Governor Tom Wolf recently announced allocation plans for more than $303 million in federal funds received to support child care providers. The funds come from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 (CRRSAA), signed into law in December and continue support for an industry that is both a cornerstone of Pennsylvania’s economy and a critical introduction to early education for children across Pennsylvania.

“Child care providers across our commonwealth have endured a year of challenges and changes – circumstances that have made doing business incredibly challenging,” said Gov. Wolf. “A healthy, vibrant child care industry is a necessity to help our economy recover and support parents returning to work. We must remember this as we move forward and continue support for child care providers as they care for young Pennsylvanians and allow parents to work so our communities and economy can thrive.”

Additional information including eligibility criteria and timeline will be shared via an Early Education News Special Announcement and available on the Pennsylvania Key website on March 10, 2021. The funding will be issued beginning April 20, 2021 and will be divided to support child care providers through multiple channels. Read more.

This short video, Professional Development Organizations (PDOs), featuring Tara Dwyer, Manager of Professional Development Organizations and Special Workforce Development Projects, can help early childhood educations professionals understand the professional development and career advancement options in Pennsylvania.

For more information, or to locate your local PDO, visit the Pennsylvania Key website. Subscribe to The Buzz on Professional Development (PD) in Pennsylvania, a bi-monthly e-newsletter and occasional special announcements to inform early childhood education professionals, program directors and administrators, PQAS instructors and Professional Development Organizations (PDOs) on professional development programs in Pennsylvania. The newsletter is free and open to anyone.

PA's Promise for Children wants to celebrate families and ECE professionals during April's Month of the Young Child. Sharing a story is easy! Please consider sharing your story and encouraging families within your program to share their story.

Approved ECE professional and family stories will be published on Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children website at www.papromiseforchildren.com. We will let you know when your story is live so you can share it with your friends and families.

Although we'll share your story, we won't share identifiable information about a family or a child (like last names or specific locations). If you have any questions, please contact Mary at marhal@pakeys.org.

In addition to checking their EBT balance, the update also allows users to:

Read more.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) recently established a research priority to ascertain to what extent Pennsylvania educators are prepared to recognize and respond to students impacted by trauma or distress. To this end, Bloomsburg University has received an award from PDE to conduct this research during this upcoming spring of 2021. Please use this link to find a special announcement concerning an upcoming survey for PA educators related to trauma that aligns with our trauma-informed endeavors. Here are a few ways in which you can help at this time to target dissemination of this survey across the commonwealth:

On Jan. 22, 2021, the USDA announced an increase of the Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefit by approximately 15 percent in support of President Biden's call to action on hunger. USDA also released new guidance for P-EBT, which reflects the significant new flexibilities for States and territories and outlines the changes to P-EBT for school children as well as children in child care. P-EBT is part of the US government response to the pandemic and provides benefits - similar to SNAP benefits - to eligible children during COVID-related school or child care closures, reduced hours or attendance.

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) has announced the Call for Proposals for DEC's 37th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Disabilities and Their Families being held Sept. 21- 24, 2021, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The new deadline for submission is March 15, 2021, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Quality proposals demonstrate meaningful, effective, and sustainable collaborations across research, policy, and practice to increase learning opportunities for every child, family, and community through everyday routines and interactions.

The National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families invites advanced doctoral students (those with “ABD” status) and early career scholars (up to 5 years post-PhD) who are interested in pursuing research focused on Hispanic children and families to submit applications for the Research Scholars Program. Applications due by 5:00 PM Eastern on March 31, 2021. 

Correct and consistent mask use is a critical step everyone can take to prevent getting and spreading COVID-19. Masks work best when everyone wears them, but not all masks provide the same protection. When choosing a mask, look at how well it fits, how well it filters the air, and how many layers it has. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated information on ways to improve how your mask protects you, and a guide to masks.

Research For Action recently released their newest policy brief in the PACER series, Students Experiencing Homelessness in Pennsylvania: New Evidence of Under-Identification and Inequity. Lack of access to permanent, adequate, and affordable housing affects students and their families across Pennsylvania. Struggles with income, housing, and homelessness are only worsening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic – a pattern that will likely lead to even more Pennsylvania students living in temporary and homeless settings. 

Paying for child care can place a burden on households, especially those with low incomes. Currently, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding whether households obtain higher-quality child care when they pay higher prices for that care. To that end, this research brief, Prices Reported by Center-Based Early Care and Education Providers: Associations with Indicators of Quality, from the Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation, uses data from center-based providers to examine whether centers that report higher prices for child care provide higher-quality care, as measured with a variety of indicators.

