Children’s Opportunity Alliance
FY24 Annual Report
Dear Friends and Supporters,
After our first full year of operation as an independent nonprofit, the Montgomery County Children’s Opportunity Alliance (the Alliance) is poised to drive meaningful change in our community. In reflecting on the accomplishments of the past year, we:
Created our County’s first-ever fiscal map, which identifies sources and uses of funds in early care and education. The information it provided enabled us to identify important next steps needed to create a stronger and more equitable early childhood system.
Piloted approaches for short-term gains by working successfully with private providers to expand the number of state-funded child care seats by more than 70% (from 206 to 354). We are excited to scale this approach to achieve an even great impact in coming years.
Continued to invest in intentional planning processes, grounded in our commitment to racial equity and justice and based on a set of shared values, to build an overarching strategy for long-term, systemic change.
Convened diverse stakeholders from every corner of our County through the formation of advisory groups, whose members are helping to build out our strategic initiatives.
Now, the Alliance is embarking on a plan to develop a common early childhood agenda that articulates shared priorities for expanding and improving the early childhood system in Montgomery County. We are bringing together diverse members from across the early childhood community to advance a common agenda that eliminates barriers and advocates for an equitable system of early care and education in Montgomery County in which all children can grow, learn, and thrive.
Together, we can work to increase access, improve quality, and boost coordination and investment in the early childhood opportunities that we know make a difference. We are excited to catalyze the growing momentum to address the significant challenges that young children and their families face every day.
Please join us in this critical and transformative work. With your support, we can strengthen the early childhood places and spaces where our youngest residents spend their time every day.
In partnership,
Kimberly Rusnak
Executive Director
Our Mission
The Children’s Opportunity Alliance connects our community to build an equitable, accessible, high-quality, and sustainable early childhood system that narrows disparities and puts all young children on a path to reach their greatest potential.
Our Vision
Every young child in Montgomery County has an equitable start in life, creating a stronger future for us all.
Our Values
To move forward with clear intention, the Alliance has created a set of shared values that will be centered as we lean into our collective work. The values represent our core beliefs at the foundation of our efforts and must hold true to give our youngest children the best chance for success. All of the work of the Alliance will be guided by our values:
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Equity
We are dedicated to confronting inequities so that race, place, income, and other social factors are no longer predictors of children's outcomes and future success.
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Justice
We prioritize the voices of those closest to the issues we aim to address, who have been historically oppressed and kept furthest from opportunity, to realize a more just early childhood system.
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Family-Centered
We stand behind the beliefs, practices, and policies that amplify the strengths and address the needs of young children and their families.
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Synergy
We value the many perspectives, expertise, and abilities of early childhood leaders across public and private sectors and recognize our shared responsibility to work together on behalf of the community.
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Accountable
We are committed to using data and setting measurable benchmarks to inform our decisions, monitor and share our progress, and guide the ways we work to improve.
Racial Equity and Justice Statement
The Children’s Opportunity Alliance (The Alliance) is founded on the belief that every young child deserves to thrive. We commit our resources, influence, and capacity to eliminating racial disparities and ensuring access to high-quality, equitable, and affordable early care and education. We are dedicated to advancing equity and inclusion, so all children grow up healthy and strong with access to a range of comprehensive early childhood services that best meet their needs - prioritizing those furthest from opportunity. We partner with our community and other key stakeholders to ensure that families are fully informed, valued, and supported as their child’s first teacher and strongest advocate.
We work to eliminate longstanding structural and systemic inequities that limit learning and developmental opportunities for our youngest children. Through these actions, we hope to heal from historical wrongs and transform Montgomery County’s early care and education system to advance social justice, improving outcomes for all children and families.
We believe early childhood services should not only meet Maryland standards for quality, but are also informed by the community’s diverse cultures, perspectives, and hopes for children and families in Montgomery County. We act on the premise that educators should be valued, respected, and guaranteed economic dignity and that the provision of early care and education is a public responsibility. We assert the early childhood workforce should be diverse, prepared, and well-compensated, to offer stable, high-quality experiences across all the settings linked to child and family well-being.
