As a registered nurse, I found myself primarily working with children who have special needs. One day my 14-month-old daughter had an asthma attack while in child care. The staff never called to tell me at work because they didn’t recognize the symptoms. I arrived that evening to find my daughter having retractions between her ribs. I immediately rushed her to the emergency room where they diagnosed her with atelectasis (a complete or partial collapse of the lung). She was hospitalized for a week.

Finding Help, Finding Hope. That’s the theme of this year’s National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day. Awareness Day was created to help focus the nation’s attention on the importance of children’s positive mental health and the essential role it plays in overall healthy development.

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies—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.

Spring is officially here! The trees are blooming, the days are getting longer, and the weather is beckoning for people to spend all their time outdoors. We were excited to see many of you who visited Washington, D.C. earlier this month for our biennial 2016 Symposium. For those who missed the event, video recordings and presentation materials will be available soon.