The 32^nd annual National Child Nutrition Conference is scheduled for April 19-21, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. Hosted by the National CACFP Sponsors Association, this conference brings together professionals in the child nutrition community for three days of learning and networking. Over 1,000 participants from nutrition, nonprofit, education, and child care organizations in all 50 states are expected to attend this year. In addition to expert panels and networking sessions, attendees can choose from more than 100 workshops to learn practical skills, discover new resources, and explore their interests. To help ensure that everyone who is interested and invested can attend, the National Child Nutrition Foundation has over $20,000 in scholarships available.

That’s the bottom line from CCAoA’s just-published report on Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2017. Our signature annual report is now in its eleventh year and this year, as in previous years, child care represents one of the most significant expenses in parents’ budgets. In all regions of the country, families average child care fees for an infant in a child care center are more than the average amount that families spend on food and transportation combined. And the average annual cost for an infant in center-based care was higher than a year’s tuition and fees at a four-year public college in 28 states and the District of Columbia!

WASHINGTON, DC — Child Care Aware® of America today released its annual Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2017 report, which found that child care is unaffordable in all 50 states.

Child Care Aware® of America, the nation’s leading advocate for quality, affordable child care, found that child care fees for two children in 2016 exceeded mortgage payments in 35 states and the District of Columbia; while average annual cost for an infant in center-based care was higher than a year at a four-year public college in 28 states and the District of Columbia.  

Children and their families are the heart of early care and education. We know that when child care providers and early educators work in close concert with families.

• Young children gain a stronger foundation for learning and development,
• Overall family well-being is enhanced, and
• The early care workforce experiences greater job satisfaction, and frequent turnover is less likely.

Amy Ornelas, a child care provider and grandparent and one of our Vroom Week winners, was thrilled to celebrate with us. She has been an avid user of the Vroom App, and wanted to share her experience for parents, grandparents and providers and how it has helped her.

Vroom Week, which was held October 16-20, celebrated the partnership between Child Care Aware® of America and Vroom by sharing interesting resources and tips, encouraging families and child care providers to participate by sharing their own tips on how to engage with children ages 0-5.

On November 15, employees from Child Care Aware® of America, Good360, and Charles River Associates worked together to assemble disaster relief kits for Niño’s de Nueva Esperanza child care center in Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico. Volunteers assembled 150 kits that will be sent alongside thousands of other donations garnered by Good360 to families struggling to recover after Hurricane Maria. These kits included goods such as bug spray, coloring books, markers, crayons, socks, and facial wipes that were donated from Nike, Mattel, CVS Pharmacy and others. In addition to assembling kits, volunteers wrote letters to families receiving these kits wishing them a happy holiday season, and reminding them that we are thinking of them during their recovery efforts.