Care4Kids Update
The Care4kids has a projected deficit again. In August, the program was closed to new Priority Group 4 applicants. That means the only remaining option to save money, is to reduce the caseload. The most likely way this would happen would be by not renewing certificates when they come up for redetermination. Under state law, Care4kids has to post a notice on their web page 30 days in advance of such a change. So far this has not happened. The Alliance is doing all that we can to prevent it from ever happening. If you haven’t already, please sign the petition, then share the video and petition link with your networks. Also please talk to your legislators. Finally, we are looking for parents whose C4K certificate is up for renewal in the first half of 2017 to record a short video answering the question, “What will happen if you lose your Care4Kids?” Two articles came out late last week in CT Mirror and CT NewsJunkie discussing the current Care4Kids situation.
OEC Listening Tours on QRIS
Jennifer Johnson, Director of the OEC Quality Improvement Division, is embarking on a listening tour regarding the development of CT’s Quality Recognition and Improvement System (QRIS). Your input is needed as a Quality Recognition and Improvement System is being developed. This system will help families and communities recognize quality early learning environments in their local communities. Most importantly they want to know:
1) How do we recognize, understand and promote quality;
2) What aspects of quality are most important to you; and
3) How do we best support early childhood community and family programs to improve quality?
Dates and Locations:
10/27/16 - 5:30 – 7 p.m. Middletown, 25 Industrial Park Road, Middletown, CT
11/10/16 - 6 – 7:30 p.m. Education Connection, 4 Mountainview Terrace, Suite 201, Danbury, CT
12/1/16 - 6 – 7:30 p.m. Torrington City Hall, 140 Main Street, 2nd Floor Auditorium, Torrington, CT
12/14/16 6 – 7:30 p.m. – All our Kin, 414A Chapel Street, Suite 100, New Haven, CT
To pre-register, click HERE.
CABHN Hosts Legislative Education Forum
The Connecticut Alliance for Basic Human Needs (CABHN) will host its annual legislative education forum on Friday, November 18, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., in Room 2E of the Legislative Office Building. The event is free, but registration is limited. The focus will be on Connecticut's budget. Join legislators, legislative staff, advocates, and lobbyists to learn how the budget process works, points in the process where you can have an impact, and the current state of CT's budget.
Child Care Costs Tackled on NPR's Morning Edition
Wednesday morning, NPR's "Morning Edition" highlighted the cost of child care and the financial stress it can cause even on families considered middle class. To read and/or listen to the story, click HERE.
Dramatic Play and the Brain Professional Development Presentation in New Haven
On Thursday, October 27, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Gesell Institute's National Lecture Staff Director, Erin Akers, will be visiting from Michigan to present on "Dramatic Play and the Brain" professional development event. The event takes place at the Early Childhood Resource Center at Connecticut Children's Museum, 22 Wall Street, New Haven. Pre-registration is not required, but this is an adults-only program. A light dinner will be offered and free parking is available in the lot on Wall Street.
National Women's Law Center Releases State-By-State Policy Report
The National Women's Law Center has released its Red Light Green Light: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2016 report. The annual report examines child care assistance policies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The report shows that families in 31 states were better off under one or more of the key policies covered in the report — had greater access to child care assistance and/or received greater benefits from assistance — in February 2016 than in February 2015. Families in 15 states were worse off under one of more of these policies in February 2016 than in February 2015. This is the fourth year in a row in which the situation for families improved in more states than it worsened. Yet, the improvements states made were modest, leaving major gaps in families’ access to assistance and the level of assistance available. For example, 20 states had waiting lists or frozen intake for child care assistance. And only one state set its reimbursement rates for child care providers at federally recommended levels. NOTE: This report follows states from February 2015 to February 2016, but does offer updates in the table notes on the Care4Kids waiting list started in August 2016.
Infant Mental Health Upcoming Events
The CT-AIMH 2016 Fall Conference is coming up soon! The date is Thursday, November 17, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Woodwinds in Branford. Breakfast and lunch will both be included. NASW CECs available. The keynote speaker will be Joshua Sparrow, M.D., DFAACAP, director of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center in the Division of Development of Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, discussing the topic: "Early Childhood Obesity and the Feeding Relationship- More than Calories in and Calories Out: Promoting Health in the First Years and Before." To register: Please visit www.ct-aimh.org or click here.
2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment
The American Academy of Pediatrics has released its 2016 recommendations to help create safe sleeping environments for babies and to reduce the instance of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) or Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI), of which Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is part of. To read the recommendations, click HERE.
Support for the Alliance comes from of our members and our funders: The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, Connecticut Health Foundation, Children's Fund of Connecticut, Connecticut Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, The Fund for Greater Hartford, and The Eder Family Foundation.