Illinois awarded National Governors Association grant to support early care and education workforce

Illinois is among six states awarded financial and technical assistance from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, in partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), to support strategies to improve the early care and education workforce. GOECD will use this award to support workforce compensation efforts within the Early Childhood Workforce Development project of the Children's Cabinet. 

Week of the Young Child

Debrah Clark, Director, JTHS Infant Childcare Center and Dr. Jamilah R. Jor'dan, Deputy Director, GOECD

The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers, and families. In recognition of the national celebration, the Joliet Township High School Infant Childcare Center hosted an Open House on April 18th. The Center staff have been providing education and support for teen parents and their children since 1996 and is an ExceleRate Gold Level program. The program currently serves young parents enrolled in District 204. 

The program's mission is to engage, support and maintain attendance of young parents during high school completion, strengthen their parenting skills and knowledge of resources, support the healthy development and exploration of young children in a safe environment and be a passionate model of best practices in the early childhood community. Young parents participate in a daily class in which they obtain research-based child guidance skills, work place skills and career guidance. Daily parent-child bonding experiences are a large part of the program and are encouraged through parent-child class time and family events. The Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development was honored to be invited to celebrate the children, families and staff of the Joliet Township High School Infant Childcare Center in recognition of the Week of the Young Child.

The Roots of STEM Success 

This report details the importance of exposing children ages 0-8 to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) experiences, so that they can build the thinking dispositions needed for success in an increasingly STEM-based world. Research indicates th at children's early experience builds brain architecture and lays the foundation for one's lifelong thinking skills and approach to learning, both critical roots of STEM success. The STEM disciplines require not only content knowledge but also robust thinking dispositions - such as curiosity and inquiry, questioning and skepticism, assessment and analysis - as well as a strong learning mindset and confidence when encountering new information or challenges. According to the authors, these dispositions need to be developed in a child's early education, beginning in infancy and continuing through third grade to lay the roots for STEM success. 

Key findings include:

1. STEM thinking begins in infancy
2. Children need ample opportunity to play to become strong STEM thinkers
3. STEM amplifies language development; language enables STEM thinking
4. Active, self-directed learning builds STEM skills and interest
5. Children's abstract thinking potential can be unlocked through both adult support and executive function skill development

Teachers Can Help Reduce Mental Health Problems in Children

School-based mental health services delivered by teachers and staff can significantly reduce mental health problems in elementary-aged children, according to a new study by researchers at FIU's Center for Children and Families.

Read the full study HERE

Speakers Bureau: Impact of Opioids on Children and Families

Several groups have reached out recently with requests for speakers 

who can provide information on how the crisis is affecting children and families in Illinois, and how to address it. To facilitate the process of connecting experts to these requests, we've created a "Speakers Bureau" database and are seeking volunteers from diverse professional backgrounds with expertise in topics related to opioids and substance use. 

For more information and to sign up for the database, fill out the form HERE. Signing up to be a member of the Speakers Bureau does not represent a commitment to present at a specific engagement, but simply a willingness to be contacted should an opportunity fitting the volunteer's area of expertise arise. 

You Can Have Your Breastmilk and Safe Sleep Too

Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) accounted for approximately 3700 infant deaths in the US in 2015. SUID risk factors include prone sleeping, bed-sharing, soft bedding use, and maternal smoking. Infant safe sleep data in at-risk communities are difficult to obtain and home visiting programs can add to what we know.  A preliminary analysis of infant safe sleep data in Midwestern home visiting programs sought to determine how often caregivers enrolled in home visiting programs provide safe sleep environments for their infants in relation to breastfeeding status and tobacco use.

The study found that breastfeeding caregivers in this study bed-shared less often than their non-breastfeeding counterparts. The authors caution that reasons for breastfeeding without bed-sharing are multifactorial, but this study calls into question the commonly held assumption that bed-sharing is necessary for successful breastfeeding. This study also found that that an infant living with a tobacco user is less likely to be sleeping safely. This finding suggests that a multifaceted approach to safe sleep counseling may be needed for such families. Another important finding is that caregivers participating in Illinois MIECHV-supported home visiting programs demonstrated greater adherence to safe sleep guidelines than expected. This highlights the importance, success, and ongoing opportunity of the health promotion role that home visitors play in the lives of the women and children receiving their critical and comprehensive services.

GOECD Welcomes New Project Manager

Early Learning Council Meeting Calendar

Impact of Child Care Deserts

The Center for American Progress analyzed the locations of licensed child care providers in 22 states, covering two-thirds of the U.S. population, and found that approximately half of Americans live in "child care deserts." Specifically, this analysis defines child care deserts as neighborhoods or communities that are either lacking any child care options or have so few child care providers that there are more than three children for every licensed child care slot.  Little is understood about the supply of day care in the U.S. Research to date focused in large part on its budget-busting cost. What is clear is this: The market is failing to meet the needs of working parents with kids under 5, and this problem is especially severe in certain places. What's more, these areas are difficult to pinpoint, with deficits plaguing urban inner cities, suburban regions, and rural towns.

As the nation's labor market tightens, businesses, county governments, and state legislatures are taking notice of the plights of parents like Thompson. At least 26 states passed laws related to child care access, cost, safety, and quality in 2016, the latest year for which data is available, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures. State legislatures are debating how to provide incentives to child care business development through grants and technical assistance to startups as well as training for existing programs. Politicians are also discussing bills that address waiting lists, expand child care eligibility to low-income families, increase reimbursement rates for providers, and boost quality.

Above is the data CAP collected on Illinois

Thank You Valley View Community Unit School District 365U

The Illinois Pyramid Model State Leadership Team would like to thank Valley View School District for hosting the second series of Training of Master Cadre Trainers.  The Master Cadre attended a 3 day training around delivering high fidelity training to educational practitioners for children ages 2 to 5 years.Valley View's ECE  administration staff did a superb job with everything and went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. The venue for our meeting was perfect. Thanks to Valley View again for all of their assistance, the team looks forward to visiting Valley View again soon!

 

Have you ever tried to navigate an unfamiliar service system? Do you work with families and young children who experience homelessness and housing instability or are involved in the child welfare system? The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Ounce of Prevention Fund, together with local planning partners in and around DuPage, Kane, and Will Counties, invite you to learn more about how the child welfare, early care and education, and homeless services systems can work together to support families. Bring your business cards! In addition to providing overviews of each service system, this training will provide an opportunity to network and make important connections that will benefit the families you serve!

(on-site registration begins at 8:30 am) 

 

Maltreatment and Trauma Resources