Early Childhood Legislative Caucus Set to Begin

The Early Childhood Legislative Caucus will start on Monday, February 5, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The meeting will take place in the conference room at the top of the elevator of the LOB (where caucus meetings are usually held).

Eliminating Childhood Lead Exposure: A Facebook Livestreaming Event

On Thursday, February 8, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., Child Trends will host a livestreaming lecture and discussion on why childhood lead exposure is still a problem in the United States and the developing world, and what we can do to eliminate it. The keynote speaker is Mary Jean Brown, a nationally recognized expert on lead poisoning from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. A moderated discussion, with questions from the live audience and social media viewers will follow. To RSVP to the event on Facebook, click HERE (you will have to log into your Facebook account). 

OEC Action Sessions

The Office of Early Childhood has worked hard these past four years to fulfill its mission while continuing to gather your perspectives at listening sessions, forums, meetings and discussions held across the state. The OEC is taking the next step in acting on items that remain outstanding.

With generous support from the Connecticut Early Childhood Funder's Collaborative, the OEC will hold four sessions at the beginning of February to review, update, and prioritize accomplishable early care and education goals for the agency. Specifically, (i) review priorities previously identified by early childhood stakeholders, (ii) understand which are achievable and which rise to the top for immediate action, and (iii) agree on action plans for selected priorities over the next 12 months, and then the longer term.

These sessions will be facilitated by an early childhood policy expert from the national Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).

Sessions will be held as follows:
Monday, February 5th, 12-3PM, Naugatuck Valley Community College (Founder's Hall, First Floor) Waterbury Register HERE
Monday, February 5th, 6-8PM, Women's League Child Development Center, 1695 Main Street, Hartford Register HERE
Tuesday, February 6th, 9AM-12, United Way of Southeastern CT, 283 Stoddard Wharf Road Ledyard (Gales Ferry) Register HERE
Tuesday, February 6th, 6-8PM, Burroughs Community Center, 2470 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport Register HERE

Registration deadline is Sunday, February 4 by 11:59 p.m. Please let the OEC know if you need child care, Spanish translation services, or sign language interpreters.

NOTE: Sessions will be rescheduled if public schools in these locations are closed due to inclement weather!

Attendance must be limited to 30 participants in each session to accommodate discussion. OEC will maintain a list of those unable to secure a place. OEC will provide a summary review of the final results from the sessions along with the opportunity for you to comment if you were unable to attend.

Family Child Care Network Announcement

The Office of Early Childhood, through the United Way of Connecticut, seeks organizations that currently support family child care providers who are interested in expanding technical assistance and shared service business alliance functions; or who are interested in launching a new shared service business alliance for family child care providers, to respond to a Request for Proposal.

The details are in the RFP. The RFP is due March 8, 2018. Respondents are required to attend one Bidders’ Conference. For more information, click HERE.

"Zero Weeks" Screening Planned for Torrington, Hamden

The "Zero Weeks" documentary on paid family leave is heading to Torrington and Hamden in early March.

• Thursday, March 1, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Torrington Public Library
• Thursday, March 8, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Connecticut Women's Consortium, 2321 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, in honor of International Women's Day

To register for either event, click HERE.

In Memory of Iris Rich

With heavy hearts, we share that Iris Rich, who retired in 2017 as Executive Director of the Women's League Child Development Center in Hartford, passed away in early January. Cards of condolence can be directed to Iris' husband, Martin, care of Women's League Child Development Center, 1695 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06120.  Please respect the family's privacy and refrain from calling or visiting. Our thoughts are with the Rich Family during this very difficult time.

Support for the Alliance comes from of our members and our funders: The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, Connecticut Health Foundation, Connecticut Community 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; and The Fund for Greater Hartford.