Every week in the United States, nearly 11 million children younger than age five are in some type of child care arrangement, many of whom spend 30 hours or more per week in out of home care.  Over 100,000 of Kansas children are served through Kansas early care programs. Early care and education settings are a critical extension of the family home with continuity between the two being of prime importance.

In September we celebrated National Preparedness Month, and with it the beginning of hurricane season. Our emergency preparedness team has been hard at work, connecting with parents and child care providers and proving support, tools, and resources to those impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Child Care Aware® of America is also finalizing plans around our thought-leadership event of the year, 2017 Leadership Institute. We look forward to seeing you October 11-13 in Kansas City, Missouri! We are also pleased to announce that registration in now open for 2018 Symposium, our flagship event that addresses the hottest topics in research, policy, and practice in the early child care and education community. Join us for this and our exciting 30^th anniversary gala!

With the authorization of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) initiative expiring tomorrow, September 30, Congress will miss the deadline for extending these critical programs. Unfortunately, this lapse in funding could put many programs at-risk of closing and deny children access to health insurance.

We got hit by a tornado on a Sunday afternoon in late May. It was a holiday weekend, so most of our neighbors were out of town. I was out shopping in Forest Lake with my 4 year old, and my husband was at home.  We were experiencing a terrible storm in Forest Lake—it was green outside and hailed for a very long time, longer than I'd ever seen before. I called my husband to ask about the weather, and he said it was not even raining in Hugo, but looking north toward Forest Lake he saw what looked like a bad storm. Nobody could leave the store, Menards, because the wind and hail were so strong. I decided to take my son and climb under some shelving. It was that bad.

Minutes later my husband called to tell me that the house had just been hit by a tornado and that he was going to look for survivors.

Where are child care programs located? How many children attend child care programs? Where can I find child care after 8 p.m.?

Answering these questions is important as parents attempt to navigate the when, where, how and who of securing quality, affordable child care. Additionally, these questions become important after a disaster, particularly as communities attempt to pick up the pieces and rebuild.

Spotlight:

Margo Sipes, Executive Director, Downtown Baltimore Child Care, Inc.