› Sustainable landscaping and green systems. Investments such as green roofs, solar power, and shaded outdoor play areas boost air quality, increase efficiency, and reduce the negative effects of heat on children and staff.
› Adaptive management strategies. To manage uncertainties, programs need to develop and implement plans that support practical changes, such as adjusted maintenance schedules, as well as structural changes that make their programs more climate resilient.
Enhanced Emergency Preparedness and Response
The Solution
Climate change significantly affects the well-being of early childhood educators, children, and the centers, schools, and family child care homes that they operate. Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach, including through infrastructure improvements, enhanced emergency preparedness and response, and community and workforce support and resources. By investing in key elements in each of these areas, policymakers can help early childhood education programs stay open and create safer and more resilient environments for young children and the adults who care for and educate them.
Infrastructure Improvements
Child care is infrastructure. It helps the rest of America function and thrive. It also requires infrastructure, including facilities that must be upgraded to withstand harsh elements and extreme weather conditions. Since climate-resilient infrastructure can enhance service reliability, extend the lifespan of assets, and safeguard returns on investment, it makes sense to build the infrastructure of child care and early learning with those results in mind( Mullan et al. 2018b). That means that infrastructure investments should be intentionally structured to be inclusive of programs operating in centers, schools, and homes and should include support for
› Improved HVAC systems. For example, many IGP grantees have replaced their HVAC systems and seen immediate improvements in air quality and the cost of heating and cooling.
Early childhood educators play a key role in planning and preparing for emergencies, protecting young children during emergencies, and helping children cope and recover after an emergency( CDC 2024). Given their importance, early childhood education programs, inclusive of all settings, should receive the following support:
› Technical assistance and resources to develop and implement comprehensive plans and strategies as well as needed facility upgrades to support emergency evacuations, communications, and continuity of care. This would include addressing specific needs for home-based settings and support for multiple languages and community types, including rural communities.
› Equitable access to professional development and training in disaster response and mental health. This would effectively support educators, families, and children during and after climate-related events.
An example of one of these in action comes from a family child care provider in California:
I live in a tsunami hazard zone. The IGP funds were essential for me to repair my 20-plus-year-old storage shed where I keep my emergency water and food for the daycare as well as snack foods, toys, arts and craft supplies, books, and miscellaneous equipment and supplies needed to run my daycare. The roof was beginning to leak, and the walls had a lot of rot. It also helped me replace the falling apart fencing and shelving around my propane tank.
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