Alignment. Quality. Access.
OECD 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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July 12
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ELC Executive Committee Retreat
July 23 |
Home Visiting Task Force Meeting
July 24 |
Kindergarten Transition Advisory Committee Meeting
July 26 |
ExceleRate Subcommittee Meeting
July 26 |
Community Systems Development Subcommittee Meeting
July 31
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Quality Committee Meeting
August 6 |
ELC Executive Committee Meeting
See the
calendar
for more events and details.
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Dear Early Childhood Community,
Special thanks to the Illinois General Assembly and Governor Rauner for joining forces to develop a full-year budget that includes critical supports for Illinois' children, families, and early childhood programs.
This month, our office co-hosted a breakfast symposium with Erikson Institute's Policy and Leadership Department on the
Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education report.Thank you to all of those who were able to attend. We hope you found the discussion to be informative. For those unable to be there, please find more information about the presenters and links to the full report, executive summary, and presentation below.
In other news, we are currently facing a humanitarian crisis in this country. The forcible separation of children from their parents at our nation's border is unconscionable. The Executive Order ending the family separation policy keeps families together, but detained indefinitely. This solution does not mitigate the trauma being inflicted on children during this critical time in their development. We must do more to protect children's health and well-being.
The joint action letter from the
Children's Defense Fund provides details on this issue and has the support of hundreds of national, state, and local organizations. Additionally, many other child and family-serving organizations have released statements of their own, including the following:
Best Regards,
Cynthia L. Tate, Ph.D.
Executive Director, GOECD
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Illinois Passes FY19 Budget
We have a FY19 state budget!
The budget passed on a bipartisan basis and provides significant funding for early childhood programs and services, including:
- Level funding for evidence-based home visiting programs
- Level funding for the Child Care Assistance Program
- Level funding for Early Intervention services
- $50 million increase to the Early Childhood Block Grant
- Re-appropriation of $7.2 million in early childhood capital funds
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Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education
On June 8, Erikson Institute's Policy and Leadership Department and the Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development hosted a breakfast symposium on the
Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education report. Featured speakers included Elizabeth E. Davis, Ph.D., professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota and Harriet Dichter, J.D., fellow at ICF International. Our panel of representatives from local early childhood partner organizations included:
Jennifer Alexander, Director of Early Learning Programs, Metropolitan Family Services;
Theresa Hawley, Senior Vice President for Policy and Innovation, Illinois Action for Children;
Cathy Main, Senior Lecturer and Program Coordinator, University of Illinois; and
Samantha Aigner-Treworgy, Chief of Early Learning, City of Chicago.
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Kick Off for Early Childhood Workforce Development Grant
Pictured: Front: Joyce Weiner, Ounce of Prevention Fund; Dr. Cynthia L. Tate, GOECD; Bethany Patten, GOECD. Back: Dr. Beth Caron, NGA; Mandy Sorge, NGA; Dr. Aaliyah Samuel, NGA; Emily Bastedo, Governor's Office.
On June 15,
members of the Children's Cabinet's Early Childhood Workforce Development project met with the Education Division of the National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices to kick off work for a recently awarded early childhood workforce development grant. The grant will support the project's efforts to improve early childhood educator compensation.
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Nominations Are Now Open for Erikson Institute's Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellows 2018 Cohort
Erikson Institute's Early Childhood Leadership Academy is currently seeking nominations for the Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellows 2018 cohort. The program is designed to enrich the perspective and enhance the capacity of diverse child advocates in Illinois who are committed to racial equity and want to influence early childhood policy. Erikson is seeking influencers currently in a role that includes strategic management, resource development and distribution, program development and administration, advocacy strategy and execution, grant making, or fostering and sustaining external partnerships.
If you have a candidate you would like to nominate, please visit Erikson's
webpage for details and the nomination form.
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ISBE Releases Early Childhood Block Grant Award Notices
Earlier this month, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released the FY19 award notices for the Prevention Initiative (PI), Preschool for All (PFA), and the Preschool for All Expansion (PFAE) grants.
Click here to read a communication sent from ISBE that summarizes the tentative award allocations.
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Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) State Plan
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Illinois' Early Childhood Education Workforce Report
The Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) released a workforce report that provides rich, descriptive data about Illinois' early childhood education workforce, as shown by analysis of the data within the Gateways Registry. INCCRRA's hope is that this report will be a valuable resource for leaders and policy makers to inform conversations that will further support and advance the early childhood education workforce in Illinois.
View the PowerPoint Joellyn Whitehead, Director of Data & Research at INCCRRA, gave at the June Early Learning Council meeting.
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No Decisions About Us, Without Us
Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) and Illinois Action for Children (IAFC) jointly released a report,
No Decisions About Us, Without Us: The Impact of Parent Leaders on Early Childhood Collaborations
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The report highlights how parent leaders in our state are connecting with parents from priority populations, incorporating authentic parent voice into the agendas of community collaborations, deepening the connection between community collaborations and the families they serve, elevating the importance of early learning within the community, and building grassroots participation in policy change.
COFI and IAFC make recommendations for how the state, private foundations, early childhood collaborations, and anyone seeking to improve early childhood policy systems can better engage parents in their work. The hope is that the report will inform local and statewide efforts to build early learning systems that are both informed by, and responsive to, the needs of diverse children, families, and communities.
Read the full report.
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The Opioid Crisis:
What Early Care and Education Providers Need to Know
In June, Partner Plan Act hosted a webinar on what early care and education providers need to know about the opioid crisis. Presenters from the Chicago Urban League, Ounce of Prevention Fund, Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development, and Chestnut Health Systems shared information on the history and current state of the opioid crisis, how it affects young children and their families, and local, state, and federal responses. View a recording of the webinar, the PowerPoint presentation, and the implementation report of the State Opioid Action Plan.
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Impacts of Parenting Support Programs for Lower Income Fathers
The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, an Office of the Administration for Children and Families, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released a report,
Parents and Children Together: Effects of Four Responsible Fatherhood Programs for Low-Income Fathers
. The study examined four federally funded responsible fatherhood (RF) programs that received grants in 2011 and addressed the primary research question, "how does offering RF services to low-income fathers affect their parenting, co-parenting, economic stability, and well-being one year after study enrollment?"
Read the full report
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Infographics that Address Racial Inequity
The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute's Race, Culture and Ethnicity Committee has released the 4th infographic in a public awareness series that addresses racial inequity. Their most recent infographic,
What Racism Looks Like
, addresses 4 levels of racism and how children are impacted.
Other infographics in the series:
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