Weekly News - August 21, 2017 - CT Early Childhood Alliance

25% Fewer Children Receiving Care4Kids

The July Care4Kids numbers have been released. Compared to last year, 7,484 fewer children are being served by this program. The Care4Kids enrollment numbers, broken down by town and age category, can be found HERE(click on the PDF or Excel for July 2017).

Care4Kids was highlights in a recent article by Nate Lynch at the New London Day. His article featured interviews with child care providers in Southeastern CT, families that utilize Care4Kids, and our Executive Director, Merrill Gay. The article can be found HERE.

Don't forget - the Alliance is hosting a discussion on Care4Kids on the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving's Early Childhood Collaborative website. To find our discussion, click HERE. You will need a free account to comment.

Budget Update

There's been a lot of action, but we're still no closer to a budget. Governor Malloy released a new Executive Order plan late last week that would eliminate or drastically reduce Education Cost Sharing to towns, if a budget is not in place by the first week in October. CT Mirror has created an interactive map to show the ECS cuts. CT NewsJunkie takes a closer look at the budget impasse. On August 23, "All Hands on Deck" (a coalition of organizations including non-profits, child advocacy organizations, education providers, labor and citizen action groups) will hold a press conference, 11:30 a.m., Room 1C of the Legislative Office Building. The purpose is to urge CT’s elected leaders to significantly broaden their consideration of revenue options within the current budget negotiations. Current austerity budget proposals will hurt families, undermine communities, and are an attack on working families. If you're in the Hartford area, please consider attending.

Massachusetts Raises Wage Rates for Providers

Congratulations to our ECE neighbors to the north! Advocates were successful in increasing wages for the early childhood workforce in the 2018 budget. See "Early Education for All's" blog.

The Diaper Bank Hosts Annual "Rock Your Baby" Event

Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 14, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and buy your tickets for the annual "Rock Your Baby" event, hosted by The Diaper Bank, at Amarante's Sea Cliff in New Haven. Tickets are $75 per person and sponsorship opportunities are available. Proceeds benefit The Diaper Bank, a Connecticut-based non-profit organization, that centralizes the fundraising and distribution of free diapers to poor families through existing service providers, including local food pantries soup kitchens, daycare centers, social service agencies and shelters. In its 13 years of existence, The Diaper Bank has distributed more than 20 million free diapers to poor and low-income families through its Diaper Distribution Network (DDN) of over 60 agencies in New Haven, Fairfield, Hartford, Middlesex and Windham Counties. To purchase tickets or sponsorship info, click HERE.

Oral Health Training for Community Health Workers

Community health workers will learn about the importance of oral health and its connection to overall health and well-being. By learning about oral disease prevention, community health workers will be able to improve access to care for the targeted populations: infants and young children (0-5), pregnant women, and older adults 65 and over. The training is Friday, August 25, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Connecticut Hospital Association 110 Barnes Road, Wallingford. To see the full flyer and for more information, including contact info, click HERE.

CHDI Discusses Early Childhood Trauma Collaborative on WICC 600AM

Dr. Jason Lang, Director of Dissemination and Implementation at Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc., was a guest on Coffee Break Chat on WICC 600AM on August 15. Dr. Lang talked about early childhood trauma, its prevalence, solutions to combating early childhood trauma, what the Collaborative is about, and resources. To listen to the full interview, 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, CT Early Childhood Funder Collaborative, a project of CT Council of Philanthropy; The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut; Community Foundation of Greater New Britain; Community Foundation of Greater New Haven; The Fund for Greater Hartford; and The Eder Family Foundation

homepage

Do you like this post?