside Voices, Georgia Goldburn continues unpacking CERCLE’s Restorative Justice Agenda for Connecticut's Mixed-Delivery Early Childhood System, a policy proposal that calls for repairing decades of inequitable public investment while strengthening Connecticut's mixed-delivery system. We dive into the Connecticut Early Start map and what it means for families exploring child care options and providers' available slots in their area.

CERCLE Provider Forum with Governor Ned Lamont Debrief

Connecticut has made historic investments in early childhood education, but what comes next? This week on Inside Voices, Georgia Goldburn explores A Restorative Justice Agenda for Connecticut's Mixed-Delivery Early Childhood System, a policy proposal that calls for repairing decades of inequitable public investment while strengthening Connecticut's mixed-delivery system. The conversation examines five recommendations focused on equitable grant funding, expanding Early Start CT, increasing access to capital for child care entrepreneurs, and improving municipal implementation of state policy. Together, these proposals ask what it will take to build an early childhood system that is not only accessible and high-quality, but also equitable, economically sustainable, and community driven.

What Parents Need To Know Before Summer Gets Away

Is Access to Capital the Hidden Driver of Inequity?

Why do some businesses thrive while others struggle to survive, even when demand is strong? Is access to capital the missing piece?On this episode of Inside Voices, Georgia Goldburn sits down with Mark Hayles of Better Local Capital to discuss entrepreneurship, economic equity, and the barriers many small business owners face when seeking funding. Together, they explore how access to working capital impacts business growth, why childcare is a critical part of Connecticut's economic infrastructure, and what it will take to create more opportunities for underserved entrepreneurs.The conversation also examines Better Local Capital's CT Childcare Working Capital Financing program, the unique financial realities of childcare businesses, and why investing in providers is an investment in families, workforce participation, and local economies.

Restorative Reform: An Inside Voices Conversation on Restorative Justice and Reform

“Historic or Hype Connecticut’s Child Care Moment”

Connecticut lawmakers called this year’s child care legislation historic, promising expanded access, new funding, and long overdue investment in early childhood education leaving us to wonder will families and provider actually feel the impact.On this episode of Inside Voices, we join Child Care for CT to break down this legislative session, what’s missing, and why child care has become one of Connecticut’s biggest economic and political issues,  From workforce shortages and affordability to universal child care and special education, we ask: is this a real turning point or just political messaging?

What Connecticut Families Need and What’s Getting in the Way

Connecticut families are struggling with rising child care costs, limited access, and gaps in early childhood support. We speak with Courtney Parkerson of The Connecticut Project and Cynthia Willner of CTData Collaborative about new RAPID survey data, and what it reveals about affordability, early development, and where policy is falling short.

Before the Labels: A Family’s Journey Advocating for Selah

Rosa DeLauro on CT Families, Child Care, and Federal Priorities

Child care costs are rising, family budgets are tightening, and decisions made in Washington are playing out in real time in households and classrooms across the country. In this exclusive conversation, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro examines the growing strain on families and the fight for more equitable access to care highlighting key investments like the Child Tax Credit, Early Start, Care 4 Kids, and support from the Connecticut Endowment, and what it will take for families in Connecticut and beyond to find stability in an increasingly uncertain economy.

Who Shapes Child Care? Sandra Dill Weighs In

What happens when the people who care for our youngest children help shape public policy?Host Georgia Goldburn speaks with Sandra Dill, a New Haven family child care provider and policy advisor bringing lived experience into Connecticut’s early childhood education decisions. As the owner of Motherlyluv Too Family Child Care and a member of the state’s Early Childhood Education Endowment Advisory Board, Dill explains why stable funding matters, how home-based child care strengthens communities, and how collective advocacy through CERCLE Collab is shifting power toward the people doing the work at a moment when the future of early childhood education is on the line.

How Christian Community Action & Hope For New Haven Support Families

MLK Day Special

Fact From Fear in Child Care, Flu Season, Funding, and What Families Need to Know

Andrene Cross

Becoming the Teacher She Needed: How the CERCLE FRAME Pathway Shaped Andrene Cross

Protecting Kids in an Age of ICE Raids

The real story of immigration enforcement isn’t in the numbers or the politics, but lies in the human cost paid by children, caregivers, and families when ICE shows up without warning.  In this episode of Inside Voices, we sit down with ACLU of Connecticut’s Legal Director Dan Barrett to address how immigration enforcement is reshaping daily life for families in child care programs, schools, and local workplaces. We look at the state’s new guidance, the recent cases shaking Connecticut and Chicago, and the terrifying first 48 hours after a detention when kids are left waiting, parents scramble for answers, and legal protections are put to the test. Dan explains what “sanctuary” actually offers, where the gaps are, and what families and providers can do right now to stay prepared.

Care 4 Kids Crisis Challenges Early Start CT Vision

Ready or Not: Building Equitable Child Care Infrastructure

What Does It Take to Become a Childcare Entrepreneur?

From Parent to Advocate: Building a Future of Belonging for Our Kids

Building Stronger Women In Business with WBDC

Exploitation to Liberation Reclaiming the Power of Child Care

Breaking The Mold A Black Man's Journey in ECE

 In Conversation with Bill Okwuosa, CEO, Good Child Development Center

Early Start In Action

Historic Childcare Legislation

“CARE REIT - Rethinking Investment in Early Education”

Inside Voices, Community Conversations: Provider Spotlight: "Kiddie Korner Daycare"

Morning Without Child Care Rallies

Morning Without Child Care and Legislative Updates

Provider Profile - Hope Child Development Center

Gov. Lamont's Universal Pre-K Proposal

A conversation with Commissioner Beth ByeBeth Bye was appointed as Commissioner for the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) by Governor Ned Lamont in January 2019.Governor Lamont Proposes the Largest Expansion of Preschool Access in Connecticut History

Kim Harris & Tammy Robinson

This week's guests: Kim Harris Co-founder, CERCLE & Executive Director, Inspired Communities, Inc.Tammy Robinson, Executive Director, CERCLE