While families often rely on nonparental care arrangements to care for their children and support their development, a new snapshot, How are Lower-Income Households Using Nonparental Care for Children Under Age 6?, based on data from the 2012 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) household survey, finds that lower-income households—those below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL)—are less likely to rely on nonparental care than households at or above 200 percent of the FPL. The snapshot, which was developed for the Office of Research, Planning, and Evaluation, examines the types of nonparental care that lower-income households with at least one working parent use to care for children under age 6. 

A new report, Demographic Characteristics of the Early Care and Education Workforce: Comparisons with Child and Community Characteristics, produced through the Child Care and Early Education Policy and Research Analysis (CCEEPRA) project, presents a national portrait of the demographic diversity of teachers and caregivers in the early childhood education (ECE) workforce, of children who use ECE, and of the communities in which providers serve. This report examined the demographic characteristics of ECE teachers and caregivers and compared them to the characteristics of children who use care and the communities providers serve. While researchers found differences between the populations of providers and the populations of children who use those providers’ care, there are important reasons for the differences, each of which carry different implications for future teacher professional development. 

This evaluation, Lessons Learned for Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Y-USA’s Out-of-School Time Programs, from Child Trends highlights the efforts of the YMCA to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their afterschool programs, summer learning camps, and other out-of-school programs. The strategies—such as staff training on DEI, intentionally diverse and representative staffing at all levels of the organization, and activities focused on diverse and inclusive topics—can be employed by other afterschool organizations to improve DEI efforts.

A new report, Professional Characteristics of the Early Care and Education Workforce: Descriptions by Race, Ethnicity, Languages Spoken, and Nativity Status , produced through the Child Care and Early Education Policy and Research Analysis (CCEEPRA) project funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), presents a national portrait of the professional characteristics and motivations of teachers and caregivers in the early childhood education (ECE) workforce, by race and Hispanic ethnicity, languages spoken, and nativity status. Key findings included different patterns of professional characteristics emerged between teachers and caregivers from different demographic backgrounds. Teachers and caregivers who identified as a person of color, who spoke a language other than English or multiple languages with children, and/or who were born outside the United States had lower rates of bachelor’s degree attainment and were more likely to access continuing education and professional development opportunities than teachers and caregivers who identified as White, spoke only English with children, and/or who were born in the United States. In addition, motivations for working in the ECE field varied by racial and ethnic identity and languages spoken.

The National WIC Association has released the report, WIC The State of WIC Healthier Pregnancies, Babies and Young Children During COVID-19, which contains recommendations to enhance the value and quality of WIC services. With necessarily amplified attention on the nation’s persistently poor maternal and infant health outcomes, increasingly driven by sharp and systemic racial and ethnic disparities, streamlined access to WIC services can work in tandem with broader healthcare reforms to ensure that all children in the United States are afforded a healthy start.

A child’s bedroom can be a multi-purpose room, used for sleeping, quiet time, or play. The bedroom should also be a safe place for a child. PA's Promise for Children has a printable information flyer to help families ensure their child’s safety won’t stop at the bedroom door.

Reading aloud is not only the single most important thing a parent or caregiver can do to help prepare a child for reading and learning; it’s also a magical connection through the interaction between you, your child, and the book! Join the 21-day read aloud challenge during the month of March and discover the benefits of reading aloud to children. If you haven’t already, you can sign up here.  

At readaloud.org there are tons of great resources that you will want to share with others in order to inspire reading every day. You can find many new resources through their Partner Toolkit which includes:

If you’re looking for new books to share with or explore with children of various ages, check out the book selections webpage that is also available. Please use these resources and share them with others to help promote reading aloud every day!

This toolkit from Afterschool Alliance includes communications assets to help make the case for afterschool across a variety of audiences and platforms. Find new and updated materials, including an engagement calendar with sample social content, message guides, factsheets, videos, graphics, imagery, and examples of localized materials.

Persevere PA is a COVID-19 crisis counseling program where Pennsylvania residents can connect with a free crisis counselor. There are trained professionals available 24/7 ready to help you navigate these unprecedented challenges. These services are free and confidential. See the flyer in English or Spanish to share and for more information.

The February editions of newsletters from Camille Catlett are available. The February edition of Natural Resources contains information on a parent's guide to child safety, keeping children with disabilities safe, and more. The February edition of Baby Talk features information on when we focus on the prenatal-to-3 age periods, good things nursery rhymes do, and more.