FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alexandria, VA — Hopkins House, a long-standing nonprofit serving children, youth, and families in Alexandria, formally called on the Alexandria City Council to restore and strengthen childcare and childcare workforce priorities in the City’s 2026 Legislative Package submitted to the Virginia General Assembly.
In a letter sent to City Council members, Hopkins House emphasized that while Alexandria faces unprecedented challenges related to federal workforce reductions and broader economic uncertainty, removing childcare priorities from the City’s 2026 General Assembly Legislative Package undermines the very economic resilience the package seeks to protect.
“Childcare is not a peripheral issue — it is essential economic infrastructure,” said J. Glenn Hopkins, President & CEO of Hopkins House. “Working parents cannot remain in or reenter the workforce without access to safe, affordable, high-quality childcare. At a time when families are navigating job losses, reduced benefits, and instability, childcare support becomes more critical, not less.”
The letter underscores that Alexandria’s childcare workforce crisis persists, with early childhood educators among the lowest-paid workers in the Commonwealth, despite the city’s high cost of living. Hopkins House noted that multiple childcare providers in Alexandria have closed in the past year due to financial instability, further constraining access to care for working families and threatening workforce participation citywide.
Hopkins House urged City Council to advocate for General Assembly legislative priorities that include:
- Increased state investment to support competitive compensation, healthcare, and mental health benefits for the childcare workforce
- Expanded funding and flexibility for affordable, high-quality early childhood education programs
- Emergency stabilization funding for childcare providers impacted by federal workforce disruptions
- Workforce development pathways that transition displaced federal workers into early childhood education careers
- Family-friendly workplace policies, including paid family leave
“Alexandria’s economic vitality depends on supporting the families and educators who make this city work,” said Julie N. Jakopic, Chair of the Hopkins House Public Policy & Advocacy Committee. “Restoring childcare priorities to the City’s legislative agenda is an investment in workforce stability, child development, and the long-term strength of our community.”
