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Results from our Family Survey

Posted in Business and economy, Child care, COVID-19, Family engagement, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Strategies for Children on May 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Source: Strategies for Children

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Strategies for Children has set up a family survey so we can learn about parents’ and caregivers’ experiences with child care.

So far, there have been more than 1,550 responses. We’ve posted a summary of them, and we are sharing this information with policymakers to help guide their work.

Among the written responses is this troubling observation from Natick:

“It is proving difficult, draining, and detrimental to the mental well-being for working parents to juggle full time workloads and round-the-clock childcare. While many parents are non-essential, they are still working remotely but without the option of childcare. Needless to say, one person cannot perform two full-time jobs simultaneously. Parents need support in the form of teaching resources but also mental health and emotional support.”

Crunching the survey numbers produced these results: (more…)

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How to reopen early education and care in Massachusetts?

Posted in COVID-19, Dept. of Early Education and Care, Early educators, Family engagement, MA governor, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten on May 1, 2020| 7 Comments »

Source: Department of Early Education and Care

At a virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday, Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) Commissioner Samantha Aigner-Treworgy shared plans for reopening Massachusetts’ early childhood programs.

A recording of the event is posted here.

“We’re looking toward the future and trying to think [about] and design strategies that can ensure that we are building a more supportive and more solid foundation for child care providers,” Commissioner Sam said at the town hall.

She is proposing a phased opening that builds on Governor Charlie’s Baker’s order that all schools and EEC programs remain closed through June 29, 2020.

As the slide below explains, EEC will engage in a three-step reopening process of assessing the EEC landscape, designing strategies that “addresses health and safety, sustainability, workforce, and financing,” and preparing to put these strategies into action. (more…)

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Grappling with the coronavirus

Posted in COVID-19, Early educators, Family engagement, MA governor, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children on March 24, 2020| 1 Comment »

An empty early childhood classroom

Now that Governor Charlie Baker has ordered child care programs to close to slow the pace of coronavirus infections, many early education and care (EEC) providers are sharing concerns about their sudden challenges.

(Emergency child care is still available for health care workers and other critical professions including grocery story workers and law enforcement.)

As policymakers steer through this public health crisis, they should listen to the voices of early educators who are trying to stay well, support families, and avoid economic collapse.

In response to a Strategies for Children survey, providers have shared their short- and long-term concerns.

Among the immediate concerns: (more…)

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A message from Amy O’Leary and Titus DosRemedios

Posted in Child care, COVID-19, Family child care, Family engagement, Federal, Health, MA governor, NAEYC, National, Pre-kindergarten on March 19, 2020| 1 Comment »

Friends and colleagues,

We hope you are all staying healthy at this time of crisis.

Yesterday, Governor Charlie Baker announced that child care programs in Massachusetts will close on Monday, March 23, 2020.

However, Exempt Emergency Child Care Programs will be available regionally to provide care for emergency workers and others. Check the Department of Early Education and Care’s website for guidance documents.

The governor also said that, “Child care providers would continue to receive child care subsidy payments from the state in order to ensure that the programs will be able to reopen once the crisis is over.”

Strategies for Children has been working with the early education and care community to collect and share programs’ urgent needs and to consider advocacy strategies for supporting early education and care providers right now — with an eye on the potential long-term effects of the coronavirus.

If you are an early educator or program director please complete this online form to let us know your short- and long-term needs. If you would like more information, reply to this email or contact Amy O’Leary at aoleary@strategiesforchildren.org.

Here are additional links and resources: (more…)

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In quotes: Advocacy Day 2020

Posted in Early educators, Family engagement, MA Legislature, Massachusetts Cities and Towns on March 6, 2020| 1 Comment »

“As a constituent, I am grateful for the services offered,” Nairobi Woodberry, a Framingham mother of three, said yesterday at Advocacy Day 2020 about the early education and care support she has received, including a booklet with information about Framingham’s public parks and school contact information as well as advice on how to look for quality early education and care programs. Woodberry is also part of the ParentChild Plus+ program, which provides home visiting and other services to families.

Woodberry, who was previously homeless, now works as a school bus driver.

Early educators attended Advocacy Day and spoke about the importance of being paid higher wages so that they can stay in the field — and support their own families.

Sign: “Thank you for supporting high-quality early education.”

Photos: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

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Today is Advocacy Day!

