Author Archives: Jillian Gilchrest

About Jillian Gilchrest

Jillian joined CAHS in 2011 as the new Early Care & Education Policy Analyst. Prior to CAHS, Jillian worked as a Child Advocate at a Sexual Assault Crisis Center and as the Committee Clerk to the State’s Appropriations Committee and Legislative Aide for then-Committee co-chair, Denise Merrill. Jillian received a Masters degree in Social Work with a focus in Policy Practice from the University of Connecticut in 2008 and most recently worked as the Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut. She is active in a number of organizations, including the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women’s Young Women’s Leadership Program, the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Park Street Playhouse in West Hartford. Jillian is excited to be a part of the CAHS team and to be working on ECE issues in the state of Connecticut.

Every Child Reading by Third Grade Policy Forum

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Jillian Gilchrest

The Black and Puerto Rican Caucus of the General Assembly, the Connecticut Commission on Children, Literacy How, Haskins Laboratories, and the Connecticut Association for Human Services are co-sponsoring a policy forum next Thursday, April 5th at the State Capitol from … Continue reading →

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An Act Concerning Care4Kids Gets a Public Hearing

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Jillian Gilchrest

Care4Kids is the state’s childcare subsidy program, allowing low-income families the opportunity to work.  An Act Concerning the Care4Kids Program does four very important things: Makes all minor parents eligible to receive care4kids, regardless of their parents income; Allows a recipient … Continue reading →

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Public Hearings on Malloy’s Education Package

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Jillian Gilchrest

The State’s Education Committee will hold two days of Public Hearings on Governor Malloy’s proposed Education reforms next Tuesday, February 21 and Wednesday, February 22. Governor Malloy has declared this the session of education and his reform efforts certainly reflect … Continue reading →

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Governor Malloy Proposes $12 Million Investment in Early Care and Education

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Jillian Gilchrest

This afternoon, Governor Malloy announced his plans to invest $12 million to improve the quality of and expand access to early childhood education and care across the state.  The new initiative will increase slots, improve teacher training and create a … Continue reading →

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The Achievement Gap & Education Reform are being called the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Jillian Gilchrest

This week, the state’s Achievement Gap Task Force heard from many advocacy and education organizations on high impact strategies to address CT’s achievement gap.  Senator Toni Harp, who co-chairs the Task Force, called the achievement gap between low-income predominantly minority … Continue reading →

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Family Childcare Providers and SEIU…what’s going on?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Jillian Gilchrest

There has been a lot of confusion surrounding Family Childcare providers and the Executive Order that Governor Malloy filed on September 21, 2011.  This confusion has recently been confounded by news that Family Childcare Providers voted 1603-88 to join the … Continue reading →

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A lot Going On with Early Care and Education in Connecticut…

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Jillian Gilchrest

There has been a lot of media attention on early care and education in Connecticut over the last week or so.  First, Connecticut officials received the bad news that our state’s  application for Race to the Top funding was denied.  The … Continue reading →

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Childcare Done Right Allows Parents to Work and Children to Thrive

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Jillian Gilchrest

Yesterday, a story ran in the NY Times entitled, “Aid for Child Care Drops When It Is Needed Most.  This article told the story of stuggling families forced to make an extremely difficult decision between their need to work and … Continue reading →

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Ensuring that Education Funding Includes Early Education

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Jillian Gilchrest

Yesterday, the CT Early Childhood Alliance hosted a Press Conference at the Legislative Office Building opposing a motion filed by the Attorney General’s office to remove pre-school from the 2005 Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding lawsuit.  Connecticut has … Continue reading →

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