National Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day celebrates the use ofGIS, a powerful software toolused to create and display maps that help geographically illustrate and communicate complex problems. GIS maps can help identify assets and resources, as well as understand underlying location-based trends in datasets.  

This year’s Leadership Institute—Strong Leaders, Strong Child Care—was all about putting a firm stake in the ground on the essential role child care resource and referral leaders play in creating strong child care. Attendees did not disappoint! They came full of energy, ready to ask the hard questions, and fired up to be bold and loud.  

One theme that emerged over the two days is that it’s up to us claim our space. Our field is uniquely positioned to fix America’s broken and inequitable child care system so that all families have access to affordable, quality child care that makes children, child care professionals, employers, the military, and our nation stronger. It’s time we own it. 

That sentiment came across loud and clear in our plenary session, A New Framework to Drive Our Collective Impact. Child care resource and referral can no longer be America’s best kept secret. Our power comes in clearly articulating the value of what we do in a manner that people can understand and that reflects what they care about. Our work is built on the brand promise that everyone is stronger when we make America child care strong. Here’s how CCAoA will be framing who we are at the national level: 

Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA) welcomes guest blog post that provide essential insights and information about the child care field.

This guest blog post features a program in Johnson County, Kansas, that strengthens child care providers' emergency preparedness capabilities through planning and training supports and exercises that allow providers to test their plans.

Building off a busy legislative year in 2023, states continued to make progress in 2024 on advancing policies and investments for their child care systems. This year, states had multiple factors to juggle related to child care policy, including spending down remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, developing new Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plans for 2025-2027, and addressing new federal requirements in CCDF regulations.