“Our goal was to bear witness to what households with young children were experiencing during a time when nobody knew what to expect,” says RAPID founder Philip Fisher, faculty director of the Stanford Center on Early Education. “We developed a plan that allowed us to get data on a very frequent basis from a large number of families around the country, which we felt was necessary to document things that were so volatile at the time.” 

Now celebrating its fifth anniversary, RAPID is still chronicling the well-being and needs of families and child care providers throughout the country with surveys that ask parents and providers about their economic resources, stress levels, ability to use healthcare and child care, plus questions on specific areas of interest such as screen time or the effects of extreme weather. 

So far, RAPID has sent out 169 family surveys, gathering data from 60,000 parents of young children, and 122 workforce surveys that have been completed by more than 13,000 providers. Originally sent weekly, the surveys now go out monthly to participants who respond via smartphone, tablet or computer. In the state of California alone, the survey is available in eight languages. Respondents receive at least $5 for their participation. 

A parallel national survey that goes to the early care and education workforce has been running for four years, asking additional questions about workplace conditions, workforce compensation and other issues relevant to the early care workforce. In addition to the national surveys, RAPID sends state-based and local surveys called Community Voices. More than 60,000 parents and 15,000 providers have responded to these surveys.

The result is one-of-a-kind research that is vetted for accuracy by a research advisory group, then shared in a monthly fact sheet that’s available to policymakers, researchers, members of the press and the survey participants themselves. The surveys are posted on RAPID’s , newsletter and social media channels.  

Academia historically has relied on scientific journals to disseminate information, relying on peer reviews and rounds of editing that can take years. What makes the RAPID surveys unique is the priority of disseminating results quickly in a format that is accessible and usable, so stakeholders have a real-time view of critical issues.  

Though the pandemic has abated, Fisher says RAPID will continue to monitor the significant issues that affect young children and those who care about them. With many federal early childhood programs threatened with funding cuts, timely, actionable information is more crucial than ever.

“You can expect us to be around for at least a few more years,” Fisher says. “And unless things turn around soon, the need for what we’re doing is just going to increase.”

The work began as a series of listening sessions that generated the ideas and perspectives in the Action Plan. “As heartbreaking as those stories were, it’s also inspiring to hear the creative solutions and practical ideas that emerged,” said Elizabeth Bechard, senior policy analyst at , during a hosted by Capita’s Ankita Chachra.

Are you searching for inspiration? Here are seven encouraging highlights from the Action Plan:

1. The pandemic showed us how resourceful we can be. On the November 7 Hunt Institute webinar marking the Action Plan’s release, Diana Rauner, president of and co-chair of the Early Years Climate Action Task Force, admitted that the planet is stressed and the solutions are underfunded but reminded participants that throughout history, partnerships arise during crises.

For example, the Action Plan describes how, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana-based nonprofit launched the Rebuild Child Care Collaborative, which pooled private funding for child care centers. In 2021, after Hurricane Ida, the Agenda and the jointly distributed over $720,000 to 382 child care centers and family child care providers.

The global Covid pandemic offered plentiful examples of communities banding together; in Louisiana, Agenda for Children facilitated case management and legal advice to help child care centers secure Paycheck Protection Program loans.

2. The child care workforce is finding its voice. , just over 1 million people work in child care in America (far more, if you count all the unpaid labor), and this workforce is dedicated to protecting our nation’s children. At a luncheon discussion exploring the Action Plan held by Capita and the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., Melissa Rooker of the described child care workers as first responders, and the Action Plan spotlights , a California child care network with 13 locations that tracked the movements of children and families in the aftermath of the 2017 wildfires, linking them to emergency food and other resources.

“During the climate-related disasters that we’ve experienced over the past several years,” North Bay’s Susan Gilmore said. “The child care industry needs to be seen as essential, and like school districts, child care representatives should be included in the organizational structure of each county’s emergency operations center.”