The aim is to create a safe space that helps in the healing process for ourselves, our educators, our communities and their families. The Alliance is committed to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment where all board members, staff, volunteers and stakeholders feel respected and valued regardless of race, age, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender identity), ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic status, language, and disability and any other biases. Our commitment to racial equity and pursuit of social justice guides all aspects of our work (including, but not limited to):
We value and work to integrate diverse perspectives, with a special focus on elevating leaders who reflect the communities we serve.
We lead with data, equity, and transparency. We use the data to tell a story and develop informed strategies and actions that address inequities at interpersonal, institutional, and structural levels.
We build genuine, authentic, and caring relationships with the early care and education (ECE) community, which we define as parents, providers, nonprofits, community and faith-based organizations, advocates, state and county government, businesses, and philanthropy.
We cultivate partnerships through effective, transparent communication and open feedback loops that ensure broad access to information and a navigable system for all.
We track and analyze fiscal investments to the early care and education system including federal, state, local, and philanthropic funding so that we can collectively make equitable, sustainable, and strategic decisions that maximize and leverage resources.
History
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2017
Montgomery Moving Forward identifies early care and education as a major focus, calling for a “visionary entity” to “boldly reform” the system.
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2018
Montgomery Moving Forward issues an early care and education call to action.
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2021
Montgomery Moving Forward presents recommendations for a public-private coordinating entity.
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July 2022
Montgomery County Council designates Children’s Opportunity Alliance as the ECE coordinating entity for Montgomery County.
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2023
Alliance earns 501(c)(3) designation and hires six full-time staff.
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March 2024
Alliance releases Foundational Action Plan to codify shared actions that lead to community results.
Actions of the Alliance
Data
Total Population of
Montgomery County
About Young Children
41% of children under 18 experiencing food insecurity are above 185% of the federal poverty level
Source: Feeding America, 2022
56% of children are living below the self-sufficiency standard
The federal poverty guidelines are set at a level well below what is needed to meet a family’s basic needs, while the Self-Sufficiency Standard calculates the real cost of meeting basic needs.
Source: Maryland Community Action Partnership, 2023
Kindergarten Readiness
Percentage of Students Ready for Kindergarten
Percentage of Kindergarten Readiness by Race/Ethnicity
School Year 2023-2024
Kindergarten Readiness by Subgroup
*Note: The Maryland State Department of Education will be moving away from the current Kindergarten Readiness Assessment beginning in the 2024-25 School Year after a study indicated potential bias in the current assessment against multilingual learners. Learn more here.
Child Care Workforce
By the Numbers
16%
of the workforce’s primary language is a language other than English
83%
of the workforce is female
41%
of the workforce has a degree higher than a high school diploma
27%
of the workforce participated in the Maryland Credentialing program, which is frozen this year
Source: Data request to MSDE
A Year of Impact: Reflections on FY24
In the last fiscal year, the Alliance:
Convened Early Care and Education: An Economic Imperative for Montgomery County with over 90 cross-sector stakeholders to increase awareness and spur action.
Completed an intensive fiscal mapping process for Fiscal Year 2022 and Fiscal Year 2023, publicly sharing results to maximize our community resources and understand our community’s funding baseline so we can track progress and change over time.
Began publicly sharing local disaggregated data on our website, beginning with a Demographic Data Dashboard and a review of Kindergarten Readiness Data.
Analyzed state-owned data and added it to our burgeoning dashboard, including child care provider capacity, information about the early care and education workforce, and data regarding Child Care Scholarship participation.
Partnered with the Montgomery County Food Council to connect recipients of the Office of Food Systems Resilience (OFSR) FY24 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Outreach Grant Program with the early childhood system so that parents of young children can receive SNAP application assistance.
Hosted three high school interns through the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Summer RISE initiative, who worked together to complete three key research projects in service of our mission:
analyzing parent survey data,
gathering capacity and enrollment information from child care centers, and
conducting research on state legislators’ positions and opinions related to early childhood education.
