Mayor Stoney and Councilmember Newbille Visit Child Care Center, Highlight Need for Richmond Child Care and Education Trust Fund
October 23, 2023
Mayor Stoney and Councilmember Newbille Visit Child Care Center, Highlight Need for Richmond Child Care and Education Trust Fund
Richmond, VA – Today Mayor Levar Stoney and 7th District Councilmember Cynthia Newbille toured the FRIENDS Robert L. Taylor Child Care Center, a child care facility located in Church Hill. During their visit, Mayor Stoney and Councilmember Newbille spoke with faculty and students about the pressing issues of providing child care in Richmond and highlighted how the Richmond Child Care and Education Trust Fund would address those problems.
“Today, after touring the FRIENDS Association for Children, Councilmember Newbille and I got to see first-hand the value of early childhood education and child care,” Mayor Levar Stoney. “We must prioritize our children first and foremost, and that requires systemic change – and that is why we are such big supporters of the Richmond Child Care and Education Trust Fund, which will do just that.”
“The challenges this child care center and others across Richmond are facing is that our facilities cannot meet the demand,” said 7th District Councilmember Cynthia Newbille. “We need to provide the resources for our child care centers to expand and address the capacity issue. And the Child Care and Education Trust Fund would give us the resources to hire more staff, expand centers, and open more slots for Richmond children to receive quality, affordable child care.”
“We are standing at the precipice of making a change that will be long-lasting and impactful for communities across Central Virginia,” said Child Care Provider for FRIENDS Association for Children, David Young. “If we can bring the resources together, we can make a tremendous impact on families and children in Richmond.”
Several weeks ago, Richmond City Council unanimously passed a resolution introduced by Mayor Stoney to establish the first ever Richmond Child Care and Education Trust Fund if Richmond voters approve the referendum in November. Using the annual gaming tax revenue from the Richmond Grand Resort and Casino, estimated at approximately $19 million, the Richmond Child Care and Education Trust Fund would address Richmond’s child care crisis by making early child care and education more affordable by reducing out-of-pocket child care and preschool costs for Richmond families, support community-based providers to increase their capacity, and increase compensation for the early childhood care and education workforce.
Moreover, with this resolution, City Council committed to further investing in Richmond families with the one-time, upfront payment of $26.5 million that becomes available in November upon voter approval of the referendum. Per the resolution, the City will:
- Build new child care and education centers at T.B. Smith and Southside Community Centers (currently estimated at $7 million each)
- Dedicate $8 million to Parks and Recreation projects across the city
- Allocate $4.5 million into the Child Care and Education Trust Fund to expand access to affordable child care and education programs.
You find more information about the Richmond Child Care and Education Trust Fund HERE.
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