On March 29, Fort Worth’s City Council announced the members of the Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Child Care. The Blue Ribbon Action Committee was created to address childcare and early education-related issues.
According to the Fort Worth website announcement, many of these issues worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Child Care is funded by the American Recovery Plan Act. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker partnered with Child Care Associates and Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley to create the committee and name members.
“Our youngest children, as well as their caretakers and educators, are facing a crisis, and we must act quickly to find and implement bold solutions,” Mayor Parker said during the announcement. “We’ve drawn together innovative leaders from across North Texas to help us identify and accelerate solutions to these systemic challenges, and the Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Child Care and Child Care Associates will lead the way on those next steps.”
The Blue Ribbon Action Committee will work alongside child care educators and parents to try and boost the outcomes of young children, focusing on those between 0 and 5 years old. Members will work to develop solutions that improve the quality of child care in Tarrant County.
Co-chairs Rose Bradshaw from the North Texas Community Foundation, and Alfreda Norman, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, will lead the other 14 members of the Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Child Care.
“We’ve assembled this team of local thought leaders, policy experts, and key stakeholders to help us transform once-in-a-lifetime federal recovery funds into long-term, strategic investments that expand access to early learning and child care for all Tarrant County families,” Judge Whitley said.
The CEO and president of Child Care Associates, Kara Waddell, made the official announcement about the Blue Ribbon Action Committee members during the March 29 City Council meeting.
In addition to Bradshaw and Norman, the Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Child Care will include:
- Jay Chapa, from J Chapa Strategic Solutions.
- Pete Geren, from The Sid Richardson Foundation.
- Dr. Jessica Gomez, from Momentous Institute.
- Chris Huckabee, from Huckabee Inc.
- Dr. Elva LeBlanc, from Tarrant County College.
- Courtney Lewis, from BanCorp South.
- Jerletha McDonald, from Arlington DFW Child Care.
- Winjie Tang Miao, from Texas Health Resources.
- Jeremy Smith, from The Rainwater Charitable Foundation.
- Margaret Spellings, from Texas 2036.
- Katy Magruder, from PNC Bank.
- Drexell Owusu, from the Dallas Foundation.
- Terese Stevenson, from the Rees-Jones Foundation.
- Ebony Jones, from Teach for America in Fort Worth.
“Over the last few years, working parents and businesses realize afresh how much we depend on community access to quality child care,” Waddell said. “As the child care industry struggles to exist and recover, the time was right for our public officials to convene leaders to help navigate a way forward.”
According to the Fort Worth website, Blue Ribbon Action Committee members are community leaders from various backgrounds. The committee members will collaborate to guide investments and initiatives that improve the lives of early educators, children, and parents in Fort Worth and Tarrant County.
