Minnesota continues to invest in early childhood education and care programs, including making significant changes in the 2023 legislative session. Come learn about these changes and funding options. Children experiencing challenging situations that may impact their development and well-being (including those involved in child protective services) receive priority status.

Jessica Brogger, MSW, MPA is a Child Placement Policy Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Her work focuses on relative search, placement decisions, recruitment and retention of foster homes, case planning, and permanency planning.

Jamie Brother is the Outreach & Access Specialist for Early Learning Scholarships at the Minnesota Department of Education. Her work supports the Area Administrators, Tribal Administrators, and the Pathway II Child Care Administrator. She coordinates with community and public partners to increase access to high quality early childhood programs and serves families facing adversity – especially families in the existing and new priority scholarship populations. Existing populations consist of teen parents, children in need of child protection services, and children in foster care and children who have experienced homelessness. New populations consist of children with incarcerated parents, parents in a substance use treatment programs, parents in mental health treatment programs, and children who have experienced domestic violence.

Elizabeth Dagle, MPAE is a Policy Analyst with the Child Care Assistance Program at the Minnesota Department of Human Services. She is the unit Legislative Lead and focuses on legislative proposal development, coordinating communications about current legislative proposals, and exploring possible legislative ideas.

Jeanne Dickhausen is the Head Start Collaboration Director at the Minnesota Department of Education.