Blog - Child Care Aware of America

Arlington, VA – Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is pleased to announce the states and organizations selected to participate in the Healthy Child Care, Healthy Communities project – an initiative supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Participants include:

Alabama: Alabama Partnership for Children
Colorado: Qualistar Colorado’s Healthy Child Care Colorado Program
Indiana: Indiana Association for Child Care Resource and Referral
Missouri: Child Care Aware of Missouri
New York: NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council
North Carolina: North Carolina CCR&R Council

The Healthy Child Care, Healthy Communities project aims to help states identify ways to implement systems level changes that have a positive impact on child health.

Led by Krista Scott, Senior Director Child Care Health Policy, CCAoA, participants will develop a state profile that provides data on rates of child care access and rates of obesity. The profile will also provide information on the states existing regulations and initiatives that impact child health, nutrition and obesity prevention work. Child Care Aware® of America will support States as they work plan on healthy practices in child care. After the work plan identifies the shared initiatives, the team will implement strategies to promote health, nutrition, and obesity prevention activities in the child care setting, based on their state’s specific needs.

In the first year of the two year project, participants will develop strategies to advocate for health, obesity, and nutrition issues in child care settings, and state-specific tools and materials promoting child health, nutrition and obesity prevention.

Child Care Aware® of America looks forward to partnering with the selected organizations in this engaging and critical work within the child care community.

About Child Care Aware ® of America
Child Care Aware of America is our nation’s leading voice for child care. CCAoA works with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) and other community partners to ensure that all families have access to quality, affordable child care. CCAoA leads projects that increase the quality and availability of child care, offer comprehensive training to child care professionals, undertake research, and advocate for child care policies that improve the lives of children and families. To learn more, visit usa.childcareaware.org. Follow them on Twitter @USAChildCare and on Facebook at facebook.com/usachildcare.

This week marks the 25^th anniversary of Hispanic Heritage Month, and kicks off the Latinos Achieve White House Initiative.

Outgoing Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, describes the importance of the Latinos Achieve initiative to our children and our nation:

“Today, nearly one in four students in our nation’s public schools is a Hispanic youth. Making sure they have the opportunity to achieve their dreams isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s also a matter of our shared success as a country. In just the next few decades, Hispanics will represent nearly one in three American workers. It’s clear; the future of our nation is closely connected to the future of our Hispanic communities. When we lift up the Hispanic community, we strengthen our nation. When we create more ladders of opportunity, we provide the chance for all Americans to reach their greatest potential.”

There are currently 230 programs, models, and organizations that are part of the “Bright Spots in Hispanic Education ” – ongoing efforts across the country at all levels, meant to support Latino educational attainment and excellence. These programs are helping to close the achievement gap. If you’d like to nominate a “Bright Spot” you still can! Get more information on the program and nominating process at ed.gov/hispanic-initiative.

Follow the call of Senior White House Advisor, Jaqueline Cortez Wang to take part in the Latinos Achieve Day of Action! Use the #LatinosAchieve hashtag on October 15 to highlight Latino achievement and inspire a positive narrative on Latino contributions across all social media platforms. Share what Latinos Achieve means to you, and why it’s important. Tell us what you’ll do to ensure that Latinos Achieve.

Washington, D.C. – Child Care Aware® of America is pleased to announce an exciting partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation focused on encouraging family engagement through Vroom, a national initiative that empowers parents to turn everyday activities into brain building moments for their children.

Vroom provides interactive tools and resources that highlight the science behind early brain development, showing parents how they can build their children’s brains in everyday moments like bath time and meal time. The tools are free of cost, simple enough to fit into parents’ daily routines, and right at their fingertips.

This partnership will help fuel Vroom’s goal of catalyzing a culture shift – one that begins with parents and extends to families, providers, companies, and communities working together to support brain development during the first five years of life. Child Care Aware® of America will activate it’s nationwide Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) network in the use of Vroom messages and tools. An initial ten sites will also be identified to create a blueprint for using Vroom in the childcare context through deeper programmatic integration. The CCR&R network will greatly expand Vroom’s reach to families through childcare providers across the country.

“Our partnership with The Bezos Family Foundation will engage and encourage providers and parents to take advantage of the seemingly ordinary moments to create extraordinary learning opportunities with each interaction,” said Lynette Fraga, Ph.D., Executive Director of Child Care Aware® of America. “This partnership is a great fit that provides mutual benefit with immeasurable rewards.”

Child Care Aware® of America, the nation’s leading voice for child care, leads the mission of more than 400 Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies across the country in working to ensure that all families in 99 percent of populated zip codes in the U.S. have access to safe, quality and affordable child care. With the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) at the end of 2014, it is clear that child care is a critical priority for American families.

For more information on the Vroom initiative, visit www.joinvroom.org/parents.

About Child Care Aware of America
Child Care Aware of America is our nation’s leading voice for child care. We work with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) and other community partners to ensure that all families have access to quality, affordable child care. To achieve our mission, we lead projects that increase the quality and availability of child care, offer comprehensive training to child care professionals, undertake research, and advocate for child care policies that improve the lives of children and families. To learn more, visit usa.childcareaware.org. Follow us on Twitter @USAChildcare and on Facebook at facebook.com/usachildcare.

About Bezos Family Foundation
The Bezos Family Foundation is a private, independent foundation established by Jackie and Mike Bezos, who along with their children and spouses, serve as directors. Their vision is that all young people are prepared to achieve their full potential and make a meaningful contribution to society. The Bezos Family Foundation supports rigorous, inspired learning environments for young people, from birth through high school, to put their education into action. Through investments in research, public awareness, and programs, the foundation works to elevate the field of education and improve life outcomes for all children.

As we settle into our fall schedules and wait for the changing of the leaves here in Northern Virginia, I always feel a little nostalgic for the warm months of summer.

Looking back on the month of September, we were quite busy wrapping up our summer work and welcoming back Congress. Take a quick peek at some of what you may have missed here at Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) headquarters…

Washington, D.C. - The Administration for Children and Families has announced the creation of six new national training and technical assistance centers. These centers, will be part of a new cross-sector Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance system, bringing together funding, knowledge, and skills from the Office of Child Care, Office of Head Start, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Earlier today, Congress approved a short-term continuing resolution (CR) keeping the Federal government funded through December 11. The CR includes no spending cuts to any domestic programs and, instead, funds all programs at FY 2015 levels as leaders negotiate a final deal.

While the CR easily passed both chambers of Congress, it will be extremely difficult to pass a year-long bill before the end of the year. The most notable reason is the departure of House Speaker, John Boehner (R-OH), who announced his resignation late last week. Speaker Boehner’s last day in Congress is October 30.

Blog & News

For media requests, please call 703-341-4161 or email news@usa.childcareaware.org.

Announcing States Selected for Healthy Child Care, Healthy Communities Project

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Hispanic Heritage Month

Announcing the Partnership with Bezos Family Foundation Focused on Family Engagement

September 2015 Footnotes

CCA to Participate in Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance System

Congress Approves Temporary Funding Measure

Subscribe to Get Weekly Blog Updates

Topics

Connect

Support

Military Families