Child Advocacy Roundtable

On February 15th, BCDI-Atlanta President Dr. Bisa Batten Lewis accepted an invitation from the Office of U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff for a Roundtable discussion with fellow child advocacy leaders at his Atlanta office.

Senator Ossoff offered each of the Atlanta child advocacy organization leaders an opportunity to share with him concerns and needs to bolster child care efforts in Georgia.

Dr. Bisa was able to share real-life examples of how policies and lack of funding are affecting the early education workforce, high school Career and Technical Education (CTE/CTAE), teacher preparation programs, talent management, infant/child mental health, classroom behavior, and preschool suspensions and expulsions.

New connections were made with organizations such as SafePath Children's Advocacy Center, Inc. , Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Current collaborations were strengthened with organizations such as Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, Georgia Child Care Association, Quality Care for Children and YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta.

Dr.  Bisa reflects, "It's a pleasure to see local community leaders come together with our legislative leadership for a collaborative conversation on the needs of Georgia's essential workers in early education and its youngest citizens - our children."