FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Media Contact: Nathan Garcia ([email protected]) 

 

Olympia, WA (March 14, 2024) — Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), the political voice for kids, applauds lawmakers for taking critical steps to advance the well-being of children, families, and child care providers across Washington during the state’s 2024 legislative session.  

At the same time, SCAN advocates urge political decision-makers to address remaining gaps families across the state continue to experience as they seek access to nutritious food, early childhood education and other services. 

“While we’re thrilled with the progress made by lawmakers in Washington State this year to streamline and expand access to early learning programs and nutritious food for children, we recognize that many families still face monumental challenges,” said Christina Ko, SCAN Washington State Manager. “As the cost of living continues to rise, lawmakers must expand investments in children and their families and help build a foundation for kids to grow, learn and thrive.” 

Key victories for Washingtonians during the state’s legislative session, which ended last week, include the: 

• Passage of HB 1945, which streamlines access to the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), ensuring families qualifying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other basic food assistance qualify automatically.
• Passage of HB 2124, which expands access to ECEAP and early ECEAP through Working Connections Child Care, a program that helps eligible families pay for child care.
• Allocation of $45 million to help schools cover free meals for qualifying students.
• Allocation of $1.75 million to fund mental health consultants for early learning and child care providers to better support children with evidence-based responses to behaviors and special needs.

SCAN’s grassroots-powered campaigning helped to catalyze these critical investments in early childhood education and greater food security for children. During the session, SCAN mobilized and empowered Washingtonians from across the state to engage directly with political decision-makers, and utilized a $20,000 targeted ad campaign to showcase policy solutions supporting Washington’s youngest learners. These victories for children and families underscore the power of grassroots-powered campaigning, and SCAN extends its gratitude to lawmakers, advocates, partners, and community members for their commitment to driving positive change for kids and families.  

In the years ahead, SCAN hopes to see free school meals available to all Washington kids. As evident through past expansions to the school meals program, more children eat at school when given the opportunity to participate in free school meals for all. The costs of nutritious food continue to be a challenge for many, and by feeding kids at school, we ensure they can learn effectively while putting dollars back in the pockets of parents and caregivers to address other needs for their families.  

The end of the 2024 legislative session marks a step in the right direction for kids, and we look forward to working together to ensure that every child across the state has what they need to have a bright future. 

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Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) was created in 2014 as the political advocacy arm of Save the Children, to be the political voice for kids. We work to ensure that the issues critical to children’s lives and futures are given top priority by our elected leaders, building bipartisan support to make sure every child has a strong start in life.  

Learn more about SCAN here: https://savethechildrenactionnetwork.org.