Afton Partners

For decades, early care and education (ECE) has existed on a fractured approach to funding and governance, which has led to a fractured system of inequitable access, inconsistent services, and inadequate resourcing. ECE services subsist on a complex maze of funding streams from a multitude of public and private sources, yet the totality of resources is woefully inadequate. Even if ECE were better funded, most states are not prepared to equitably allocate or use that funding effectively. Afton brings its expertise in ECE funding, governance, and strategic systems planning to support state and local agencies looking to make lasting investments in young children and families, especially those most historically disenfranchised. We seek to design equitable and sustainable ECE systems. We provide advisory group facilitation for major policy and systems change initiatives, cost modeling to understand the true cost of quality services for children and families, data analytics to ensure a solid foundation for decision-making, and funding policy support with a focus on equity.