Posted in Cost and affordability, Early educators, Family engagement, Head Start, MA Legislature, MA state budget on March 5, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Today is Advocacy Day 2020 for Early Education & Care and School Age Programs and there are TWO ways to participate.

You can come to the Massachusetts State House. Here’s the schedule:

9:30 a.m.

Registration in the Great Hall

10:00 a.m.

Speakers – including Early Education and Care Commissioner Samantha Aigner-Treworgy

11:15 a.m.

Meetings with Legislators

Or you can participate right from your program by:

• finding your elected officials and their contact information by going to www.WhereDoIVoteMA.com

• following them on social media

• taking pictures of your program and share them with your state representatives and state senators on Facebook and Twitter. Use the hashtags #ValueEarlyEducators and #ValueAfterSchoolEducators

The next step? Keep the advocacy going! In the coming weeks and months you can: (more…)

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Get ready for Advocacy Day: Thursday, March 5, 2020

Posted in Early educators, Facilities, Family engagement, MA Legislature, Strategies for Children on February 25, 2020| 3 Comments »

It is time to get ready for Advocacy Day!

This year, Advocacy Day for Early Education & Care and School Age Programs will be on Thursday, March 5, 2020, at 9:30 a.m. at the Massachusetts State House.

Please note that there are two ways to participate!

You can go to the State House.

Or:

You can participate from your early education and care program.

Click on one of the two links above to let us know how you will be participating.

To get ready for Advocacy Day, be sure to register for the next Strategies for Children Advocacy 101 webinar — Getting Ready for Advocacy Day for Early Education & Care and School Age Programs — which will be held online on Wednesday, February 26 at 1:30 p.m. Click here to RSVP.

(You can learn more about the first Advocacy 101 webinar here.)

We will share more details about how to participate from your program and what to expect if you are coming to the State House. We’ll also record the webinar, so you can listen anytime.

As we prepare, here is what you can do now:

• Visit www.WhereDoIVoteMA.com to find your elected officials and print out the page with your information. Just enter your home address and you will get all the information you need!

• If you are going to come to the State House, call your legislator’s office and schedule an appointment to meet with them.

• Share information about Advocacy Day with your colleagues and with families in your program. And please make sure each person registers, so we can share information with everyone who is interested.

Legislators need to hear the voices of educators, family child care providers, and families!

We are excited about building on the momentum that Advocacy Day has generated in past years, including last year and the year before.

If you have any questions, please contact Amy O’Leary, director of Strategies for Children’s Early Education for All campaign, at aoleary@strategiesforchildren.org or (617) 330-7384.

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Tell everyone: It’s almost time to fill out the Census 2020 form

Posted in Boston, Family engagement, National, Pre-kindergarten on February 4, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Spread the word: On Wednesday, April 1, 2020, everyone will be able to fill out the Census 2020 form.

It’s a small act with huge consequences. Every 10 years, the Census Bureau attempts to count everyone living in the United States.

And every 10 years, many people go uncounted, which can mean losing representation in Congress and losing crucial federal funding. In addition, state programs won’t have a clear count of their populations. Nor will researchers. And businesses won’t have a clear picture of the marketplace.

One commonly undercounted groups?

Children. (more…)

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Leading the Way: Nikki Burnett, executive director of Educare Springfield

Posted in Child care, Family engagement, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation on January 17, 2020| 1 Comment »

“I am a product of early education and care; and my daughter is a product of it as well,” Nikki Burnett told us recently. Burnett’s daughter is currently a student at Howard University.

As for Burnett herself she has come full circle. Born and raised in Massachusetts, in Springfield’s Mason Square neighborhood, Burnett worked for over a decade as a senior administrator at the American Heart Association. Now she’s back in Mason Square working as the executive director of the new Educare Springfield center, which just opened this month and is already at full enrollment.

Educare is an evidence-based national network of 25 early education programs with the sweeping goal of figuring out “the most effective and the most promising ways to work with each individual child and each individual family, and we do that with excitement and passion for the work,” according to Charlotte Brantley, the president and CEO of the Clayton Early Learning, Educare Denver.

Burnett echoes this ambition, explaining, “We may only have 141 children enrolled, but we are beholden to the education of all children.” Educare’s approach is to innovate and share its work on preparing young children to succeed in school. Burnett wants to ensure that all the children whose lives she touches aren’t struggling to catch up in kindergarten – as well as in first, second, and third grade. (more…)

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