Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend Governor Tim Walz’s relaunching of the Minnesota Children’s Cabinet, an inter-agency partnership tasked with helping make Minnesota the best place for everyone to raise a family.

We know that not all Minnesota children have access to the early childhood care and education that puts them on a path for lifelong health. We also know that these disparities are most prevalent for children of color, indigenous children and children in greater Minnesota.

The connection between education and health is well established. Positive early childhood experiences result in better physical health from childhood to the adult years— particularly in lower body mass index and prevalence of obesity.

At the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, we are proud to support and collaborate with our Healthy Start grantee partners who are dedicated to improving access to quality early childhood education. Two of these partners— Bharti Wahi, executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund and Tony Sertich, president of the Northland Foundation— were featured at this recent event where they offered their perspective and expertise on the importance of early childhood education.

Supporting children and families while changing systems

Bharti Wahi from the Children’s Defense Fund asserted her organization’s belief that children don't come in parts, but rather need to be holistically cared for. She emphasized that every child deserves a home to sleep in at night, food on the table, health care, quality education and childcare— and that they deserve support and a collective commitment from all of us throughout their life.

These beliefs are the foundation of the Children’s Defense Fund, and they are behind their efforts to improve existing systems and design new ones to ensure that race, place and income do not define a child's path in life.

Unique challenges in greater Minnesota

Tony Sertich from the Northland Foundation shared that in northeastern Minnesota, 4,000 children lack access to quality childcare that is affordable for their families, which impacts the opportunity for these children to have the healthiest lives possible. It also hinders thousands of families from furthering their careers and earning better wages— and means that greater Minnesota businesses are missing out on employees that they are seeking.

From Tony’s perspective, access to childcare is the biggest barrier to children's success, families’ success and business success. He and the Northland Foundation work to address this barrier by partnering with mayors, city council members and economic developers— all of whom share this perspective on the importance of addressing this issue.

Learn more

Ensuring that all children have access to high quality early childhood care and education is critical for the future of our state. The Blue Cross MN Foundation is proud to support these and other organizations working to address this need in Minnesota.

For more information about the Foundation’s efforts in quality early education and the grantee partners it supports, visit www.bluecrossmnfoundation.org.