There’s been significant turnover in leadership across North Carolina’s early care and learning landscape since the last long session of the General Assembly in 2023. The landscape itself looks different, too. After it tumbled over the pandemic-era federal funding cliff in 2024, there are big questions about how our state might adopt cross-partisan policies that enhance freedom and well-being for children and families.
In Gov. Josh Stein’s inaugural address, he said, “North Carolina strong means opening the doors of opportunity to every child. There is no better investment in our future than providing excellent pre-K so that every child starts kindergarten healthy and ready to learn.”
Research from Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman shows that the earliest investments have the greatest returns over the life course. It’s during the first 1,000 days after birth when the architecture of the brain is built, creating a foundation that enables thinking, learning, and adapting over time.
Across the state, lawmakers, advocates, educators, and families are working together on behalf of our youngest North Carolinians. Here’s an introduction to some of who’s who.
NCGA Early Childhood Legislative Caucus
The Early Childhood Caucus in the General Assembly was previously co-chaired by Rep. Ashton Clemmons, D-Guilford, and Rep. David Willis, R-Union, in the House, and Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, and Sen. Jim Burgin, R-Harnett, in the Senate. Clemmons gave up her seat in the House in July 2024, so we expect a new co-chair to be announced early this session. In the 2023 long session, the caucus requested but did not receive a one-time $300 million investment in child care.
State government roles
Division of Child Development and Early Education at DHHS
The Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) is part of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Most of the state’s involvement in early care and learning occurs within DCDEE, including:
- Licensing early childhood programs and educators
- Administering the North Carolina Prekindergarten (NC Pre-K) program
- Funding the statewide Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) system
- Administering North Carolina’s Subsidized Child Care Assistance program
- Administering N.C.’s Child Care and Development Fund federal block grant.
Candace Witherspoon is the acting director of DCDEE, following the resignation of Ariel Ford in 2024. The new DHHS secretary, Devdutta Sangvai, could announce DCDEE’s new leader at any time.
Child Care Commission
The Child Care Commission is made up of 17 members appointed by the governor, the speaker of the House, and the president pro tempore of the Senate to serve two-year terms. The commission holds quarterly meetings, typically in Raleigh. It adopts rules to implement child care laws established by the General Assembly. Rhonda Rivers serves as chairperson.
Office of Early Learning at DPI
The Office of Early Learning (OEL) under the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) oversees early literacy efforts and provides support to kindergarten and pre-k teachers. It’s led by Amy Rhyne.
B-3 Interagency Council
The Birth through Third Grade (B-3) Interagency Council was established by the General Assembly in 2017 as a way for DHHS and DPI to collaborate on “developing a comprehensive approach to early childhood education.” Publicly available meeting agendas indicate the council has not met since 2022.
N.C. council tasked with crafting an early education vision revisits pre-pandemic plans
Child Care Business Liaison
The Department of Commerce announced a grant-funded position in December 2023 for the purpose of “addressing the insufficient supply of high quality and affordable child care in North Carolina.” Samantha Cole was hired for the position in April 2024.
Leading organizations
CCR&R Council
North Carolina has 14 Child Care Resource & Referral regions. Their role is to “assist families, child care professionals, businesses and communities across North Carolina with essential child care services and support.”
The CCR&R Council leads that effort and is headed by:
- Kristi Snuggs, president of Early Years, formerly Child Care Services Association
- Janet Singerman, president and CEO of Child Care Resources Inc. (CCRI)
- Lori Jones, interim executive director of Southwest Child Development Commission, which was most recently led by Sheila Hoyle
North Carolina Partnership for Children
The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) is the umbrella organization for our state’s 75 Smart Start partnerships serving all 100 counties. Smart Start is a public/private partnership established in 1993 to make sure students arrive at kindergarten prepared to learn. Amy Cubbage is the president of NCPC, but each of the 75 partnerships is controlled locally.
