The temperature is rising, and spring is in the air! As we edge slowly out of winter and increasingly spend more time outside our homes, we cannot dismiss the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to hang on. We are more than a year into this pandemic, and our second Spring Break season since the pandemic started is upon us. In 2021, Spring Break feels different than in 2020, when COVID-19 community restrictions first started and fear began to rise. Now, COVID-19 infection rates are going down in many communities and vaccines are becoming available and being distributed, which gives us hope. We seem to be turning the pandemic corner and starting to win the battle against COVID-19. However, we still need to do our best to reduce the risk of increasing the spread.

What is CACFP? 

Ensuring children’s health and safety in child care is the top concern for any child care program, and child care emergency preparedness is vital to meeting this need. One way providers can strengthen safety practices in a child care program is to have a written emergency plan. 

Child care providers run an evacuation drill with infants in 2019.

Get ready to read! March is National Reading Month, and children across America will kick off the month-long celebration starting Tuesday, March 2 - National Read Across America Day. Whether you’re planning one big Read Across America Day celebration or activities throughout the month of March, the celebration is designed to encourage families and children to spend more time reading and make reading a part of everyday moments with children all year long.

Child Care Aware^® of America (CCAoA) recently joined over 300 local, state and national organizations in support of the Raise the Wage Act of 2021.

The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would:

• Incrementally raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 and
• After 2025, adjust the minimum wage each year to keep with growth in the median wage.

In December 2020, Congress funded a new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new PPP is more flexible than the original and allows prior PPP loan recipients to apply for a second loan under certain conditions. The PPP is now open for applications.