www.HelpMeGrowSkagit.org

Family & Community Outreach

We received some beautiful Help Me Grow banners to display during outreach events. If you have an upcoming outreach event where you could like to display information about Help Me Grow, email Lyndie Simmonds here.

Child Health Care Provider Outreach

The second event in the child development series is on February 16th - Screening and Early Intervention for Pediatric Language Development, Presented by Ashleigh Adkins, DNP, ARNP, Autism Center of Excellence Certification, Erin Kaui, MA, CCC-SLP, Skagit Valley Hospital Children’s Therapy Program, and Jenna Lisenby, DPT, Valley Kids Therapy

To learn more about this event and the others in this series, visit HERE.

Coordinated Access Point

Thanks to all of you who submitted your organization's information into the new Help Me Grow ResourceFinder directory! If you haven't added your information yet, it's not too late! Please submit a New Resource Submission Form HERE.

Equity

Are The Children's Council has been reviewing our Core Values and will be presenting an updated draft to Council members soon. Now comes the meaningful part... making sure we are operationalizing and living up to our core values. If you are interested in being part of this process? If so, reach out to Lyndie to learn more!

Child Care

A new statewide Child Care Voice Learning Network has been formed! They engage in self-directed conversations around early learning, the children and families of their communities, and the industry’s workforce. They host an annual Childcare Voice Legislative Roundtable to engage policy makers directly with early learning participants, and form workgroups around specific topics as opportunities or issues arise. The team meets on the first Thursday of each month, from 6 - 7:30 p.m. with simultaneous Spanish translation and the ability to expand language support options as needed. Reach out to Lyndie for more information.

Data Collection & Analysis

The data from the last quarter of 2022 Help Me Grow Family Resource Navigator intake will be available in mid-February. We are excited to dig into the data and learn areas where we can expand our reach and grow. Stay tuned for more soon.

NurtureNW; Free, Universal Support for Washington’s New and Expecting Parents

NurtureNW is a judgment-free connection where trained volunteer mentors help new parents navigate the first year of their baby’s life, all through secure text messaging. Mentors are experienced parents from across WA State. They offer new parents’ encouragement and validation, easy ways to connect to the community around them, and practical tools to ride the ups and downs of having a baby. NurtureNW is completely free and open to anyone expecting or caring for an infant in WA. Connect with us at hello@nurturenw.org.

Working Families Tax credit applications open in February

Starting February 1, applications are being accepted for the Working Families Tax Credit. The state Department of Revenue estimates that 400,000 Washington families may be eligible for a tax credit up to $1,200. The program is perpetual, not one-time, and affords some relief to many low- and middle-income households.

Brown Fatherhood Series Panel from Latinx Parenting here is the link to the recording of the live-stream Saturday 1/28/23

View a recording of the hour-long conversation where fathers spoke on their personal experience as a father in the Latinx community. They'll also talked about the work they're currently doing in their communities to combat machismo by reframing and reimaging masculinity.

Latinx Parenting | Connecting with our children. Connecting with our roots

Latinx Parenting believes passionately in shifting the paradigm of raising children towards creating a trauma-informed, healing centered, nonviolent and cultural sustaining approach where Latinx familias can nurture connection in their homes and culture in ways that support individual, family and intergenerational collective healing. Visit the website for more information and resources! 

DFC Complex Needs Training Series

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) facilitated by the University of Washington (UW) Haring Center is offering training to support childcare workers who care for children with complex needs and focus on deepening the provider's knowledge in several areas related to individualizing instruction and supporting social-emotional learning. All trainings are free to providers and will be held remotely via zoom. STARS credit will also be offered for all trainings. Please see the flyer for topics and dates. Please email Phoebe Yeung at pcyeung@uw.edu if you have any questions.

Provider Learning Series: The How and Why of Engaging Fathers in Home Visiting

Despite the clear impact fathers have on their families, most child and family services do not consistently and effectively engage fathers.  Home visiting presents a tremendous opportunity to connect with fathers and support the well-being of children and parents by serving the whole family with effective interventions. Join us on Thursday, Feb 16, 2023, at 11:30 AM to learn more about how we can begin to effectively engage dads in the home visiting process to support families and children.

Latinx Parenting Professional Intensive  

This two-day, 8-hour training will be a thorough discourse on the present well-being of an ever-expanding and evolving Latinx family demographic within this country. We'll uncover consistent themes in research such as intergenerational Latinx parenting practices and how these are affected by cultural values and traditional social constructs. We'll also discuss how those values may very well be used as protective agents against acculturative stress and a range of social-emotional adjustment outcomes for both parents and their children.

BrestfeedLA "Supporting Queer & Trans Parents in their Lactation Goals" Thurs Feb 16th with Kristin Liam Kali

How we feed our babies is but one aspect of parenting. Lactation and chest/breastfeeding are intensely embodied experiences that are deeply impacted by one’s gender identity. This workshop will explore the impact of queer and trans identity on lactation experiences and goals, including lactation induction in any body, chest feeding after masculinization surgery, and co-nursing. $25 early bird pricing

Help Me Grow: Roadmap for Advancing Family-Engaged Developmental Monitoring

Family-engaged developmental monitoring is an intentional partnership of families and providers working to highlight a child’s developmental progress and identify opportunities for support and education to promote positive outcomes. 

LGBTQ+ Health Equity Library

Despite decades of tireless advocacy, LGBTQ+ people still experience disproportionately worse health outcomes, endure ongoing discrimination, and are four times more likely to experience violence than their straight and cisgender peers. These disparities are often further compounded by isolation and a lack of access to appropriate primary and mental health care. The LGBTQ+ Health Equity Library highlights dozens of newly-curated resources and stories to advance equitable health outcomes for queer and gender-expansive individuals and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. Get started with one of our introductory pieces or explore dozens of resources, datasets, maps, and stories on this important priority population.

Opportunity Council/Child Care Aware NW has several open positions

• Child Care Choice Navigator (2 positions) in Snohomish County (voucher program/child care navigator for families)
• Bilingual Spanish Child Care Marketing and Recruitment Coordinator for Skagit County (C-RECC work in Skagit)
• Bilingual Spanish Child Care Marketing and Recruitment Coordinator for Whatcom County (C-RECC work in Whatcom)
• Bilingual Spanish Mental Health Consultant/Clinician in Skagit County
• Bilingual Child Care Marketing and Recruitment Coordinator – Skagit County
• Bilingual Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant – Skagit County

Whatcom Early Learning Alliance (WELA) Interim Coordinator

United General District 304 – Program Coordinator Burlington DFC