It’s no coincidence that we’re headed into hurricane season just as Emergency Preparedness Month is beginning. Hurricane Katrina, now ten years ago, has shown us where we’re lacking in disaster and emergency preparedness as a country, and where we need to step up as organizations and individuals.

Washington, D.C. – August 28, 2015 – Thanks to a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is pleased to announce that we are expanding our Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) technical assistance activities in targeted states to emphasize health, nutrition, and obesity prevention with the Health Child Care, Healthy Communities project.

We’ve seen recent numbers showing that rates of obesity are continuing to increase among some low-income children ages 2-5 – but there is hope on the horizon.

New results from the first of its kind study show that obesity measures significantly improved among children ages 2-5 who participate in Head Start Center-based nutrition and healthy living programming, such as Thriving Communities, Thriving Children (TC2), when compared to children not in the program.

The reauthorization of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) has a congressional Fall deadline. The CACFP is a federal program serving more than 3 million children in child care, Head Start, and after school programs across the country. With more science and academic reports explaining the benefits of healthy diets for kids, Congress will need to appropriately fund the program in order to ensure access to quality and nutritious foods for all children.

It’s that time of year again – when temperatures start to rise all over the country and life altering accidents have the potential to occur when we’re least expecting it.

Heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths of children now according to SafeKids.org. On average, one child dies every 8 days from heatstroke in a vehicle – and it’s an event that can happen to any family at any time. Responsible parents can have a bad morning or a change in routine that allows them to forget their child in the backseat of their car for hours, or even an entire day.

The nationwide Day of Summer Learning is Friday, June 19, 2015! This is a national advocacy day led by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) and meant to show the importance of continuing learning, safety and wellness for children during the summer months.