Early childhood education programs are essential for the millions of children and families they serve and play an important role during emergency public health and economic emergencies. As schools close, families need back-up child care. As communities work to ensure no child goes hungry and essential personnel are able to handle emergencies, child care providers need resources and guidance to help assist families. And, as attendance fluctuates, child care business owners need reassurance that they will be able to pay their bills.  

Policymakers can act using these recommendations from Child Care Aware^® of America to ensure that child care programs can weather this growing public health and economic crisis, and to ensure families continue to have access to the care they need.

This time of year, illness seems to be everywhere. For those of us who work with children every day, the sounds of coughing, sneezing and nose-blowing are an unpleasant soundtrack playing on repeat from November to May. And this year, Coronavirus, concerning new respiratory illness from China is getting a lot of attention and has many people worried about what will happen as it spreads in the United States.

(Editor's Note: This blog post was originally published January 30, but was recently updated on March 14 to reflect the most up-t0-date information around the spread and status of the illness.)

Long-term Head Start Impact on developmental outcomes for children in foster care  

Lee, K.  Child Abuse Neglect (March 2020).  

Background: In 2016, about 437,000 children were in the foster system in the United States. Children in the foster care system are at higher risk for experiencing poverty, abuse, chronic diseases and developmental impairments. Children in foster care are also at greater risk for struggling academically due to instability in their living situations and inconsistent school attendance. These risk factors affect not only health outcomes but social-emotional and cognitive outcomes as well. Children in foster care are eligible to participate in the Head Start program, which pairs high-quality early care and education with family supports and access to specialized services. This study looks at whether participating in Head Start improves developmental outcomes for children involved with the foster care system.

On Tuesday, March 17, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, Child Care Aware^® of America (CCAoA) is hosting a free webinar for child care providers and Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies to share the latest coronavirus and emergency preparedness resources from CCAoA, along with updates and advice from our staff. In addition, the moderators will facilitate a discussion of what’s being done around the country at child care agencies and what people are doing to prepare and work with families. Register for webinar.

CCAoA has also created a new page with the latest coronavirus news and resources for CCR&Rs, parents and policymakers.  
 

It’s official: beginning March 12, households nationwide will begin receiving invitations to participate in the 2020 Decennial Census. With the count now underway in all 50 states, find out what you can do to help ensure children age 4 and under are properly counted in this month’s edition of our Census Series:  

The Problem

Providers are sometimes required to give medication to young children. If medication is not safely administered, there can be health consequences for the child and liability risk for those who own, manage or are employed at a program.