Alignment. Quality. Access.
GOECD leads the state's initiatives to create an integrated system of quality early learning and development programs to help give all Illinois children a strong educational foundation before they begin kindergarten.
Learn more.
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Early Learning Council Executive Committee Meeting
December 4 |
Family Engagement
Implementation Subcommittee Meeting
December 5 |
Integration and Alignment Committee Meeting
December 11
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Mixed Delivery Systems Ad Hoc Committee Meeting
December 13 |
Community Systems Development Subcommittee Meeting
December 14 |
Data, Research, and Evaluation (DRE) Subcommittee Meeting
December 18 |
Quality Committee Meeting
January 8 |
All Families Served Subcommittee Meeting
January 8 |
Home Visiting Task Force Executive Committee Meeting
January 16 |
Access Committee Meeting
January 17 |
ExceleRate Subcommittee Meeting
January 28 |
Home Visiting Task Force Executive Committee Meeting
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Greetings Early Childhood Community,
In this issue of the newsletter we congratulate Lesley Schwartz, LCSW, Project Director of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, and her team at the Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development (GOECD), for securing another funding award!
And congratulations to the Austin Childcare Providers Network on their 2018 Early Childhood Symposium!
Please read below about an issue posing another threat to children's health and well-being in the immigrant community: "public charge". It is a proposed federal rule that could put an individual's legal immigration status at risk if they use critical programs that support health, nutrition, and economic stability. If enacted, the proposed rule would make immigrant families afraid to seek programs that help them stay productive and raise thriving children. Read about what you can do.
Finally, we hope that everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving with family and friends. And as we are grateful for our gifts, we remember the record number children and families at the border who continue to experience the deep and lasting trauma of family separation.
Best Regards,
Cynthia L. Tate, Ph.D.
Executive Director, GOECD
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Illinois Awarded MIECHV Funding
The Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) was recently awarded
$8,744,850
from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. These funds will allow Illinois to continue to provide voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services to women during pregnancy, and to parents with young children up to kindergarten entry. Click here for a FY 2017 snapshot of the Illinois MIECHV Program.
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Illinois Makes Progress with Inclusion in ECCE
Illinois is making progress in offering high quality preschool inclusion for 3-5-year-olds with disabilities in early childhood programs! Evidence over the last 30+ years concerning the benefits to all children in high quality inclusive early childhood environments is now overwhelming. With the help of the cross-agency member group, Early Childhood Least Restrictive Environment (ECLRE) Stakeholder Consortium, more Illinois preschoolers are together in the same environment with modifications and supports as needed for both children and the staff. Concerning the inclusion of Illinois preschoolers with disabilities in regular education early childhood programs, the 2016-17 school year data shows we have surpassed the minimal Illinois target for inclusion and are approaching the national average! Illinois has also met another state target lowering the number of preschool children with disabilities educated in separate special education classrooms and showing a reduction not far from the national average.
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Cicero, IL Awarded the 2018 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize
"Two decades ago, this
community of 83,000 people, just outside of Chicago, was tormented by street gangs, a situation that was fueled by poverty, disconnected youth, and a lack of resources. Today, Cicero is on a path few residents could have imagined before, with ground-up action and tangible results leading this Cook County community toward a sustainable Culture of Health." Congratulations to Cicero on this outstanding award acknowledging their tremendous progress.
Read Cicero's story on the RWJF website.
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Proposed Changes to Public Charge - Stand up for Immigrant Children and Families
The Department of Homeland Security recently proposed new federal changes to the "public charge" regulation that would have devastating impacts on children and families. Public charge is designed to identify immigrants who may depend on the government as their main source of support. If a person is likely to become a public charge, the government can deny admission to the U.S. or lawful permanent residence ("green card") status.
One in four children in Illinois has at least one immigrant parent. There is serious concern that changes to the public charge will have detrimental impacts to the overall health, safety, and well-being of our youngest and their families.
We urge everyone - organizations, providers, parents, and concerned citizens - to
submit a public comment in opposition to the proposed regulation before the December 10 deadline! If you do not want to include any personal information, a friend or representative may submit a comment for you.
Read the FAQ for more information.
You can find a child sector template for commenting on the "public charge" proposed rule
here.
