As a registered nurse, I found myself primarily working with children who have special needs. One day my 14-month-old daughter had an asthma attack while in child care. The staff never called to tell me at work because they didn’t recognize the symptoms. I arrived that evening to find my daughter having retractions between her ribs. I immediately rushed her to the emergency room where they diagnosed her with atelectasis (a complete or partial collapse of the lung). She was hospitalized for a week.

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies—CCR&Rs as Community Resilience Hubs. This initiative, administered through CCAoA’s emergency preparedness team aims to increase the capabilities of communities working with child care centers and family child care providers in preparing, responding, and recovering from natural disasters and emergencies.

On Wednesday April 6, hundreds of advocates for child care stormed the Hill to represent the millions of people across this country who need quality, affordable child care. This was a part of Child Care Aware® of America's national 2016 Symposium. Attendees were fired up in the morning by former Texas state Senator Wendy Davis, who gave an impassioned speech and opportunity to walk in her shoes as a young mother in poverty who wouldn’t have risen to where she is today without access to quality child care.

Former Texas state Senator Wendy Davis kicked off the Child Care Aware of America Day on the Hill! (Photo by Steve Barrett.)

We were excited to have more than 350 attendees join us for this year’s biennial Child Care Aware® of America 2016 Symposium on April 4-6 in Washington, D.C. Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies and early care professionals from various disciplines and settings joined us from across the nation to celebrate milestones, collaborate for results, and advocate for a high quality, affordable child care system.

Updated April 7, 2016 - Symposium is over, but if you want to watch (or rewatch) the plenary sessions, you can do so by registering online!

Child Care Aware® of America is pleased to offer livestreaming as part of this year’s Symposium 2016. This upcoming event will address the hottest topics in research, policy, and practices of interest to the early child care and education community.

According to the Food Insecurity and Hunger in the U.S. report, released in February 2016 by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) and Children’s Health Watch, food insecurity among immigrants, refugees, and asylees living in the United States is greater than for U.S. born children. It also describes research to support that the longer these families are in the U.S., though their food security may increase, their health declines with increased risk for obesity and diet-related diseases.