Amid a changing climate and federal rollbacks to disaster relief and preparedness, early educators face an increasingly untenable child care landscape that will require state and local action. Young children and the people who care for them face particular challenges due to the historically underfunded early education system,5 affecting child health and safety as well as community recovery.

Tune in as we speak with Dr. Hailey Gibbs with the Center for American Progress about how policymakers at all levels of government, child and public health advocates, and other community members must act to ensure that children are protected, to strengthen the early learning workforce, and to rally public support for the early childhood system as critical infrastructure that can help protect children against the effects of climate change and aid broader community recovery from natural disasters.