During the Hunt Institute webinar, Erica Phillips, executive director of the , said, “While our sector is incredibly diverse, we are here to be allies in the climate planning work.”

3. The business community is engaged. The climate crisis that the experts have long predicted? It’s here. During the virtual launch, Angie Garling of the recalled a 106° F day in California’s Coachella Valley when the children were kept inside for their own safety.

As Antwanye Ford, president & CEO at Enlightened, Inc., and co-chair of the Early Years Climate Action Task Force, quipped at the Capita-Aspen luncheon, “Long-term becomes now really fast.”

The Action Plan singles out the Greater Seattle Child Care Business Coalition for recognizing the urgency; it supports child care providers by creating opportunities for them to learn about topics like employment law grants management. The coalition seeks greater investments from government and business and has amplified warnings about the impact of extreme heat.

Across the nation, the is incentivizing green energy solutions, and predict the private sector will undertake even more substantial climate investments of its own accord.

The Action Plan recommends the creation of climate-aware policies and programs for employees with young children, fostering partnerships between businesses and early years facilities to fund essential upgrades, as well as partnering with local communities to build climate-resilient green space and community infrastructure.

4. Government is taking action. While the climate dimensions of the Inflation Reduction Act have received more attention, it is far from the only effort worth noting. In a conversation with Capita’s Joe Waters, Rep. Jennifer McClellan of Virginia, outlined the benefits of the bipartisan , which would increase short-term child care access during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. (Climate change adversely impacts pregnancy health directly and indirectly.)

Politics also follows public opinion, and sentiment toward climate action is increasing: feel they have a “moral obligation” to make the world a better place by addressing climate change not only for their own children and grandchildren but for all children to come. Many state and local governments are recognizing that steps to protect the youngest residents from climate catastrophe are necessary and possible.

At the state level, Action Plan recommendations include the creation of climate leadership roles and breaking down silos through collaborative structures. For example, California’s prioritizes the installation of energy-efficient electric appliances and retrofitting for disaster mitigation. At the local level, the Action Plan cites the work of and recommends “integrating the perspectives of young children, their families and those who support them.”

During the Hunt Institute webinar, Dr. Rauner demonstrated a line of questioning for conversations with local officials: “What if we looked at our development from the perspective of a smaller person?”

5. Philanthropy is having an impact. U.S. foundations grant annually, and a of 188 foundation executives found that more than 60% are funding efforts to address climate change. (Still others are focused on equity, and during the Hunt Institute webinar, Elliot Haspel, senior fellow at Capita — and Early Learning Nation columnist — memorably referred to climate change as an inequity multiplier.)

As impressive as these figures are, there is clearly room to expand these investments and to target them toward efforts that benefit young children and families. The Action Plan’s recommendations for the philanthropic sector include funding work that connects early years and climate change; developing a regular national scorecard on the state of young children and climate change; and supporting communities in efforts that promote healthy development for young children in a changing climate.

6. Children are vulnerable, but they’re also resilient. The word “resilience” can be a double-edged sword, both complementing people from disinvested communities for their innate strengths and expecting them to bounce back from every hardship and disaster. The Action Plan uses the word 88 times over its 99 pages, referring to climate resilience as well as the children whose future depends on it.

At the Capita-Aspen luncheon, Robert Mayer, KABOOM’s associate director for Public Policy and Advocacy, made the comment that the most subsequent speakers quoted: “Children will be as adaptive as society allows them to be.”

7. The Action Plan is just the start. As Capita and its partner organizations communicate the Plan’s findings and recommendations, the hope is that the dialogue will proliferate wherever decision makers, advocates and activists gather to envision the future — taking inspiration from those with lived experience. “People from disadvantaged communities are already showing the way,” Haspel said at the Capita-Aspen luncheon.

There’s also a lot to learn about adaptation from indigenous communities. During the virtual launch, Alicia Mousseau, vice president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, noted, “Tribal communities have always adapted to things that we’ve never experienced before in our history.”