Building a Better Childcare System in L.A.

Families across L.A. are struggling with the rising cost of childcare and how to access support programs. Meanwhile, childcare providers are grappling with their own challenges, including low wages and staff shortages. In this bonus episode, host Gloria Riviera talks about how leaders in L.A. can i…

Putting Early Childhood Educators First

A couple years ago, early education and childcare expert Rhian Allvin made a drastic change. After decades working in policy and advocacy, Rhian decided to start Brynmor Early Education and Preschool, which now has sites in Virginia and Washington, D.C. In this bonus episode, host Gloria Riviera ta…

Why Universal Pre-K Can’t Solve Everything

Does universal Pre-K guarantee school readiness? To answer that question the podcast is headed to Wisconsin! Land of freezing winters, dairy cows, and universal Pre-K. Back in the 1980s, Wisconsin made publicly funded preschool almost ubiquitous throughout the state. But they’re still suffering fro…

Climate Change Is A Childcare Issue

Climate change is not just an issue for our children’s children. We are already feeling its effects today. Gloria talks to two experts who lived through historic California wildfires and droughts in recent years. Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and clinical associate professor at Stanford Medicine, …

Fighting Family Homelessness

Did you know that families with young children are one of the most likely groups to experience homelessness? Being a new parent is hard enough – it’s nearly impossible when you don’t have stable housing. This week Gloria’s talking to Kate Barrand, who runs Horizons for Homeless Children, an organiz…

Mental Health, From Day 1

There’s a mental health crisis in America. If we want to turn that around, we need to start from the very beginning of a person’s life. Gloria speaks to Terri Chebot, an infant mental health consultant, about the huge role that childcare providers play in children’s emotional and social growth. Wit…

How Childcare Can Fight Poverty

On the first episode of Season 4, Gloria’s taking a look at how quality childcare and early education can help families break out of poverty, and what that means for our country’s future. First, Gloria hears from Professor Jorge Luís Garcia, an economist at Texas A&M University whose research shows…

We’re Back! No One Is Coming To Save Us Season 4

What happens in the first six years of a child’s life can shape their entire future. This season, we’re back to uncover the links between childcare and some of the most pressing issues of our time, like intergenerational poverty, homelessness, and climate change. With powerful expert insights and c…

Fostering a Better Future (with Sandra Gasca and Lisa Guillette)

When young adults leave the foster care system they’re left trying to find housing or employment on their own. Oftentimes, the thing they yearn for the most is family. In this special episode, Gloria chats with the Vice President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Center for Systems Innovation, San…

How Care Can Bring Our Country Together (Live from CareFest LA)

Gloria is live at CareFest in Los Angeles, presented by Caring Across Generations, to bring you a conversation among leading care advocates about the potential of the care agenda to unite a divided nation. She is joined by Lisa Hamilton Daly, the Executive Vice President of Programming for Hallmark…