Dan Wuori (author of The Daycare Myth) regularly posts about parent interactions with young children, describing the evidence behind what they are doing and how it contributes to their development — like this parent-toddler duo speed reading board books. | |
“Brain development research has shown that the first years of life are when the brain is growing and developing most rapidly and that the child’s ability to learn in later educational settings depends on what happens before age 3. Early deficits in language learning often accumulate and can affect the entire trajectory of a child’s life. We know this. But that knowledge doesn’t jibe with what the U.S. does, or mostly doesn’t do, to help develop those brains.” | | |
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Cuts to the national school meals program that are under consideration by Congress would impact 280,000 children in Ohio alone. Ohio Capital Journal describes details of the current proposal, which would alter the threshold for schools to participate in the program under the Community Eligibility Provision. | |
Earlier this week, the Trump Administration’s order to pause federal spending threw many programs into disarray, including programs supporting young children such as Head Start and Medicaid. While spokespeople said it was not meant to affect direct recipients of federal aide, administrators of these programs still experienced glitches or lockouts when attempting to access payment websites. The order to freeze funds — which had been announced via a memo on Monday — was rescinded on Wednesday. But communications from the White House have created further confusion regarding the status of the directive and intention to pause funding. | |
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Various proposals on the table in Congress hope to address child care affordability and accessibility.
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Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) recently reintroduced the Child Care Workforce and Facilities Act, which would provide states with competitive grants for child care training or retention as well as facility renovations — with a focus on communities experiencing child care shortages.
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Bipartisan bills proposed by Sens. Katie Britt (Alabama) and Tim Kaine (Virginia) would make a series of federal tax changes to help families afford child care.
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A new bill from Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (Oregon), the Build Housing with Care Act of 2025, would create a $100 million annual grant program through the Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund housing developing that includes child care facilities — especially in care deserts and other priority communities (such as rural communities, or neighborhoods with low incomes).
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Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is proposing to lower child care costs through a “tri-share” model where the cost of child care is split between families, their employers, and the state. Hobbs’ proposal would cover families that have at least one child under 6 and make less than $150,000 a year. If their employer agrees to participate, the state would match child care costs up to $400 a month per child. The “tri-share” model was made popular in Michigan in 2021, and states like North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, and New York have followed suit with similar proposals. Last year, Ohio lawmakers first proposed a cost-sharing model, which did not pass by the close of the legislative year. They’ve introduced a similar program at the start of Ohio’s new 2025-26 legislative session via companion bills (HB 2 and SB 32). | |
Apprenticeship programs in New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Massachusetts are training early childhood educators to become early childhood center directors. One way that early educators can progress in their career is to become a director or owner of an early education center. However, different skills are needed among these positions — skills for teaching young minds do not extend to knowing how to run a small business. Apprenticeship programs allow educators to benefit from both coursework and on-the-job training that teaches skills like managing employees, bookkeeping, and leadership. Kentucky was the first to form a director-level apprenticeship program in 2022. Massachusetts followed suit in 2023 and has already seen an increased retention of staff in the field. Now, Community College System of New Hampshire is launching the first federally-approved apprenticeship program for early childhood administration. | |
Harvard’s Center for the Developing Child published a brief on the effects of wildfire smoke on early childhood development, an unfortunately timely read given wildfires in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reports on the impact to child care providers; USC describes broader effects on children and families. | Cradle Cincinnati is a nonprofit addressing infant mortality in Hamilton County, Ohio, by listening to pregnant women and educating them on safe infant care practices (e.g., safe sleep). The organization’s 2023 annual report showed their efforts are bringing a drop in infant mortality across the county. In the county, 8.7 babies per 1,000 live births died in 2022 while the number fell to 5.5 babies in 2023. Specifically, the Black infant mortality rate decreased from 13.7 to 9.0 per 1,000 live births. Most recently, the nonprofit introduced the Queens Village — a community of 3,000 Black women with the goal of achieving maternal equity for all Black moms and babies. Cincinnati Magazine describes the impacts of these concerted efforts to reduce infant mortality and support Black mothers, and how these efforts are expanding to other cities. | |
In an opinion piece published by Chalkbeat, preschool teacher Alicia Simba describes the importance of literacy instruction based in the science of reading. She describes what this looks like in practice, and emphasizes the need to integrate this type of instruction into early childhood settings as well as align it with K-12 literacy efforts. | |
A new study published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly examines the availability and participation rates in early care and education (ECE) programs based on geographical location. Researchers linked a national dataset containing county-level ECE availability, participation, and expenditures (including private, public, and Head Start/Early Head Start programs) with county-level U.S. Census data on urban-suburban-rural status, region, child poverty rates, and racial and ethnic demographics. Results showed that rural counties averaged lower preschool enrollment rates than urban counties, but that public programs (e.g., Head Start) played a larger role in rural areas by providing more slots in rural counties. Additionally, the Northeast of the United States had the highest percentage of enrollment rates (47.6%) compared to counties in other areas of the country. Consistent with prior research, this study found that ECE participation was lower in counties with higher child poverty rates and that nonprofit and public preschool spending per child was lower in these areas. These results suggest that public funding could be targeted to specific geographical locations with the greatest need. | |
This edition was written by Jamie O’Leary and Janelle Williamson.
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