Earlier today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the “Child Care for Working Families Act of 2019” on Capitol Hill.  At the press conference, Senator Murray was joined by Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Bob Casey (D-PA), as well as several parent advocates. The legislation is nearly identical to the 2017 version.

In January, we released a new report, “It’s About Time: Parents Who Work Nonstandard Hours Face Child Care Challenges,” where we highlighted the need for and the obstacles in accommodating nonstandard hours child care. We also highlighted groups who are doing it right! Here is one child care provider’s journey to provide nonstandard hours care in her community.

In February 2017, the Early Learning Coalition of Duval (ELCD) County, Florida joined forces with Jacksonville Journey, a comprehensive community-wide crime prevention initiative. For a decade, Jacksonville Journey has focused on positive youth development, neighborhood safety, truancy, and dropout prevention and intervention. Leaders at ELCD also saw a need within the initiative for early intervention and parent education services, and launched the Family Engagement and Early Literacy Support Program. It strives to help families by fostering strong parent-child relationships and encourage early learning activities in the home.

Hoy día, es posible observar muchas diferentes clases de familias. Si bien muchos niños viven en familias con sus dos padres, las familias 'mixtas' se han vuelto mucho más comunes. Los niños pueden tener relaciones familiares con hermanastros, padres adoptivos, hermanos adoptivos, dos mamás, medio hermanos, abuelos que hacen las veces de padres, y otros.

Nowadays, it's possible to observe many different types of families. While many children live with two parents, other family types have become much more common. Children can have family relationships with step-siblings, adoptive parents, adoptive siblings, two moms or two dads, a single parent, half-siblings, grandparents raising grandchildren, and others.

El uso de medicamentos para tratar a los niños pequeños va en aumento. Este aumento puede atribuirse a diversas causas: el aumento en los tratamientos para el asma, una mayor dependencia de los médicos para controlar el comportamiento, y el aumento en la incidencia de ciertas enfermedades. Aunque la mayoría de los medicamentos que se administran a los niños son para resfriados, infecciones, y dolor o fiebre, a muchos niños se les ha diagnosticado condiciones crónicas, tales como el Síndrome de Deficiencia de Atención/Hiperactividad (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, o ADHD), diabetes, depresión o asma, donde los medicamentos terapéuticos se han constituido en una rutina diaria.