North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation
The North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation (NCECF) is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization with the mission “to marshal North Carolina’s great people, ideas, and achievements to ensure equitable access to opportunity and success for every child.” It’s led by Executive Director Theresa Roedersheimer.
NC Child
NC Child is a nonprofit advocacy organization that “works to eliminate the barriers that stand in kids’ way.” Their mission encompasses children of all ages, but they are active in promoting policies that support early care and learning. The organization’s executive director is Erica Palmer Smith.
Hunt Institute
The Hunt Institute“s mission is to “provide unbiased research, technical expertise, and learning opportunities that equip and empower educators and policymakers to drive equitable reforms and become audacious champions for education.” This includes early childhood education, and Kelly Eppley is their director of early learning.
NC Chamber Coalition on Child Care
The NC Chamber Coalition on Child Care was launched by the NC Chamber in 2023 “to identify and advance child care funding structures, policy reforms, and innovations that address the growing workforce demands from the business community.” Debra Derr is the chamber’s director of government relations and is a leader on their work regarding child care.
NC Head Start Association
The NC Head Start Association represents 59 federally funded Head Start grantees statewide, including Cherokee and migrant programs. Terry David serves as the organization’s president.
NC Early Education Coalition
The NC Early Education Coalition is a “statewide advocacy coalition dedicated to promoting high quality, accessible and affordable child care in North Carolina.” The organization is currently in a state of transition without a staff or long-term leader. Sheila Hoyle is serving as interim director while the organization figures out what’s next.
NC Licensed Child Care Association
The NC Licensed Child Care Association advocates and lobbies for child care providers and businesses that serve the child care industry.
MomsRising
MomsRising is a national grassroots advocacy organization of “more than a million people who are working to achieve economic security for all moms, women, and families in the United States.” Early childhood education is among its priorities. Beth Messersmith is the North Carolina campaign director.
We Dream in Black
We Dream in Black is the North Carolina chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, an advocacy organization that “works to win respect, recognition, and labor rights and protections for the nearly 2.5 million nannies, housecleaners, and homecare workers who do the essential work of caring for our loved ones and our homes.” Their North Carolina campaign is focused on child care.
Western NC Early Childhood Coalition
The Western NC Early Childhood Coalition is “a coalition of early childhood-focused organizations, child care teachers, parents of young children, and advocates collaborating on policy advocacy to improve access to and quality of Early Childhood Care and Education programming in 18 western NC counties.” Greg Borom is the organization’s director.
More names to know
Some of the organizations listed above are members of the Care and Learning coalition known as “CandL.” A statement on NCECF’s website explains the purpose of the initiative:
CandL’s work is deeply rooted in our shared belief that early education should be possible for every young child. The coalition’s goal is to put quality, affordable childcare within reach for all of North Carolina’s families, whatever their income or background. CandL also seeks to ensure that early education teachers are paid fair wages and childcare providers earn enough to be sustainable in every community.
CandL conducted listening sessions statewide to learn what parents and educators wanted from the early care and learning system. They published an analysis of their findings in 2023.
A 34-county listening tour asked parents and providers: What should child care look like?
Devonya Govan-Hunt is a leader of the CandL initiative with deep roots in a wide range of early care and learning organizations across the state, including serving as president of the Black Child Development Institute – Carolinas.
Another thought leader in early care and learning who is connected to a number of statewide organizations is Iheoma Iruka, founding director of the Equity Research Action Coalition at UNC’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.
One more individual name to know is Dan Wuori. He formerly led the Hunt Institute’s early childhood engagement effort and now advises a number of early care and learning organizations and recently published a book called The Daycare Myth: What We Get Wrong About Early Care and Education (and What We Should Do About It).
Supporting much of the recent early care and learning philanthropy in our state is a network of North Carolina-based funders who have joined forces under the umbrella of Invest Early NC “to promote the development and sustainability of a comprehensive early childhood system that benefits all children, families, the workforce and communities in North Carolina.” Here’s more about their mission and members.
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