February 24, 2012 was the day my life changed. I became a father to a precious baby girl. As a newly minted parent, I wanted to provide the best possible life for her. My wife was fortunate to have banked enough vacation and sick time to stay home for the first 12 weeks after birth, and I was able to modify my schedule to maximize my time with our daughter during those early formative months. Like many Americans with infants, maternity leave ended, and my wife went back to work earlier than both of us would have liked.

States face unique challenges in exploring child care supply and demand and directing precious resources to ensure accessibility to quality child care. With the passage of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, it is critical for states and communities to understand how to study child care supply and demand, analyze their findings, identify areas of child care deserts, and implement policy solutions that ensure parents have access to quality child care. At the local and state levels, child care leaders (especially CCR&Rs) have traditionally examined child care access, conducted needs assessments, and mapped supply and demand for target populations.

Family dynamics are unique to say the least.

We know that families are made up of many different components and that the traditional family dynamic is becoming more blurred. Because of the uniqueness of our families, we have sought out partners that meet the needs of a variety of families.

Along with the month of May comes a multitude of work around our upcoming public policy research projects, several of which are on track for release this summer. Activities and excitement around our 30^th anniversary continue, planning for our 2018 Symposium have begun, and we are pleased to share details around several new initiatives, including our Family Voices blog/vlog series!

It’s the time of the year where we must be ready for hurricanes. Preparing in advance has numerous advantages, not the least of which is preventing the last-minute scramble when a hurricane is bearing down and shelves and supplies are depleted.

Pacific hurricane season starts May 15, and Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1 and runs through November 30.

Everyone agrees toddlers are cute—and they are! But if you are a childcare worker, a nursery volunteer, or have a toddler in child care, you need to know about cytomegalovirus (CMV).

What is CMV?

The month of June is National Cytomegalovirus Awareness Month. CMV, or cytomegalovirus (sī-to-MEG-a-lo-vī-rus), is a common virus, according to CongenitalCMV.org. Between 50-80% of adults in the U.S. are infected with CMV by age 40. CMV is also the leading birth defects virus passed from mother to unborn baby. Congenital (meaning present at birth) CMV can cause disabilities in unborn babies such as hearing loss, mental impairment, and cerebral palsy.