Completed research on the challenges for out-of-school-time supports for Pre-K-aged children.
Provided written and oral testimony on numerous pieces of legislation during the 2024 Maryland General Assembly session, including the successful passage of HB1441, which will improve access to Pre-K and create a model for a career ladder approach to ECE workforce development.
Provided written and oral testimony on the State’s Child Care Development Fund 2024-2026 plan. A quote from this testimony was used in this piece in MoCo360, Child care is scarce in MoCo and Maryland — and the pandemic made matters worse.
Partnered with Nonprofit Montgomery to provide two advocacy trainings for ECE stakeholders; 11 community members attended, including parents, ECE educators, and nonprofit partners passionate about this topic.
Investing in Our Future: The Pre-K Expansion Grant
Access to high-quality Pre-K builds school readiness and helps set children on a path to academic and personal success. Right now, in Montgomery County, fewer than half of children enter Kindergarten ready to learn. Expanding Pre-K is a critical priority for our County, and the Alliance is advancing strategies to support providers in providing high-quality Pre-K seats in sustainable and equitable ways.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2021, is major legislation that intends to transform public education in our state. It has dramatically changed expectations and resources from the State of Maryland for Pre-K expansion. The Blueprint sets goals for each county about the number of openings, or seats, to create so that more low- and middle-income 3- and 4-year-olds can access high-quality Pre-K opportunities. For Montgomery County, that goal translates to more than 6,500 community-based seats, and 13,000 total seats by 2030.
The Maryland Prekindergarten Expansion Grant is a leverage point that our County has to increase the availability of high-quality Pre-K seats. This state grant provides funding for local school systems and private childcare providers to administer Pre-K services for children and families. To understand the challenges and barriers faced by potential grant applicants, the Alliance conducted a research and engagement project to gather the perspectives of child care center directors and family child care providers. The major barriers to participation in the Pre-K Expansion grant include:
lack of awareness and understanding of the opportunity;
a challenging grant application and burdensome grant administration tasks;
workforce shortages – both in general and of those with the required certifications specifically; and
the financial burden, given that the reimbursement rate of the grant does not cover the true cost of quality care.
To address these barriers, we took a multi-faceted approach. In partnership with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and Montgomery County Public Schools, we helped to plan and facilitate two outreach events that supported providers and community members in understanding the Blueprint and Pre-K Expansion grant opportunities.
We also partnered with local experts – including the Maryland State Child Care Association, the Family Child Care Alliance, and Capacity Partners – to provide targeted technical assistance to nine child care centers during the Maryland State Department of Education’s grant application process in spring 2024. These centers were ready to apply for the Pre-K Expansion grants, but they were overwhelmed by the administrative burden. As a result of our assistance, six first-time participating centers added 120 new Pre-K seats, and two returning centers added 40 new seats. We are continuing to provide targeted grant writing and technical assistance through our partners as the new participants navigate implementation for the first year.
As a part of our commitment to supporting Pre-K expansion, we will continue to engage with Pre-K providers and parents to raise awareness, reduce administrative overhead, and holistically and equitably improve access to early care and education so that every child in our County can thrive.
Partnership in Action: Targeted Support for Child Care Providers
The Alliance is proud to highlight our partnerships with two child care centers that participated in the grant application process and that are committed to providing high-quality Pre-K to Montgomery County’s children.
Hope Grows
Hope Grows Child Development Center has been in business for just over 10 years and has already achieved the highest rating of a Level 5 in Maryland EXCELS (the state quality rating measurement). The center is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and implements a play-based curriculum that supports all children to play, learn, and grow.
Hope Grows CDC II was one of the first centers to partner with the Alliance. Owner Selema Horn and District Manager Tracey Clay had been considering applying for a Pre-K Expansion grant as a way to serve more young children whose families could not afford to pay tuition but wanted the best possible educational start for their 3- or 4-year-olds. Understanding the grant process is challenging, even for high-quality centers that have already gone through accreditation and achieved the highest level in the state’s quality rating system. The Alliance offered support and guidance through the process, helping Hope Grows describe their program in a compelling way in the grant application, get approved, and set up their systems to meet the intense management requirements.
