Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Hispanic Heritage Month

By Lynette Fraga, Ph.D. on October 15, 2015

This week marks the 25th anniversary of Hispanic Heritage Month, and kicks off the Latinos Achieve White House Initiative.

Outgoing Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, describes the importance of the Latinos Achieve initiative to our children and our nation:

“Today, nearly one in four students in our nation’s public schools is a Hispanic youth. Making sure they have the opportunity to achieve their dreams isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s also a matter of our shared success as a country. In just the next few decades, Hispanics will represent nearly one in three American workers. It’s clear; the future of our nation is closely connected to the future of our Hispanic communities. When we lift up the Hispanic community, we strengthen our nation. When we create more ladders of opportunity, we provide the chance for all Americans to reach their greatest potential.”

There are currently 230 programs, models, and organizations that are part of the “Bright Spots in Hispanic Education ” – ongoing efforts across the country at all levels, meant to support Latino educational attainment and excellence. These programs are helping to close the achievement gap. If you’d like to nominate a “Bright Spot” you still can! Get more information on the program and nominating process at ed.gov/hispanic-initiative.

Follow the call of Senior White House Advisor, Jaqueline Cortez Wang to take part in the Latinos Achieve Day of Action! Use the #LatinosAchieve hashtag on October 15 to highlight Latino achievement and inspire a positive narrative on Latino contributions across all social media platforms. Share what Latinos Achieve means to you, and why it’s important. Tell us what you’ll do to ensure that Latinos Achieve.

Submit your blog post idea!

Topics: Family & Community Engagement, News

Continue Reading

Show You Care: Send Child Care Advocates to Capitol Hill

By Chrisi West on October 14, 2015

Families and advocates will meet with policymakers on Capitol Hill to share their stories and advocate for improved child care options for families during Child Care Aware® of America’s Symposium 2016 – and your donations can help send them there.

This Giving Tuesday, join in the effort to change the face of child care and early childhood education by helping Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) send 20 family members to Washington, D.C. to share their personal stories with legislators.

Every donation brings CCAoA closer to our $20,000 goal, which is enough to cover transportation, food and lodging for twenty family advocates from across the country for a once a year event that helps the organization advocate for improved, affordable child care options for all families.

The next CCAoA Symposium will take place on April 4-6, 2016 and will include family members from at least twenty states – but we need your help to get them there.

Save the date for this year’s Giving Tuesday – December 1, 2015, and add Child Care Aware® of America to your charity list for a special gift this year.

$1,000 will cover the cost for one family advocate to go CCAoA’s Symposium 2016, and then spend a day on Capitol Hill talking to their home state legislators about child care issues.

Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., Executive Director of Child Care Aware® of America said that “by attending the symposium and sharing their personal experiences, family members are educating their elected officials, who have the ability to strengthen the quality of child care. Every family advocate we can get to Washington, D.C. could be the difference in upcoming legislation affecting affordability and access.”

Family members interested in applying to be an advocate should check back in the fall when applications should be live.

Call us to see how we can help you  become a part of the solution.

Topics: Policy & Advocacy, Family Stories

Continue Reading

Announcing the Partnership with Bezos Family Foundation Focused on Family Engagement

By Chrisi West on October 12, 2015

Washington, D.C. – Child Care Aware® of America is pleased to announce an exciting partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation focused on encouraging family engagement through Vroom, a national initiative that empowers parents to turn everyday activities into brain building moments for their children.

Vroom provides interactive tools and resources that highlight the science behind early brain development, showing parents how they can build their children’s brains in everyday moments like bath time and meal time. The tools are free of cost, simple enough to fit into parents’ daily routines, and right at their fingertips.

This partnership will help fuel Vroom’s goal of catalyzing a culture shift – one that begins with parents and extends to families, providers, companies, and communities working together to support brain development during the first five years of life. Child Care Aware® of America will activate it’s nationwide Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) network in the use of Vroom messages and tools. An initial ten sites will also be identified to create a blueprint for using Vroom in the childcare context through deeper programmatic integration. The CCR&R network will greatly expand Vroom’s reach to families through childcare providers across the country.

“Our partnership with The Bezos Family Foundation will engage and encourage providers and parents to take advantage of the seemingly ordinary moments to create extraordinary learning opportunities with each interaction,” said Lynette Fraga, Ph.D., Executive Director of Child Care Aware® of America. “This partnership is a great fit that provides mutual benefit with immeasurable rewards.”

Child Care Aware® of America, the nation’s leading voice for child care, leads the mission of more than 400 Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies across the country in working to ensure that all families in 99 percent of populated zip codes in the U.S. have access to safe, quality and affordable child care. With the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) at the end of 2014, it is clear that child care is a critical priority for American families.

For more information on the Vroom initiative, visit www.joinvroom.org/parents.

About Child Care Aware of America
Child Care Aware of America is our nation’s leading voice for child care. We work with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) and other community partners to ensure that all families have access to quality, affordable child care. To achieve our mission, we lead projects that increase the quality and availability of child care, offer comprehensive training to child care professionals, undertake research, and advocate for child care policies that improve the lives of children and families. To learn more, visit usa.childcareaware.org. Follow us on Twitter @USAChildcare and on Facebook at facebook.com/usachildcare.

About Bezos Family Foundation
The Bezos Family Foundation is a private, independent foundation established by Jackie and Mike Bezos, who along with their children and spouses, serve as directors. Their vision is that all young people are prepared to achieve their full potential and make a meaningful contribution to society. The Bezos Family Foundation supports rigorous, inspired learning environments for young people, from birth through high school, to put their education into action. Through investments in research, public awareness, and programs, the foundation works to elevate the field of education and improve life outcomes for all children.

 

What is Vroom Week? Learn more!

Topics: Family & Community Engagement, Parenting, News

Continue Reading

September 2015 Footnotes

By Lynette Fraga, Ph.D. on October 07, 2015

As we settle into our fall schedules and wait for the changing of the leaves here in Northern Virginia, I always feel a little nostalgic for the warm months of summer.

Looking back on the month of September, we were quite busy wrapping up our summer work and welcoming back Congress. Take a quick peek at some of what you may have missed here at Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) headquarters…

Topics: Business Operations for CCR&Rs, News

Continue Reading

CCA to Participate in Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance System

By Chrisi West on October 07, 2015

Washington, D.C. - The Administration for Children and Families has announced the creation of six new national training and technical assistance centers. These centers, will be part of a new cross-sector Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance system, bringing together funding, knowledge, and skills from the Office of Child Care, Office of Head Start, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Topics: Systems Building, Policy & Advocacy, News

Continue Reading

Advancing Early Childhood Education as a Professional Field of Practice

By Guest Blogger on October 05, 2015

Early childhood education (ECE) is in the spotlight as never before. Being in the limelight, however, has highlighted the field’s fragmentation and the variability in the quality of children’s formal early learning experiences. This reality is unlikely to change, though, unless the ECE field comes to terms with its lack of organization as a unified field of practice with defined accountabilities for a competent and responsible workforce.

Topics: Business Operations for CCR&Rs, Systems Building, Workforce, Professional Development

Continue Reading