Author Archives: GEEARS

By Belva Dorsey-Mott, CEO, Enrichment Services Program, Inc.  Recently, the federal administration released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) containing major potential revisions to the Head Start Program Performance Standards.  As CEO of an organization that is funded to serve more than 1,300 Head Start Preschool and Early Head Start children, most of whom live […]

By Kristin Bernhard, GEEARS CEO GEEARS’ beloved Annual Luncheon happens a bit earlier than usual this year, on September 17th. It probably won’t feel like fall yet, and we’ll be about six weeks shy of the November election. And yet, I know we’ll all be feeling the excitement, and urgency, of the change on the […]

By Greg Barrett, Senior Manager of Leadership & Learning, GEEARS Here’s the thing about the first years of a child’s life—all the stakes are high. This is why GEEARS approaches our early childhood advocacy holistically. Babies and young children can’t fully benefit from high-quality early care and learning if they don’t also have nourishing food […]

By GEEARS From the moment a baby is born, their parent or caregiver becomes an advocate. They are their child’s interpreter, their guardrails, their voice.  When that child has a disability or developmental delay, advocacy can escalate into a full-time job, as much a part of parenting as changing diapers, running warm baths, and snuggling […]

Last week at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, dozens of business leaders gathered for a Leadership Forum hosted by GEEARS, the Georgia Chamber Foundation, Metro Atlanta Chamber, and Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. The topic of the day: How to Attract and Retain Top Talent through Family-Friendly Policies and HR Best Practices.  One of the speakers, […]

With Sine Die in the rearview mirror, we at GEEARS are reflecting upon our state legislature’s 2026 session. An ongoing focus on early literacy and the introduction of the Families First Legislative Initiative by House leadership were indicators that the needs of families with young children were high on our elected officials’ priority lists as […]

While GEEARS has often emphasized the importance of highly engaged and well-trained teachers in an early childhood classroom, we also know that learning environments impact the quality of early childhood education. Children thrive when learning takes place in high-quality facilities with literacy-rich classrooms, safe playgrounds, kitchens that can churn out multiple meals each day, and […]

To prepare for one of our biggest events of the year—Strolling Thunder at the Georgia State Capitol—we at GEEARS put a lot of energy into defining what this day is all about.  But Strolling Thunder is also a very stimulating adventure for young children and their parents. As GEEARS’ Executive Director, Mindy Binderman, recently noted, […]

Georgia’s 2026 Legislative Session begins today. It’s a 40-day marathon for advocacy organizations like GEEARS—a chance to double down on our “asks” as bills that impact Georgia’s youngest children make their way through committees, debates, Crossover Day, and hopefully, to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.   We’ll approach this session, as we do […]

As we look back on 2025, we celebrate the wins that help advance our mission to ensure that Georgia’s youngest children thrive. At the same time, we acknowledge the challenges that show us there is still much work to be done. We spent this year convening, rallying, and working hand-in-hand with partners in the GEEARS-led […]

Every year, GEEARS publishes the Early Childhood Checkup, an assessment of Georgia’s support for its youngest children and their families. With a quick scan of cute baby faces shaded green, red, or yellow, Georgians can see if certain indicators have shown improvement, declined, or remained static.   While we’re pleased by the green babyface that indicates […]

By Erica Stephens and Jessica Woltjen  I’m in college. It’s a simple statement that evokes images of football Saturdays and all-nighters for finals, pennants and parties, fun and freedom.  But nearly one in five (3.1 million) undergraduate students in the United States are also parents, and for them, post-secondary education looks different. In GEEARS’ latest […]

GEEARS leads a movement—fueled by research and advocacy—to make our state the best place to raise a very young child. Yet in 2025, federal policy changes are weakening some supports for Georgia’s families, just when their needs are greater than ever.   That means it’s time for all of us to join this movement. One way […]

The passage of the reconciliation package known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” means that many Georgians—particularly those who rely on social safety nets like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid—could face hardship in the coming years.  To prepare for these challenges, an understanding of the contents of the bill is essential.   […]

In 2018, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students and the Metro Atlanta Chamber conducted a study to better understand the prevalence, nature, and impact of child care challenges. The results revealed that such challenges had a devastating impact on families’ ability to participate in the workforce and their economic well-being. This hardship for […]

By the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students The budget reconciliation bill, which recently passed the U.S. House, would completely restructure the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), transferring costs to the state and likely resulting in significant cuts to food assistance for families. The House’s proposal also […]

In 2025, Georgians need more help than ever accessing high-quality child care and other services for their children, ages birth through five. After all, the pandemic-era relief funds that sustained child care programs and made them more affordable for families expired in September. And in our most recent state legislative session, only $5.4 million in […]

If you ask Georgia parents of young children to rate their anxieties these days, most will put finances at the top of their lengthy lists. Specifically, they’re plagued by the high price of child care and its impact on their employment opportunities, their family budgets, and our state’s economy.  When Georgia’s legislative session ended in […]

GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students is pleased to partner with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce on a new initiative that promotes family-friendly practices in workplaces and honors the Georgia employers who embrace them. The Best Place for Working Parents® Georgia is a designation achieved through an easy online self-assessment. Employers who make […]

“There are so many opportunities to lighten the load on young families, but I’m asking you to prioritize investing in TANF and consider enacting a state tax credit to help families make ends meet. I dream of a community where parents can be fully present with their families, not split in two as many of […]