As older kids go back to school and as younger children switch child care, August is National Immunization Awareness month. This is a great time for CCR&Rs to get ready to answer questions parents might have about why immunizations are important and inform them of their state or local immunization requirements. There has been a lot of news lately about the measles outbreak, and this has led to a wider conversation about vaccine requirements at child care centers and homes.

Collaborating with Vroom has been exciting and informative here at the Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We are the child care resource and referral agency serving the nine counties of Alleghany, Ashe, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin.

Over the past several months, as a Vroom Ambassador, CCRC had the opportunity to show parents, teachers and caregivers how easy it is to help children learn using everyday activities they are already doing. CCRC has used many opportunities to share Vroom with families, teachers and caregivers including:

• Community outreach events  
• Professional development classes 
• Referral packets                                                  
• Toolkits for providers
• Birthing centers

As the last full month of summer, August is usually filled with vacations and back-to-school planning. This August, however, will also be 2019’s most crucial month for child care advocacy. Here’s why:  

Last month, immediately before their August recess, Congress finally approved a deal to raise the spending caps through FY2021. Under this deal, non-defense discretionary funding—the budget category that funds a wide array of programs—will receive an increase of $56.2 billion over two years from FY2019 levels.  This was an important first step for securing increased federal investments in child care and early learning programs such as CCDBG and Head Start. 

All parents want their children to be able to read, write and speak well, but it won't happen overnight. Literacy starts at birth and grows over many years.

Todo padre quiere que sus hijos sepan leer, escribir y hablar bien. Pero esto no sucederá de la noche a la mañana. El alfabetismo comienza con el nacimiento de su hijo y va creciendo.

Harper was a typical toddler full of love, laughs and life, when a tragic event happened outside the home of her family child care provider in the summer of 2016. In the video below, Harper’s mother, Whitney, shares her story and what she hopes parents and providers will do to keep children safe.