May was a busy month for Child Care Aware® of America. We celebrated both mothers and child care providers across the nation as part of Mother’s Day and Provider Appreciation Day. Both serve an important role in not only nurturing but also educating children during crucial developmental stages in their lives.
Below are some additional highlights from May.
Member Connections
The Parent and Provider Services Team continues to manage the Army Fee Assistance Program transition from the General Services Administration to CCAoA. The program officially launched with CCAoA on February 22, and we are currently accepting applications from Army families and providers. Phase two of the Army Fee Assistance Program transition will conclude this week, and phase three has already begun. For the most up to date information on the transition, and to interact with other Army families, “like” the Army Fee Assistance at CCAoA Facebook page and follow them on Twitter. The Army Fee Assistance website will also continue to provide updates throughout the transition.
Online and On-Air
Dr. Lynette Fraga recently joined WJBC-AM radio personality Patti Penn out of Bloomington, IL for a radio interview. The discussion covered child care in relation to the workforce; the critical relationship between child care providers, families, and their community; the importance of early education and the role child care providers play; and the cost and accessibility of high-quality child care.
The Research Team has been busy finalizing and analyzing data for the Child Care in America: 2016 State Fact Sheets. The 2016 edition has lots of exciting new information to be released this summer.
The Emergency Preparedness Team continues to raise awareness about important topics impacting the health and safety of children. They recently launched a series of blog posts highlighting various topics. In addition, CCAoA continues to post the latest information on the emerging Zika virus threat.
- Healthy and Safe Swimming Week 2016
- Hurricane Preparedness Week
- Asthma Awareness Month
- Laundry Pods Pose Ingestion Risk to Children
ICYMI: May in the News
High-quality, affordable child care continues to be an important issue for presidential candidates, including Secretary Clinton who visited a Virginia child care center earlier this month to speak with working families about the challenges they face. CCAoA also reached out to the other presidential campaigns to engage in this dialogue and keep quality, affordable child care at the top of our next president’s agenda.
On May 2, CCAoA announced a new funding opportunity for child care resource and referral agencies (CCR&R)—CCR&Rs as Community Resilience Hubs. This initiative, administered through CCAoA’s emergency preparedness team, aims to increase the capabilities of communities working with child care centers and family child care providers in preparing, responding, and recovering from natural disasters and emergencies. Learn more!
On May 6 we celebrated Provider Appreciation Day and honored child care providers across the nation for the extraordinary work they do. We are proud to partner with the National Association of Family Child Care, National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Head Start Association, and the National Indian Child Care Association to recognize outstanding child care providers on a monthly basis who exemplify extraordinary qualities and characteristics. Visit www.providerappreciationday.org to learn more about those who have been selected as Provider of the Month and for details on how to nominate a provider for this award!
We also launched Faces of Child Care, an eight-week series of stories from individuals of various walks of life who are affected by child care. Every week through June 29, you will have the opportunity to meet an incredible person who is transforming the child care system in inspiring ways. Visit www.usa.childcareaware.org/give to learn more.
