This year we celebrate Provider Appreciation Day on May 6 to honor child care providers across the nation for the extraordinary work they do. This special day is intended to recognize all those who nurture, teach, and care for children in multiple settings across the country.

On Friday, April 22, 2016, the USDA announced that it has finalized meal pattern revisions to the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). This rule updates the meal pattern requirements to better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which was required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

National Infant Immunization Week (April 16-23) is an annual observance to highlight the importance of protecting infants from serious vaccine-preventable disease like whooping cough, measles, and influenza.

Families face many challenges when seeking child care—is it affordable and accessible, does it meet the child’s needs, and does the child care provider or center meet certain standards and requirements? Now let’s think about the military family, who faces additional obstacles. According to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), active-duty military personnel move an average of once every two to three years. And these moves are not trivial, often long distance or to foreign countries. This results in children changing schools and child care providers frequently. In addition, the DoD reports that roughly 70% of military families do not live on base, making access to military-funded child care even more limited.