We’re finally feeling winter’s chill here in Arlington, Virginia, so it’s as good a time as any to sit down and recap everything we were able to accomplish in December!

Photo courtesy of Deborah VanderGaast, Tipton Adaptive Daycare

Arlington, VA – Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA), National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), National Head Start Association (NHSA), and National Indian Child Care Association (NICCA) would like to congratulate Deborah VanderGaast and the staff at Tipton Adaptive Daycare in Tipton, Iowa. They have been named Provider of the Month for November 2015.

Last week, the Department of Labor announced a new $25 million grant program to support job training and access to quality child care.

ARLINGTON, VA - Child Care Aware ® of America, the nation’s leading voice for child care will host its largest gathering of child care experts, including leaders from Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies, early educators, child care providers, parents, researchers, funders and partners at Symposium 2016, taking place April 4 - 6, 2016 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. This three-day event will focus on the latest child care and early education policies, as well as research, practice and innovative approaches for child care that are shaping how families access quality child care.

Today, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published the much anticipated proposed rule-making on the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).

This proposed rule will make changes to CCDF in order to comply with the 2014 CCDBG law. ACF is seeking comments from the public through February 24.

This morning, President Obama signed S. 1177 (Conference Report H 114-354), the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” into law at a bi-partisan ceremony at the White House. The President was joined by Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, along with Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), the senior leaders on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, as well as Congressmen John Kline (R-MN) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) from the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and other key congressional members and advocates.