Episcopal Relief & Development’s Post

In partnership with local #faith institutions—like #churches—and #communityleaders, Episcopal Relief & Development’s #EarlyChildhoodDevelopment (ECD) programming focuses on five key areas that serve as building blocks for a child’s full and healthy #development: 👪 Equipping and supporting #parents and primary #caregivers to deliver the highest quality care, ensuring their #children are reaching important #physical, #mental and #emotional #milestones. 🦠 Preventing #disease and protecting the #health of children by training community #volunteers to support caregivers, conduct #homehealth visits and connect caregivers to local health services when needed. 📈 Creating opportunities for families to increase their income through community-led savings and loan groups and other #financial support so caregivers can better provide for themselves and their children. 🍎 Improving #foodsecurity and #nutrition for children and #families by educating caregivers about good #nutrition—including the startup of kitchen #gardens, healthy #cooking #classes and information about age-appropriate diets. 💙 Protecting children and families by equipping community leaders, including faith #leaders, to support families and caregivers while using their status in the community to reduce #unhealthy factors like neglect and exposure to violence, and promoting positive behaviors. https://lnkd.in/edSS9WCZ

Supporting parents is essential to giving children the best start in life. To help parents around the world have access to support through early childhood development and nurturing care programs, Stellenbosch University and PRB developed guides for implementing effective parenting programs in different contexts and systems. These resources provide researchers, program leaders, policymakers and donors with the key elements of a successful parenting program. #DayofParents https://lnkd.in/gr5i_Vr3

Ever notice how public funding for child care is only available during extreme circumstances and for certain families? It’s time to change that mindset. Our latest blog dives into that issue, highlighting the need for public funding for child care that supports all families, not just a select few. We need to let go of outdated mindsets that put conditions on who should be able to access what type of child care and under what circumstances. Instead we need to shift towards viewing child care as not just a reactive intervention, but a proactive investment in each child and community. Check out our blog to learn four ways to shift our advocacy messages to get closer to what families want in a reimagined child care system. https://lnkd.in/evgipnrQ

Get involved: building the case for greater use of Family Group Conferences The Kinship Strategy offers a boost for family group conferences at pre-proceedings stage. As part of this work Foundations is consulting senior children’s services leaders and elected members on what might make a compelling case for further development of FGC in local areas. Local authorities are expected in existing statutory guidance to offer opportunities for family group decision-making and the Kinship Strategy reinforces this. Foundations’ randomised controlled trial into family group conferences at pre-proceedings found significant positive impacts. The government are now committed to exploring using legislation to mandate the use of family group conferences at pre-proceedings in the future, alongside encouraging their use earlier in the system. In the meantime local authorities are continuing to deliver family group conferences and we are keen to learn more about what influences Lead Members for children’s services and Children’s Services Senior Management Teams when it comes to sustaining or increasing investment in FGC. We have previously spoken to local authority FGC co-ordinators, but now want to get a perspective from DCSs or ADs. Would you be willing to participate? We will use what we learn to produce a guide for senior leaders on supporting greater access to FGCs as a way of keeping children out of care and with their families.

Raise Up Oregon: A Statewide Early Childhood System Plan 2024-2028 is grounded in equity, the science of child development, and a firm understanding that it takes leaders from early care and education, health, higher education and workforce development, housing, human services, and public education—along with families, communities, and the public and private sectors—to work together during this critical period of children’s lives. This plan outlines meaningful actions to better serve the 43,000 children born each year in Oregon and their families. Read the report: https://ow.ly/Tsyo50QHf5s #TeamworkTuesday

Why we love early childhood education properties: projected sector growth and federal backing. 🌟 The global Early Childhood Education Market was estimated at USD 245 Billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 480 Billion by 2026. 🌟 The American Families Plan will make transformational investments from early childhood to post-secondary education so that all children and young people are able to grow, learn, and gain the skills they need to succeed. It will provide universal, high-quality preschool to all three- and four-year-olds. Regarding our Children of America property in Lakewood, Illinois specifically, it is a strong real estate investment due to the state of Illinois' assistance in childcare costs. This means COA is about as secure as government subsidized housing due to full facilities and on-time payments. View the listing here: https://lnkd.in/gdBFrS_P

Research by William Lopez, Karen A. Kling & Amanda Nothaft at Poverty Solutions found about 10% of Michigan children aged 0 to 11 years in households with incomes below the new eligibility threshold receive child care subsidies. Learn more about how this research is informing the Early Education Community of Practice, a collaboration of early education leaders that brings together leaders in the field with state partners to align around policy priorities and advocacy opportunities: https://myumi.ch/3Q9W3 W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Policy Equity Group, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services

New Mexico made child care free for most children in this 2022 amendment expanding the eligibility requirements for free child care. Now families earning up to 400% of federal poverty level – $111,000 for a family of four – are eligible. The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department estimates that over 30,000 families will now qualify for free child care, increasing equity for early childhood education for all. The bill also dedicated $10 million toward grants designed to expand child care in communities where it is needed most. Finally, the state will pay up to $2,000 per semester for early childhood professionals enrolled in degree programs.

In order to increase access to high-quality care for families receiving a child care subsidy, Maryland implemented changes to its Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) policies. A new Child Trends factsheet explores if and how families receiving child care subsidies accessed higher quality care following these changes as well as changes to providers’ quality ratings.

As a parent and a grandparent, I know directly how much childcare is critically important. More than half of families in this country live in childcare deserts. Furthermore, roughly 3.2 million children will likely lose childcare spots resulting from the end of pandemic relief federal funds for childcare, which expired September 30, 2023. Families can navigate a district with elementary, middle, and high schools. But early childcare education doesn’t have the same infrastructure. We have been overlooking a national program for childcare that could solve this issue — the childcare system for military families. This model could serve as a valuable blueprint for establishing a more comprehensive and accessible childcare infrastructure for all American families. Fixing Child Care: What We Can Learn From the Military – The 74 (the74million.org)