Championing Early Childhood Education through non-profit Consulting and Grant Writing Support
At its core, Simply Strategy seeks to understand human behavior to help improve health outcomes. Sometimes, our expertise and understanding of human behavior lend themselves to supporting organizations with mission-critical ideas and concepts that face challenges in securing and maintaining proper funding.
Through our grant assistance and other support services, we help these organizations navigate the complex landscape of funding and reporting and ensure they have the resources required to impact the well-being of the communities they serve.
For more than five years, our team has worked closely with several Missouri State departments, statewide advocacy organizations, and non-profits to help them secure funding and support that enables them to enhance and expand their Early Childhood Education (ECE) work.
Early Childhood Education Sets the Foundation for Lifelong Well-being
Decades of research overwhelmingly demonstrate that a child's experiences in their earliest years, particularly from birth to age 5, establish the foundation for their future well-being and success. This is due to the incredible development occurring in the brain during this window, with more than 1 million new neural connections formed every second until age 3.
High-quality early childhood education (ECE) during this critical period enhances cognitive, emotional, and social development, setting children up for increased academic achievement, improved behavioral regulation, and stronger interpersonal skills. The benefits cascade throughout life as the competencies gained translate into greater success in school, careers, relationships, and long-term health outcomes.
In essence, we know through longitudinal research that early childhood represents the most cost-effective and impactful opportunity to shape an individual's lifelong trajectory. Investment in high-quality, accessible early childhood education pays untold dividends now and in the future.
A Passion for Children
It’s no secret that the Simply Strategy team has a passion for kids. We carefully choose our projects to ensure our expertise is being leveraged for the best outcomes for our neighborhoods, our communities and, by ripple effect, our world. While we work around the country, we’re proud of our many years of work enhancing access to critical early childhood education in Missouri.
Here, we highlight some of our team’s specific work in early childhood. We hope this work inspires more to advocate for children and their families for a brighter, more equitable future.
Missouri has made significant strides in recent years to expand access to high-quality ECE programs across the state. A major accomplishment for the Simply Strategy team and a testament to the community engagement and social impact consulting work we’re passionate about includes assisting State departments and non-profit organizations in securing funding and support to expand and enhance ECE programs throughout Missouri.
The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) award in 2019 was a $6.5 million federal grant to enhance Missouri's early childhood system. The PDG B-5 grant enabled increased collaboration and coordination between state agencies serving young children, including the Office of Childhood within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which was established then and continues to guide PreK and ECE efforts at the state level today.
As a trusted non-profit consulting and public health research partner, the Simply Strategy team was able to lead the grant writing team, culling data and curating a narrative that communicated the successful milestones and tangible impact Missouri could have on families with this funding, which has since been secured a second time and is coming up for renewal this fall again.
The Path Forward: Optimizing Missouri's ECE Investments
We continue to work alongside groups receiving funds from the Missouri Quality Pre-K (MOQPK) grant. These groups face ongoing challenges such as navigating bureaucratic red tape, a shortage of qualified teachers, and more.
We see the way forward as a maintained focus of efforts on three key areas:
- Continuing PDG B-5 capacity-building efforts: The federal Preschool Development Grant has provided crucial support for unifying and coordinating Missouri's early childhood systems. Sustaining this capacity building will enable further progress in streamlining access and utilizing data to guide policies.
- Addressing childcare staffing shortages through better compensation/training along with supporting a fair subsidy: Chronic understaffing threatens the availability of ECE programs across Missouri. Increased investments in training, competitive wages, and career development for childcare workers can help build a robust early education workforce.
- Ensuring equitable access and equitable provider reimbursement across income levels and geographies: While strides have been made, disparities still exist in ECE access and quality based on family income, location, racial disparities, and other factors. By maintaining focus in these critical areas, Missouri can continue expanding high-quality early learning opportunities to all children and families, laying the foundation for lifelong well-being and shared prosperity.
Non-Profit Consulting for Better Outcomes
As a primary market research firm, we understand the communities our clients serve. We spend countless hours interviewing people, engaging with communities, and analyzing the data they share with us. Supporting those organizations that serve these communities is a natural extension of our work.Our non-profit consulting services range from grant assistance to program evaluation work. We work with teams to research, facilitate and manage initiatives with the goal of creating better outcomes for the communities we all serve.
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Health Equity