Tracey Clay has been an advocate for changes that will make the application process more equitable and accessible to even more child care providers in the future. Hope Grows plans to apply its Centers I and III for the Pre-K Expansion grant in the upcoming grant cycle.
“When we reviewed the Pre-K Expansion grant application, it was complex and difficult to understand, like it was in coded language not meant for child care providers. I firmly believe that we would have missed out on this amazing opportunity for our families without the support of the Children's Opportunity Alliance. Their support helped us understand where child care providers fit on the Blueprint, and gave us the confidence to take our seat at the table with MSDE and MCPS as we work together to serve children and families in Montgomery County.”
- Tracey Clay, District Manager of Hope Grows Child Development Center
“My son’s selection for the Pre-K expansion program has been an incredible blessing for our family and his educational journey. This program has given him a strong foundation for his public school education at little to no cost. Every day, he comes home buzzing with excitement, eager to share what he’s learned, the fun activities he’s enjoyed, and the names of all his new friends. It's astonishing to hear him discuss topics like the five senses, body parts, and the importance of staying active—knowledge I never expected from a four-year-old! He can’t wait to return to school each day, and I’m truly grateful for the opportunity he has to be part of such an amazing program!”
- Bahtara Keita, parent of a 4-year-old
Minds in Motion
Minds in Motion Childcare submitted an application for the Pre-K Expansion grant for the first time with support from the Alliance. Once accepted, they began the work of recruiting families who were eligible for and interested in enrolling in the free Pre-K seats. Minds in Motion has deep connections in high-need areas of Gaithersburg, and they quickly realized that they had been too cautious in only applying for 20 seats from the state grant – that they had the ability and capacity to serve even more families. Thanks to additional funding from Montgomery County, Minds in Motion was able to add a second classroom of Pre-K seats and enroll an additional 20 children at no cost to the families.
Minds in Motion has been in business for the past 15 years and has achieved a Level 3 in Maryland EXCELS. The center has a learning environment that supports diverse learning styles and addresses the comprehensive needs of young children.
The founders of Minds in Motion Childcare believe that community-based and family-supported learning centers contribute not only to the enrichment of the child but also to the entire family unit. Their support extends beyond the walls of their child care centers through initiatives such as back-to-school shoe drives, food drives, regular summer field trips, and family support programs. By creating a sphere of support that meets families' needs at child care, at home, and within the community, they foster an environment where children and their families can thrive together.
"The Children's Opportunity Alliance has played a key role in helping us navigate the grant process, and their continued mission and efforts to support childcare facilities like ours are vital to expanding access. Thanks to their guidance and commitment, we were able to secure the necessary resources to provide more seats and extend our high-quality services to even more children. Their partnership has been instrumental in ensuring that programs like ours thrive and continue to impact the community."
- LaTisha Gasaway-Paul, Owner & Co-Founder of Minds in Motion Childcare
“I was so happy when I heard that Minds in Motion Childcare was joining the MSDE preschool expansion program. It's great to know that both my kids can get the right lessons and care all in one place - even though they are different ages. It makes our day-to-day life simpler, and it's a huge comfort knowing they're in a place that helps them grow and learn.”
- Abby Bediako, parent of 5-year-old
Building Stronger Futures Together:
Celebrating the Power of Partnership and Cross-Sector Collaboration
The Children’s Opportunity Alliance believes that our impact is greatest when we involve the perspectives, expertise, and abilities of early childhood leaders across multiple sectors. We work to build synergy by creating connections among many roles, perspectives, lived experiences, and efforts. By coordinating the ideas and activities of many, we are able to produce a joint impact that is greater than any one person or individual act.
“We are proud supporters of the Montgomery County Children’s Opportunity Alliance because we believe in the critical importance of a quality early childhood system and philanthropy is a powerful catalyst for systems change. Research shows that early childhood programs have significant short and long-term impact on the lives of children – and at the same time we also believe it is an economic imperative. Investing in early childhood makes our community a better place for everyone.”