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Count All Kids: What's at Stake if 2020 Census Misses Children in Your Community
The
Constitution mandates that we count everyone in the country every 10 years, and the 2020 census is less than 18 months away. Researchers believe up to 2 million children under age 5 could be missed in the count, for a variety of reasons. Watch a new short video produced by The Annie E. Casey Foundation for steps you can take to ensure that all kids are counted.
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Dr. Tate Honored with 2018 Legacy Leadership Award
At their recent 40th anniversary celebration, Habilitative Systems, Inc. (HSI) awarded GOECD's Executive Director, Dr. Cynthia Tate, Ph.D., with a 2018 Legacy Leadership Award. Dr. Tate was honored for, "Strategic Leadership and Impactful Program Development as HSI Associate Executive Director and Innovative Health and Human Services Policy Development in Illinois and Nationally." We congratulate Dr. Tate (and her co-awardee, the honorable Danny Davis) for this incredible distinction.
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Austin Childcare Providers Network: 2018 Early Childhood Symposium
On October 6th, the Austin Childcare Providers network, Austin Coming Together, and Michele Clark High School hosted the 2018 Early Childhood Symposium. This year's theme was "Achieving Higher Early Childhood Education" and the goal was to encourage early childhood providers to continue their education in early childhood. Click here to read more about the event.
Left to right: Madelyn James, Dr. Jamilah R. Jor'dan, Kate Connor, Ruth Kimble, Executive Director of the Austin Childcare Providers Network, Toya Redmond, and Toni Porter.
Featured above are Together for Childhood Network Members wtih Dr. Jamilah R. Jor'dan.
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The Kindergarten Transition Advisory Committee was established by the General Assembly in 2017 (HJR0024) to review and report on the transition into kindergarten. On September 28, 2018, they submitted a report to the Governor, State Board of Education, and General Assembly that includes recommendations to help streamline the transition for children, families, communities, educators, districts, and the state. Check out the report here.
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The publication of the National Academy of Medicine's 2015 report,
Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8
, was a clarion call for early childhood policymakers nationwide. Illinois was one of the first states selected by the National Academies to implement these recommendations. Illinois' report,
Transforming the Early Childhood Workforce: A Call to Action for the State of Illinois
, was published in November 2018 with leadership from GOECD and the UIC College of Education. The report's guiding principles inform recommendations on qualifications, pathways, and knowledge base of the Illinois early childhood workforce.
Read the interim
2017 Illinois Early Childhood Workforce Survey Report
here.
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Illinois Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Report
In October, the Illinois Department of Public Health released the
Illinois Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Report, providing information on
severe maternal morbidity and mortality in Illinois for the first time. The report describes how, on average, 73 women in Illinois die
during or within one year of pregnancy, and reviewed in detail the deaths that occurred in 2015. That year, 93 women died during or within one year of a pregnancy, and 38 percent of those deaths were related to pregnancy, meaning that she would not have died had the pregnancy not occurred. The racial disparity in who dies is startling. Non-Hispanic Black women are six and one-half times more likely to die of a pregnancy-related condition than non-Hispanic White women. Moreover, 72 percent of pregnancy-related deaths and 93 percent of violent (suicide, substance use or homicide) pregnancy-associated deaths (occurred during, or within one year of pregnancy, but not pregnancy-related) were deemed potentially preventable.
The report contains recommendations from the multi-disciplinary teams reviewing the deaths for improving outcomes for women, such as expanding Medicaid eligibility for the postpartum period, targeting home visiting programs to high-risk mothers, and increasing access to substance use and maternal health services. The full report and recommendations may be found online,
here.
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Findings from 11 MIECHV State-Led Evaluations
"Taking Home Visiting to Scale: Findings from the Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting Program State-Led Evaluations", a special issue of the Maternal and Child Health Journal, is available online and features articles from 11 MIECHV awardees including Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. The articles cover four broad topics: understanding and enhancing home visiting program quality, family engagement, workforce development, and impacts of home visiting.
Read the articles here.
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Up to $750,000 for Organizations to Support Family Math
The Family Math Learning Community Grants,
an initiative of the Family Math Roadmap Implementation Project, seeks to close early math opportunity gaps by increasing the use of home and community practices that support Family Math. Family Math refers to activities that happen outside of the classroom and within the context of family relationships, the community, and everyday life that support young children and families to strengthen their math awareness and math concepts. Letters of Inquiry (LOI) are being requested from
organizations aiming to expand their community work in the area of Family Math and/or organizations interested in sharing effective family engagement strategies around early learning issues more broadly. Click here to learn more and apply.
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