Coughlin Joins Legislators and Childcare Providers for Listening Session on Family Needs, Post-Pandemic Industry Resilience

(TRENTON) – Having identified childcare among his top policy priorities for the Assembly in this current legislative session, Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin (D-Middlesex) and legislators met with local and statewide providers at the Lightbridge Academy of Iselin on Tuesday for a listening session on their post-pandemic resiliency needs.

“The critical importance of childcare to promoting developmental well-being as well as to our economic recovery is unquestionable,” said Coughlin. “Helping parents return to the workforce requires accessibility of quality and affordable care, and determining how the state can step in to ensure the robustness of the industry for families begins with a conversation about the ways childcare has evolved in the face of recent social and economic challenges.”

The Speaker was joined by fellow 19th district legislators Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee Chair Senator Joe Vitale, Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez (both D-Middlesex), and the Assembly Women and Children Committee Chair Assemblywoman Gabriela Mosquera (D-Camden, Gloucester).

A chance to engage both private and nonprofit providers, the discussion engaged local-area childcare leaders focusing on the operational challenges to childcare centers resulting from the pandemic, the impact of federal and state government assistance, and areas where policy could work to further fill gaps.

“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us the relationship between childcare and a thriving economy,” said Lopez. “I am grateful for Speaker Coughlin’s leadership in recognizing the importance of childcare in New Jersey and organizing a roundtable discussion with providers to hear directly from them, how we can better support providers and parents. As a former nonprofit executive providing childcare services in Perth Amboy, I know firsthand the struggles many providers continue to face, and I am excited to work alongside Speaker Coughlin and with my colleagues to develop meaningful policy to help support childcare providers and ensure that all New Jersey families have access to high quality and affordable childcare.”

“As parents of two children eligible for childcare, my wife and I appreciate the needs of parents who require quality, convenient, yet affordable childcare,” said Vitale. “The pandemic has put into sharp focus the long-standing challenges of accessing and affording these services. I look forward to working with my colleagues, parent advocates and childcare providers to research and design potential solutions.”

The need to address childcare deserts emerged as an area of opportunity for legislative action with the problem of childcare availability exacerbated by the pandemic-induced closures of hundreds of centers statewide.

“As a working mother, I understand on a personal level just how important it is for parents to have access to childcare,” said Mosquera. “A well-trained, adequately funded and sufficiently staffed center that offers a safe environment where children are supervised, educated and socialized can make all the difference. I look forward to continuing to prioritize the needs of children, mothers, and parents across the state alongside the Speaker.”

Childcare is important to New Jersey families and a key driver of economic growth, being both a necessary mechanism for returning parents to the workforce and a sector that employs thousands of New Jerseyans.

Guy Falzarano, President of Early Childhood Education Advocates, as well as Chairman of the Board of Lightbridge Academy, expressed appreciation to the state lawmakers for participating in the meeting at his corporate office in Iselin.

“New Jersey’s economy cannot rebound unless parents have access to quality private child care,” Falzarano said. “No doubt, the private sector is the key to ensuring that all families in New Jersey have access. We look forward to working with the state Legislature to ensure we can once again become a robust sector of the economy. We consider this meeting the first of many productive conversations with our elected leaders to devise the right solutions that serve the needs of working parents and childcare providers.”