Last week, members of the Child Care Aware® of America Policy and Communications teams hopped in the car bright and early for a trip to West Windsor, NJ for a two-day on-site advocacy training. The team consisted of Jasmine Smith, Senior Policy Advisor; Nick Vucic, Government Affairs Associate; and Sara Miller, Communications and Public Affairs Specialist.

¿Cuando empezó a buscar el servicio de cuidado de niños, usted localizó el proveedor “adecuado” para su hijo. Usted se tomó el tiempo necesario para investigar programas, visitar al personal, y hacer las preguntas correctas.  Pudo usted tomar su decisión, y ahora está preparada.  ¿Pero ha pensado en todo?

Earlier this week, members of the Child Care Aware® of America Policy Team jumped on a plane and went to Tampa for a one-day on-site Advocacy Training. They worked closely with the Children’s Forum in Tallahassee to put together a jam-packed agenda for each of the 60 attendees at the training.

Mission: Readiness, a nonprofit organization made up more than 350 retired military senior officers who are asking state and federal lawmakers to create policies that will help youth prepare for employment and military service, released a report showing how high-quality early learning programs could lead to 2 million more high school graduates and $150 billion in economic benefits. With 75% of all young Americans ineligible to join the military, largely as a result of not having a high school diploma or being able to score high enough on the military’s entrance exam to be allowed to serve, Mission: Readiness recognizes the economic and national security benefits of high-quality early learning settings.

In a survey by the National Center for Early Development and Learning, nearly half (46 percent) of kindergarten teachers in a nationwide sample said that over half of the children in their class weren’t ready to succeed in school. Why?  Before we get out the magic wand and with Harry Potter-like precision create pre-kindergarten programs in every state focused on pre-literacy and early math strategies, education experts ought to review the relationship between “executive function” and a child’s future school success, particularly for low income children.

Background checks for child care providers are essential to ensure that individuals who have a history of violent offenses are not licensed to provide child care or hired to work in a child care center.