Report Highlights Owensboro’s Nationally Relevant Model for Early Care and Education

Feb. 4, 2026
Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee
(cell) 859-475-7202
lisa@prichardcommittee.org

$6.6 Million in New Federal Funding Underscores the Impact of Owensboro’s Early Childhood Strategy

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence today announced the release of a new report, The Greater Owensboro Partnership for Early Development (GOPED): Strengthening the Early Care & Education Ecosystem in Greater Owensboro, documenting how local leadership and cross-sector collaboration transformed early childhood education from a fragmented challenge into a coordinated, community-wide system.

The report details the work of the Greater Owensboro Partnership for Early Development (GOPED), launched in 2021 through a catalytic, multi-year $500,000 investment from the Public Life Foundation of Owensboro (PLFO) in partnership with the Prichard Committee. GOPED united families, educators, employers, health partners, civic institutions and philanthropies around a shared strategy centered on Advocacy, Access and Quality with the goal of ensuring every child enters school ready to succeed and every family has real opportunity.

“The Owensboro story shows what is possible when communities lead with trust, relationships and shared purpose,” said Brigitte Blom, president and CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. “This work reflects Kentucky’s best tradition of citizen-led progress. GOPED demonstrates that when families, educators, businesses and community leaders align around a common vision, they can build systems that strengthen not only children and families, but the workforce and the future of the Commonwealth.”

The report outlines how GOPED responded to urgent local challenges: nearly half of Owensboro children entering kindergarten unprepared and only one in five children under five having access to early learning. Through coordinated advocacy campaigns, expanded access to affordable child care and investments in workforce quality, the community achieved measurable progress in just five years.

“What’s most powerful about GOPED is the method,” said Rina Gratz, director of early childhood and primary education policy and practice at the Prichard Committee. “Solutions were designed by, with, and for the people they serve. Families shaped messaging, educators co-created training pathways and employers came to see child care as essential infrastructure. That’s how a durable early childhood system takes hold, rooted in shared ownership.”

Among the report’s highlights:

• More than 30 cross-sector partnerships created across education, health, business and community organizations
• 1,130 families enrolled in ParentPowered/Ready4K, receiving more than 120,000 early learning messages in four languages
• 62 new infant, toddler and preschool child care seats added through the Owensboro Family YMCA
• Launch of early childhood workforce pathways, including youth apprenticeships in partnership with Owensboro High School
• Development of a community data dashboard to guide continuous improvement and accountability

This coordinated approach is already yielding major results. Most recently, the Owensboro Family YMCA secured $6.6 million in federal funding to construct a new YMCA-operated child care facility that will add capacity for approximately 150 children—a critical expansion in a community where access to affordable, high-quality early learning has long constrained families and employers alike.

“The new YMCA child care facility is a powerful example of what happens when a community speaks with one voice,” said Joe Berry, executive director of Public Life Foundation of Owensboro. “Through GOPED, Owensboro brought families, educators, employers, philanthropy and policymakers to the same table and kept them there. That alignment turned research and conversation into action, and ultimately into a major federal investment that will strengthen families, the workforce and the region’s future.”

The funding, announced by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, is included in the Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill, which passed the U.S. Senate and is awaiting final approval from the president. The Owensboro project is part of more than $50 million in economic development funding secured statewide, with the local allocation designated specifically for child care infrastructure.

“This moment didn’t happen overnight,” said Clay Ford, partner at EM Ford in Owensboro. “For the past five years, Owensboro has done the hard work—studying our early childhood landscape, building shared understanding about why high-quality early learning matters, and aligning partners around a clear action plan. The leadership of the Public Life Foundation and the Hager family helped create the conditions for trust and collaboration, and that groundwork is exactly what made it possible for city, state and national leaders to rally behind a solution of this scale.”

As GOPED transitions into its next phase, the report notes that Owensboro is poised to evolve into a formal early childhood coalition—ensuring the work endures beyond any single project or grant and providing a replicable model for communities across Kentucky.

“Kentucky’s future depends on strong communities,” Blom added. “Owensboro is lighting the path forward, showing how local innovation and collaboration can build systems that last for generations.”

The full GOPED report is available on the Prichard Committee’s website.

The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.