Dear colleagues and partners,
This month, Building Bright Futures released the 2025 Act 76 Monitoring Report, and I want to start by naming something important: Vermont has made real, measurable progress.
For the first time, Act 76 is no longer just being implemented. It is being delivered at scale.
In 2025, Vermont’s Child Care Financial Assistance Program served about 50% more families than it did before Act 76. Families across the state consistently describe lower copays as a “game changer.” Programs report more predictable revenue, wage increases, benefit improvements, and new investments in quality. The Child Care Financial Assistance Program is now operating at a scale that reflects a major expansion in public access and use.
At the same time, Vermont distributed $2.7 million in Quality and Capacity Incentive Payments to more than 800 programs, continued to build workforce and data infrastructure, and operated a significantly larger system with overall fiscal stability. In short: the core structures of Act 76 are functioning as intended.
That is not something many states can say right now.
We are also living in a sobering national moment. Many of our partners across the country are preparing for or responding to federal audits, funding uncertainty, and growing fear and stress among families and providers, including very real concerns about safety, stability, and access to basic supports. While Vermont is not immune to these pressures, we are, for now, in a more stable position because of sustained state investment and the system that has been built here.
Holding both of these truths at once matters.
We can recognize progress and be clear-eyed about the strain that remains. Workforce shortages, administrative complexity, uneven supply, and rising mental health and behavioral needs continue to put real pressure on programs and families. The Act 76 story right now is not “finished.” It is a system that is standing, delivering, and still under stress.
That is exactly why monitoring matters.
Building Bright Futures’ role is not to advocate for or against specific policies, but to describe how the system is functioning, using data and lived experience, and to help policymakers and partners see where refinement, coordination, and sustained attention are needed. This year’s monitoring report reflects a system that is operating at scale, learning from implementation, and continuing to adjust in real time.
This bulletin is part of that same commitment: to share timely, grounded, accessible information about what we are learning together.
With gratitude,
Anna Brouillette, Policy and Program Director, Building Bright Futures
What is The Vermont Early Ed Bulletin?
Welcome to The Vermont Early Ed Bulletin, your source for current data and resources related to Act 76 and early childhood education policy.
Building Bright Futures (BBF) is responsible for monitoring Act 76, Vermont’s landmark child care law passed in 2023. BBF tracks the effects of the law’s changes to and investments in Vermont’s early childhood education system and submits a report to the Legislature each January.
As part of this work, BBF regularly shares this bulletin to deliver accessible updates about Act 76 implementation and the broader early childhood policy landscape.
If you have questions, ideas, or resources you’d like us to include in future editions, please contact Anna Brouillette, BBF’s Policy and Program Director.
Data Direct: Current data direct to your inbox
The State of Vermont’s Children: 2025 Year in Review
Last week, Building Bright Futures and Vermont’s Early Childhood Data & Policy Center released The State of Vermont’s Children: 2025 Year in Review. The 2025 Year in Review introduces a streamlined format focused on statewide regional profiles, while expanding access to up-to-date data through Vermont’s Early Childhood Data Portal. Together, the report and the portal allow policymakers and communities to track trends in cost of living, poverty, housing instability, health, and early learning outcomes throughout the year.
New: 2026 Vermont Supply & Demand Gap Analysis (First Children’s Finance)
This analysis provides a fresh look at the gap between child care supply and family demand across Vermont, with county-level insights to help inform planning, investment, and ongoing system-building efforts. Read the brief
Policy Pulse: Recent policy summarized at your fingertips
Great news: Vermont awarded $12.7M PDG B-5 grant
Vermont has been awarded a 2026 Preschool Development Grant Birth–5 (PDG B-5) totaling $12.7 million to support continued coordination, system-building, and improvement across child care, pre-K, and early childhood systems. The grant will help the state keep pace with rapid changes and continue strengthening alignment, data, and infrastructure. Read more from VTDigger
“Changes in education policy complicate spending analysis” (Public Assets Institute)
Read Public Assets Institute’s recent publication related to recent changes to Vermont’s education funding system.
Policy Recommendations
Building Bright Futures finalized the Policy Recommendations of Vermont’s Early Childhood Advisory Council Network for 2026. These recommendations represent the most pressing and actionable priorities for early childhood stakeholders throughout the Building Bright Futures network.
Open Opportunities: Connect to current and upcoming early childhood system happenings
Mental Health Advocacy Day on January 29: The 11th annual mental health advocacy day is Thursday, January 29. The in-person event will be held at the statehouse and Vermont Supreme Courthouse Auditorium. Register at namivt.org
Registration is now open for Early Childhood Day at the Legislature (ECDL). On March 11, 2026 early childhood professionals, providers, parents, employers, and business owners will gather at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Vermont statehouse. Learn more at vecaa.org
Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council is the state’s Governor-appointed, primary advisory body on the well-being of children prenatal through age 8 and their families. Building Bright Futures serves as Vermont’s State Advisory Council (SAC) to inform the Governor, Administration, and Legislature on policy and systems improvements for children and their families. State Advisory Council meetings are open to the public, and you are welcome to attend. Register for the Jan. 26 SAC meeting
