Arlington, VA – Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is pleased to announce the states and organizations selected to participate in the Healthy Child Care, Healthy Communities project – an initiative supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Participants include:

• Alabama: Alabama Partnership for Children
• Colorado: Qualistar Colorado’s Healthy Child Care Colorado Program
• Indiana: Indiana Association for Child Care Resource and Referral
• Missouri: Child Care Aware of Missouri
• New York: NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council
• North Carolina: North Carolina CCR&R Council

The Healthy Child Care, Healthy Communities project aims to help states identify ways to implement systems level changes that have a positive impact on child health.

Led by Krista Scott, Senior Director Child Care Health Policy, CCAoA, participants will develop a state profile that provides data on rates of child care access and rates of obesity. The profile will also provide information on the states existing regulations and initiatives that impact child health, nutrition and obesity prevention work. Child Care Aware® of America will support States as they work plan on healthy practices in child care. After the work plan identifies the shared initiatives, the team will implement strategies to promote health, nutrition, and obesity prevention activities in the child care setting, based on their state’s specific needs.

In the first year of the two year project, participants will develop strategies to advocate for health, obesity, and nutrition issues in child care settings, and state-specific tools and materials promoting child health, nutrition and obesity prevention.

Child Care Aware® of America looks forward to partnering with the selected organizations in this engaging and critical work within the child care community.

About Child Care Aware ® of America
Child Care Aware of America is our nation’s leading voice for child care. CCAoA works with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) and other community partners to ensure that all families have access to quality, affordable child care. CCAoA leads projects that increase the quality and availability of child care, offer comprehensive training to child care professionals, undertake research, and advocate for child care policies that improve the lives of children and families. To learn more, visit usa.childcareaware.org. Follow them on Twitter @USAChildCare and on Facebook at facebook.com/usachildcare.

Families and advocates will meet with policymakers on Capitol Hill to share their stories and advocate for improved child care options for families during Child Care Aware® of America’s Symposium 2016 – and your donations can help send them there.

This Giving Tuesday, join in the effort to change the face of child care and early childhood education by helping Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) send 20 family members to Washington, D.C. to share their personal stories with legislators.

Every donation brings CCAoA closer to our $20,000 goal, which is enough to cover transportation, food and lodging for twenty family advocates from across the country for a once a year event that helps the organization advocate for improved, affordable child care options for all families.

The next CCAoA Symposium will take place on April 4-6, 2016 and will include family members from at least twenty states – but we need your help to get them there.

Save the date for this year’s Giving Tuesday – December 1, 2015, and add Child Care Aware® of America to your charity list for a special gift this year.

$1,000 will cover the cost for one family advocate to go CCAoA’s Symposium 2016, and then spend a day on Capitol Hill talking to their home state legislators about child care issues.

Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., Executive Director of Child Care Aware® of America said that “by attending the symposium and sharing their personal experiences, family members are educating their elected officials, who have the ability to strengthen the quality of child care. Every family advocate we can get to Washington, D.C. could be the difference in upcoming legislation affecting affordability and access.”

Family members interested in applying to be an advocate should check back in the fall when applications should be live.