Spotlight

Kira Boothe, Vista Colina Emergency Family Shelter & Child Development Program, Phoenix, Arizona

In 2014, with the reauthorization of the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), all states were required to have stronger licensing standards. States were then searching for tools to both document their current licensing regulations and develop benchmarks toward meeting best practices for health and safety. To meet that need, we developed CCAoA’s Child Care Licensing Database.

States face unique challenges in exploring child care supply and demand and directing precious resources to ensure accessibility to quality child care. With the passage of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, it is critical for states and communities to understand how to study child care supply and demand, analyze their findings, identify areas of child care deserts, and implement policy solutions that ensure parents have access to quality child care. At the local and state levels, child care leaders (especially CCR&Rs) have traditionally examined child care access, conducted needs assessments, and mapped supply and demand for target populations.

Family dynamics are unique to say the least.

We know that families are made up of many different components and that the traditional family dynamic is becoming more blurred. Because of the uniqueness of our families, we have sought out partners that meet the needs of a variety of families.

It’s the time of the year where we must be ready for hurricanes. Preparing in advance has numerous advantages, not the least of which is preventing the last-minute scramble when a hurricane is bearing down and shelves and supplies are depleted.

Pacific hurricane season starts May 15, and Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1 and runs through November 30.

Every winter, influenza (the flu) ravages both adults and children, spreading like wildfire throughout the community and leaving many at home, in bed, feeling awful for days. Child care centers are affected because the influenza virus is highly contagious, and children are apt to spread the virus unknowingly both to their peers and to adults. In fact, because children in group care are more likely to catch and spread viruses, like the flu, they can bring these viruses home and pass the flu on to their siblings, who go to school and transmit the virus more broadly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since 2004, the number of children who die yearly in the U.S. during a normal flu season has ranged from 37 (2011-2012 season) to 171 (2012-2013 season).