Equity in Education Event TONIGHT in Southington

Southington Women for Progress and the Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington will be hosting an "Equity in Education" event Monday, April 8, from 7-8:30 p.m., at Derynoski School Auditorium, 240 Main Street, Southington. A panel of experts, including our ED Merrill Gay, will discuss racial equity in Connecticut schools. Admission is free, but registration is required. Click HERE to register.  The event flier can be found HERE. 

The Economic Impact of the Child Care Crisis

Thank you to everyone who came to the forum, "Want to Grow the Economy? Fix the Child Care Crisis" on April 2. We had a great turnout and a lot of great information shared. A big thank you to the parents who shared their stories and experiences with Connecticut's Care4Kids program. If you would like to watch the full event, CT-N broadcast it and it can be found HERE. Parent Rebecca Dery's story about her struggles paying for child care while a college student at Capital Community College in Hartford can be seen at 53:20 into the broadcast. The Alliance also did a Facebook LIVE video and it can be found on the CT Early Childhood Alliance Facebook page.

Child Care Providers Rally in New Haven Against Care4Kids Backlog

A vocal group of child care providers - both center-based and home-based - stood on the sidewalk below The United Way in New Haven, rallying against what has been months of delays in Care4Kids payments. Some providers have gone as long as 6 to 9 months without payment. WFBS Channel 3, NBC CT and New Haven Register all attended the rally. Here is the story from the New Haven Register. The Alliance also created a video of the event. It can be found on the Alliance's Facebook page (search CT Early Childhood Alliance).

Screening to Succeed Call to Action Meetings Begin This Month

On Behalf of the UConn Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, and Connecticut Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (CT LEND), CT Office of Early Childhood, Healthy From Day One, CT Department of Public Health, Wheeler Clinic, Help Me Grow, 2-1-1 Child Development Infoline, and local partners.

We invite you to join “Screening to Succeed” A Regional Call to Action meetings. Each Regional Meeting will focus on the individualized resources and needs of their communities to ensure the success of all young children through promotion, developmental awareness and the power of community connections. Participants will be equipped with knowledge, resources and tools to increase developmental screenings using Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) and have an opportunity to hear a presentation on a City-wide system developed by community partners and families in Norwalk.

Please see the informational flier with dates and times in each region of Connecticut. There is a registration link on the flier. 

Dates for Regional Meetings: 
• South Central Regional Meeting- Monday, April 15th from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm at the United Way of Greater New Haven, Suite 403 located in New Haven at 370 James Street. Meeting will be in the Wells Fargo Community Room. (Lunch will be provided)

• Northwest Regional Meeting –Monday, April 22nd from 9 am -1 pm at the United Way of Greater Waterbury, located in Waterbury at 100 North Elm Street, 2nd floor. Meeting will be held in the St. Mary’s Board Room. (Lunch will be provided.) Park across the street at the Grace Baptist Church.

• Eastern Regional Meeting- Friday, April 26th from 9 am - noon at the United Community and Family Services located in Norwich at 47 Town Street (Breakfast will be served at 8:30am)

• North Central Regional Meeting – Tuesday, April 30 from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Early Childhood Learning Center at Hockanum Elementary School located 191 Main St, East Hartford (Lunch is provided)

• Southwest Regional Meeting: - Monday, May 20th from 9:00am – 1:00pm at the Margaret E Morton Government Center located at 999 Broad Street, Bridgeport in Conference rooms A&B, 1ST FLOOR. (Lunch is provided)

To register for any of the above regional meetings please click HERE.

Tell Congress CT Needs More CCDBG Funding in FY20!

If you haven't done so already - the Connecticut Association for Human Services and the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance are among those advocating for greater investments in federal child care funding. 

We are asking your organization to sign-on to a letter to Connecticut's Congressional delegation asking Congress to increase funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) by $5 billion in fiscal year 2020.

The additional funding will help families, teachers, and children. It will mean better access to affordable, high-quality child care for families, stronger supports and higher wages for early childhood teachers, and improved outcomes for young children whose families struggle with unmet childcare needs.

If you are authorized to sign the letter to Congress on behalf of your organization, please join us by clicking the button below. Signing on to the letter couldn't be easier, just click the button below and add your name at the bottom of the letter.

Thank you for using your voice to call for greater investments in what really matters -high-quality child care and early education.

P.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut's 3rd Congressional District is the Chairwoman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. It is critical that we present her with a letter showing the full-force of Connecticut's advocates calling for an increase in CCDBG funding for FY20.