- Bender Foundation, Inc.
This commitment to collaboration, partnership, and systems-level thinking informs our strategic actions and is guiding the creation of our common agenda. Together, the Alliance will be able to set bold and shared goals as a road map to strengthen the early childhood system so that every child has what they need to thrive.
Collaboration in Action
Week of the Young Child
To celebrate the Week of the Young Child in Montgomery County, the Alliance hosted a breakfast to discuss the economic imperative of early care and education. We were joined by more than 90 community partners, business owners, early childhood educators, and government stakeholders, who collaborated with us in considering the critical need for early care and education investments for the County’s children and families.
Advisory Groups
The Alliance launched three advisory groups – focused on data, developing a common agenda, and engaging the business community – to help shape the priorities and initiatives that will move us toward meaningful change within the early childhood system.
Community Conversations
Leaning into our organizational values of equity and justice and inclusion, we prioritized listening to a variety of stakeholders in our community to help inform our strategy and work. We held public community conversations and invited targeted stakeholders to share their feedback through meetings and surveys as we developed our Foundational Action Plan. We participated in existing community tables to understand the priorities and strategies of existing efforts. We began to establish community feedback loops to reach, convene, and gather input from a broad range of diverse community members to inform and drive progress of the ECE system.
“A vibrant Montgomery County means that young children are put first because investments in the early years of a child’s life can set the foundation for all future health, learning, well-being…”
- County Proclamation
Looking Ahead: The Common Agenda
In Fiscal Year 2025, the Alliance is convening stakeholders and working to build consensus around a Common Agenda for Early Care and Education in our community. This agenda will support our community’s shared work in building an equitable, accessible, high-quality, and sustainable early childhood system. This agenda is a shared vision among stakeholders that includes a common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to solutions through agreed-upon actions. Through this Common Agenda, the Alliance hopes to drive results that narrow disparities in the County and put all young children on a path to reach their greatest potential.
Our Supporters
The Children's Opportunity Alliance would like to thank our generous donors:
Bender Foundation Inc.
Bob Buchannan
Cliff and Deborah White Family Foundation
Mark & Suzanne Friis
Daria Hall
Wendy Lance
Mead Family Foundation
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
Montgomery County Public Schools
Ruppert Family Foundation
Cynthia Rivarde
Joan Schaffer
Bobbi Shulman
Craig Small
Tacy Paul
The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
Washington Area Women’s Foundation
Financial Info
Our Staff
Brittany (Britt) Anuszkiewicz
Strategic Public Financing Coordinator
Giraldine Duff-Cham
Measurement and Impact Analyst
Laura Jahromi
Manager, Strategic Initiatives
Kimberly Pena-Molina
Early Care and Education Manager
Desmirra Quinnonez
Office Manager
Kimberly Rusnak
Executive Director
Board of Directors
Jennifer Arnaiz
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
Kevin Beverly
KHB Consulting
Vernessa Broddie
Imagine Education/The Nurturey Preschool
William Hegwood
CareerCatchers
Dr. Glenda Hernández Tittle
Montgomery College
Luke Holian
Parent representative
Jessica Issoufou
Worksource Montgomery
Tiffany Jones
Precious Moments Family Childcare
Deborah Lambert
Montgomery County Office of Management and Budget
BB Otero
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
Nichelle Owens
Montgomery County Public Schools
Theresa Ramsaroop
Parent representative
Patricia Ruppert
Ruppert Companies
Wayne (Chris) Saxton
Universities of Shady Grove, Director of Office of Information Technology
Carmen Wong
The J. Willard and Allice S. Marriott Foundation
Vivian Yao
Montgomery County Council
We would like to extend a special thanks to other members of our Board who served earlier in our tenure as an organization:
Amy Cropp
Chandra Curtis
Dira Treadvance
Hannah Hahn
Myrna Peralta
Nora Morales
Raymond Crowell
Sobia Qureshi
Sonia Pruneda-Hernandez
Taniesha Woods
Many photos throughout this report were provided courtesy of Minds in Motion Childcare and Hope Grows Child Development Center II.