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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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 18 |
HVTF Child Safety Ad Hoc Meeting
January 22 |
Community Systems Development Subcommittee Meeting
January 23 |
Integration and Alignment ECBG Ad Hoc Meeting
January 28 |
Home Visiting Task Force Meeting
February 4 |
ELC Executive Committee Meeting
February 20 |
Data, Research, and Evaluation (DRE) Subcommittee Meeting
February 21 |
Health Subcommittee Meeting
February 21 |
ExceleRate Subcommittee Meeting
February 25 |
Full Early Learning Council Meeting
February 28 |
Inclusion Subcommittee Meeting
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Happy Holidays Early Childhood Community,
In this issue we share news of accomplishments in home visiting: completion of the MIECHV program year with strong outcomes; research on home visiting through the MIHOPE Implementation Study; and research showing that Early Head Start can reduce child abuse and neglect following reunification. We expect to hear more about home visiting and child welfare as research and practice focus more on the potential for evidence-based home visiting programs to protect children and improve parenting. And congratulations to Lesley Schwartz, GOECD's MIECHV Program Director, for her expert contribution to
Social Work Today.
While we are all observing and celebrating the holidays in our various traditions, we have to remember those for whom these times may be lonely, for those who have traumas linked to the holidays and may be reminded, and for those whose lives don't look like the holiday movies on TV.
And as we do every issue, we remember the many children held in detention at our border. In particular, we are saddened and appalled by the death of the seven year old Guatemalan girl, Jakelin Caal Maquin, while in border control custody. The maltreatment of children coming here to find refuge must stop! We will continue to speak to this as long as children are in jeopardy.
Best Regards,
Cynthia L. Tate, Ph.D.
Executive Director, GOECD
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Illinois Equity Leaders Cohort: A Demonstration Project for Federal Preschool Expansion Grantees
The Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development (GOECD) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) are partnering with School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to engage a cohort of Preschool Expansion Grant program
administrators in racial equity professional learning (the Equity Leaders Cohort). The goal of this project is to create more positive preschool environments where race, language, and culture are key drivers of high quality early learning experiences.
To support the equity leaders cohort, SRC will facilitate a suite of professional learning opportunities from January 2019 to December 2019, including:
- Three full-day workshops to explore 1) Building an Equity-Focused Program Team, 2) Partnering with Families, and 3) Anti-Bias Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.
- Individualized coaching to further explore workshop content and related topics of interest, and to implement learned strategies within Equity Leaders' own programs.
- Community of learning remote sessions to deepen learning, share ideas, and create sustained peer networks for ongoing support.
The project will kick off in January 2019 with a webinar for eligible administrators, the recording of which will be posted online to the ISBE and GOECD websites for those interested in learning more about this work. We look forward to sharing updates on this exciting project throughout the year.
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City Colleges of Chicago Launches Men of Color in Education Program
Dr. Shawn Jackson, recently appointed president of Truman College, has been integral in launching
Men of Color in Education, a new partnership between City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools and the city Department of Family & Support Services. Amid a national teacher workforce shortage, the program seeks to increase the number of minority males in education, particularly early childhood education.
Read more about the program here.
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Illinois MIECHV Completes Federal Fiscal Year 2018
The Illinois Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program completed its program year this September, showing strong outcomes for the 800 families served by the program in federal fiscal year 2018. The MIECHV program aims to improve maternal and child health, prevent child abuse and neglect, encouraging positive parenting, and promote child development and school readiness. In Illinois, MIECHV helped families access postpartum care, screened caregivers for depression and intimate partner violence, assessed children for developmental delays, connected families with needed resources, and provided coaching and support around parenting practices.
Click here for a FY 2018 snapshot of the Illinois MIECHV Program.
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GOECD's Lesley Schwartz Interviewed for
Social Work Today
The National Home Visiting Resource Center (NHVRC) complies data on home visiting that provides support and resources to families in the prenatal through early childhood stages of a child's life. Lesley Schwartz, MSW, LCSW, ACSW, NHVRC advisory board member, and Project Director of the MIECHV Program for GOECD, was recently interviewed for the Social Work Today article, "Children and Families Forum: Home Visiting Resource Helps Social Workers." According to the article, "because NHVRC is young-it was publicly established in 2017-advisory board members such as Schwartz and other experts in the home visiting field were brought on to help shape the organization's direction and to determine, along with funders, resources that would be most helpful to the field."
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58% of Illinois Residents Live in a Child Care Desert
The Center for American Progress'
annual report
lists every licensed daycare and home daycare in the nation. Alarmingly, the report shows that 51% of people in the U.S. (and 58% of Illinois residents) live in a child care desert, which is defined as
"any census tract with more than 50 children under the age of 5 that contains either no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots." Having few or no options for licensed daytime child care creates a huge challenge for working parents. Read the full article here.
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MIHOPE Implementation Study and Evaluation
 On October 5th, the Department of Health and Human Services released its report on the
MIHOPE Implementation Study. This report, the second of four parts of the
MIHOPE evaluation, looked at four evidence based home visiting models implemented by 88 programs in 12 states, including Illinois. Home visiting programs are designed to help ensure parents, especially those in underserved communities, have tools and knowledge to nurture their child's healthy early development, building the foundation for their future learning, behavior, and health. The report examines the indispensable work being done in communities to identify family needs and to implement and improve home visiting programs. The study found that home visiting is reaching the most disadvantaged communities, as intended, and engages young and economically disadvantaged families with a variety of risks that can affect their children's development.
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Researchers from Portland State University, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Child Trends, and Tufts University have completed a longitudinal, large-scale study
on the long-term benefits of Early Head Start (EHS). Results from the study show that EHS can effectively reduce child abuse and neglect after services end. Specifically, EHS led to positive short-term outcomes among participating families that, in turn, led to reduced chances of child welfare involvement. In particular, children were at lower risk for abuse and neglect later in life when EHS was successful in:
- Reducing levels of family conflict and parenting-related stress
- Supporting emotionally warm, engaged, and responsive parenting practices
- Promoting child cognitive development and self-regulation skills
Study findings demonstrate that two-generation early childhood education programs such as EHS can play an important role in preventing child maltreatment. Programs that successfully decrease family conflict and stress in a child's early years while simultaneously supporting positive, emotionally responsive parenting and child cognitive development are more likely to reduce the likelihood of abuse and neglect after the program ends.
These findings underscore the potential for programs serving infants and toddlers to improve critical long-term outcomes for children by connecting with and supporting parents and families-even if preventing child maltreatment is not an explicit goal.
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Save the Date: Sharing A Vision Conference 2019
Save the date for the Sharing A Vision Biennial Conference on October 2-4, 2019 in East Peoria, IL. The theme for the 2019 conference is: Inclusion, Equity and Diversity: Celebrating the 10 Year Anniversary of the DEC/NAEYC Position Statement. This exceptional conference is planned to meet the needs of early childhood professionals and families in the state and is coordinated by the Illinois Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, in collaboration with the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Human Services. Dr. Rosemarie Allen is the General Session Speaker. Dr. Allen is a national expert on implicit bias and culturally responsive practices and a respected speaker on challenging behaviors and inclusive practices.
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