Building Bright Futures (BBF) is Vermont’s early childhood public-private partnership charged under Title 33, Chapter 46, and the Federal Head Start Act (Public Law 110-134) as Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council (SAC) and network, the mechanism used to advise the Governor and Legislature on the well-being of children in the prenatal period through age 8 and their families.
We are also tasked with ensuring accountability and measuring the success of Vermont’s Early Childhood Strategic Plan and Vermont’s Act 76, a child care law passed in 2023. Read or watch video recordings of BBF’s testimony and legislative advisement below.
In our role advising decision-makers on the needs of young children and their families, BBF submits comments on Notices of Proposed Rule Making by the Federal Government when changes to rules are likely to have a notable and sustained impact that is not aligned with the vision outlined in Vermont’s Early Childhood Strategic Plan.
2026 Comments Submitted on Notices of Proposed Rule Making
- Rule Change to Head Start Program Performance Standards
- Rule Change to Registration Requirements to the System for Award Management
- Rule Change to Program Eligibility Requirements for the Direct Loan Program
- Rule Change to revise Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance
2026 Advisement to the Legislature and Administration
January 22, 2026: Act 76 Monitoring: Implementation and Impact
January 16, 2026: Vermont’s Early Childhood System Data and Priorities
January 21, 2026: Vermont’s Early Childhood System Data and Priorities, continued
January 30, 2026: S.214: Ensuring Equitable Access to Universal Prekindergarten in Geographically Isolated Communities
April 1, 2026: Building Bright Futures Role, Priorities, and Funding
January 28, 2026: Act 76 Monitoring and S.206: Early Childhood Educator Licensure
April 9, 2026: S.214 – Ensuring Equitable Access to Universal Pre-K in Geographically Isolated Communities
- Read the testimony (link pending)
February 19, 2026: H.67 – Government Accountability & BBF’s Role to Monitor Impact Related to Early Childhood
April 2, 2026: S.206 – Early Childhood Educator Licensure
March 11, 2026: Vermont’s Early Childhood System Data and Priorities – Prekindergarten
April 21, 2026: S.206 – Early Childhood Educator Licensure
January 21, 2026: Vermont’s Early Childhood System Data and Priorities – Prekindergarten
Advisement in Previous Years
February 24, 2025: Equitable Access to Pre-K for Families and Children Living in Rural Communities
March 14, 2025: Overview of Building Bright Futures and Vermont’s Early Childhood System
January 23, 2025: Introduction to Building Bright Futures and Monitoring Act 76
February 13, 2025: Overview of Building Bright Futures and Vermont’s Early Childhood System
January 31, 2025: Overview of Building Bright Futures and Vermont’s Early Childhood System
July 31, 2025: Public Comments on Loss of Federal Funding for Vermont’s Early Childhood System
Sept. 26, 2023: Second Committee Meeting
- Vermont Universal Prekindergarten Education (UPK) Data, Publications, Reports, and Resources, Updated November 2024: Compilation of most recent data and information on UPK
- Data Needed to Inform Decision-making: This document outlined the questions/data that would be important to have to inform decision-making on the future of UPK, originally presented to the Senate Committee on Education.
- S.56 Stakeholder Feedback: This document captured stakeholder feedback on the policies and priorities originally proposed in S.56. Much of the feedback was related to UPK and a mixed delivery model and was presented in House Committee on Human Services, the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, the Senate Committee on Education, and the House Committee on Education.
- Memo submitted to the Senate Committee on Education: This memo provided an overview of what information and data should be reviewed and discussed in order to improve UPK.
January 9, 2024: An overview of BBF’s role to monitor Act 76 to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare
January 9, 2024: An overview of BBF’s role to monitor Act 76 to the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development
February 27, 2024: Testimony on H.702 and Government Accountability to the House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs
January 3, 2024: An overview of BBF’s role to monitor Act 76 to the House Committee on Human Services
March 15, 2023: Testimony to Senate Committee on Education on considerations for S.56’s Universal Prekindergarten study
March 1, 2023:
- Memo submitted to the Senate Committee on Education
- Potential UPK Study Questions for Consideration
- Select UPK Data, Publications, Reports, and Resources
- Stakeholder comments on S.56 collected by Building Bright Futures as of Feb. 14, 2023 (Previously submitted to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare)
March 16, 2023: Testimony to Senate Committee on Health and Welfare on BBF’s role within S.56 testimony
February 24, 2023: Follow-up to S.56 testimony to Senate Committee on Health and Welfare
February 17, 2023: Follow-up to S.56 testimony to Senate Committee on Health and Welfare
February 15, 2023: Testimony to Senate Committee on Health and Welfare on legislation related to child care and early childhood education (S.56)
January 19, 2023: An overview of BBF’s role to House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development
April 11, 2023: Testimony to House Committee on Education on legislation related to child care and early childhood education (H. 208) related to the Universal Prekindergarten program
February 1, 2023: Testimony to House Committee on General and Housing on housing’s impact on early childhood and family well-being
April 17, 2023: Written testimony to House Committee on Human Services on accountability within H.208/S.56 – An act relating to child care and early childhood education
April 6, 2023: Testimony to House Committee on Human Services on legislation related to child care and early childhood education (H. 208)
March 21, 2023: Overview of Vermont’s Preschool Development Grant’s goals and projects to House Committee on Human Services
April 14, 2023: Testimony to House Committee on Ways and Means on legislation related to child care and early childhood education (H.208)
H.217: Alignment with vision for Vermont’s early childhood system outlined in the Vermont Early Childhood Action Plan & recommendations endorsed by the Early Childhood State Advisory Council
- Memo: Early Childhood Components of the Build Back Better Act – 11/3/21
- Memo: American Families Plan Overview of Child Care Vision – 10/4/21
- Memo: Vermont Considerations for UPK Policy Under the American Families Plan – 10/4/21
- Memo: American Families Plan Overview of Universal Prekindergarten Education (UPK) – 9/20/21
Feb. 18, 2022: Testimony to Senate Committee on Education on S.283: An act relating to miscellaneous changes to education laws (specific to suspension and expulsion in Universal Prekindergarten, UPK)
April 13, 2022: Testimony to Senate Committee on Health and Welfare on Vermont Child Care and Early Childhood Education Systems Analysis: Governance Approach Options. Joint hearing with House Committee on Human Services
Feb. 23, 2022: Testimony to House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on H.703 – An act related to promoting workforce development
April 6, 2022: Testimony to House Committee on Education on Exclusionary Discipline in Early Childhood Settings – S.283
Oct. 27, 2021: Update on Universal Prekindergarten and Child Care – Potential Impacts from Congressional Bills
- Read testimony document: Overview of Child Care within the American Families Plan
- Read testimony document: Overview of Universal Prekindergarten within the American Families Plan
- Read testimony document: Vermont Considerations for Universal Prekindergarten
- Watch the video testimony on YouTube
April 13, 2022: Testimony to House Committee on Human Services on Vermont Child Care and Early Childhood Education Systems Analysis: Governance Approach Options. Joint hearing with Senate Committee on Health and Welfare
March 16, 2022: STARS Program
Aug. 12, 2021: Testimony to Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report
