CCRN Winter Newsletter and

Training Calendar

Greetings Early Educators and Partners,

As winter settles in and we welcome the start of a new year, we want to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the dedication of our early childhood education providers and valued community partners. Thank you for your continued partnership, passion, and unwavering commitment to the field of early childhood education.

This season invites reflection on the meaningful work we’ve accomplished together and inspires renewed energy and purpose for the year ahead. We hope you will take time to focus on a few of the joys that the colder months can bring to early childhood education. Whether it's through fun seasonal crafts, outdoor exploration, building meaningful relationships with peers, or nurturing emotional and social development, there is much to celebrate as we look forward to a season filled with learning, laughter, and memories that will last a lifetime.

Wishing you a season filled with warmth, reflection, and a bright beginning to 2026.

CCRN will be open in a limited capacity on

December 22nd and 23rd, 2025.

Our office will be CLOSED

December 24th 2025

through

January 1st, 2026

for the Holiday Break.

We will be open in limited capacity on January 2nd, 2026, and return to full operation on January 5th, 2026.

Candelaria, Claudia, Courtney, Cynthia, Dylan, Devon, Katrina, Kevin, Kelly, Lorena, Martha, Maureen, Molly

Visit CCRN's Website

Winter 2026 Training Calendar

Online Training Registration Form

Local and Regional Updates

Southern Oregon ECE 2026 Winter Conference Save The Date!!!

Every Child Belongs Advisory Committee

The Every Child Belongs (ECB) Advisory Committee (AC) is recruiting new members—and we’d love your help reaching people who should be at the table.

The ECB Program works statewide to prevent suspension and expulsion in early care and education and to ensure providers and families get the supports they need. The Advisory Committee brings together families, community partners, and practitioners to guide this work so it’s equitable, practical, and grounded in lived experience.

Who we’re looking for:

We aim for a committee that reflects Oregon’s diversity—geographic, cultural, and lived expertise. In this cycle, we especially welcome applications from people rooted in:

Family Child Care
Certified centers
Parents and Caregivers
Head Start/OPK
IECMH Consultation
TA Provider with infant/toddler specialization

Desired intersectional representation:

Individuals from historically marginalized communities
Multilingual individuals
Individuals with personal or professional experience with suspension and expulsion
Representation from currently underrepresented regions of Oregon, including: Eastern Oregon; Four Rivers; Frontier; Linn, Benton, and Lincoln; Northwest Oregon; and Southern Oregon

What do Advisory Committee members do?

Advise on policy, practice, and implementation of ECB supports across Oregon.
Center provider and family voice and lived/lived-expert experience in decision-making.
Identify gaps and recommend improvements in regional coordination and access to supports.
Review emerging data and stories to elevate what’s working and where change is needed.
Champion equity and belonging, including culturally and linguistically congruent care.
Share back to their communities and networks to build awareness and feedback loops.

Meetings are held virtually each month, with occasional opportunities for focused workgroup engagement. Members receive onboarding, support, and clear expectations.

How to apply - The application is available in five languages and takes about 10–15 minutes to complete:

If you need assistance or an accommodation with the application process, please contact dona@or-imha.org.

Applications will be accepted through Monday, December 22nd.

Please share! We encourage you to forward this invitation to families, providers, and community leaders who could bring vital perspectives. Thank you for helping us build a committee that reflects Oregon’s communities and keeps us focused on what matters most: every child belongs!

Every Child Belongs Connect Support

Caring for groups of children is meaningful work, but it is also hard work. It’s normal to experience challenges, and it is expected that everyone will need a little extra support from time to time. It is okay to ask for help!

Every Child Belongs Connect (ECB Connect) is a new, preventive, no-cost way for early learning and care providers in Jackson and Josephine counties to request support when managing challenging situations with children. Providers can easily request support by using the online form as soon as an enrolled child is at risk of suspension or expulsion, or as soon as the provider is concerned that they may not be able to support the child facing challenging behaviors. Interpretation is available if support is needed in a language other than English.

How to access support:

1. Visit everychildbelongs.org Every Child Belongs – A new service designed to support educators to help keep young children in care.

2. Scroll down to the Request ECB Connect Support section.

3. Fill out a brief form.

4. Click “Submit” at the bottom of the form.

5. Once the form is submitted, a specialist in our region will contact you to learn more about your concerns and how the ECB team can best assist you.

ECB Connect supports educators to do what they do best; build healthy, inclusive spaces where every child can thrive. Learn more at everychildbelongs.org!

Our local contact point for Every Child Belongs in Jackson and Josephine counties is the Family Nurturing Center!

Phone: 541-779-5242

Email: info@rvfnc.org

Visit the Family Nurturing Center Website Here

LOCATIONS

We serve both Jackson and Josephine counties. Visit us at our main office at the Main Street Family Campus in Medford.

Medford

Main Street Family Campus

825 E. Main Street, Suite A

Medford, OR 97504

Fax: 541-779-2523

Open:

M-Th 9:00 am–5:00 pm

Friday 9:00 am–12:00 pm

Grants Pass

735 SE 7th Street

Grants Pass, OR 97526

Fax: 541-295-8130

Open:

M-F 9:00 am–2:00 pm

DELC ERDC Information Page

DELC ERDC Rates Information Page

Employment Related Day Care Rate Changes!

Effective January 1st, 2026, there will be changes to ERDC reimbursement rates for programs serving ERDC families.

These rates and additional information will be sent directly to all ERDC-approved programs by DELC.

The 2026 Rate increases are based on the Market Price and Supply Study completed October through December 2024, and were also subject to bargaining with the licensed family child care union (AFSCME) and the licensed-exempt family providers union (SEIU).

Please check the DELC ERDC Rate Information Page linked above for the latest information and rate lists.

Upcoming Training Opportunities

Local Highlights

First Children’s Finance is offering a Tax Training for child care business owners in January 2026!

This training will take place on January 6, 2026, and will be presented in English with live interpretation available in Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

A second training on January 8, 2026, is the same training however it will be offered in Spanish only.

Please click on the fliers below to register through First Children's Finance!

Business Deductions for Child Care Providers English Flyer

Business Deductions for Child Care Providers Spanish Flyer

Business Deductions for Child Care Providers Spanish Only Flyer

Southern Oregon University will be offering an early childhood workshop during the upcoming Winter term.

The workshop can be taken by any early educators in the field either for 8 training hours (FREE) or for 1 college credit (10 hours - $60 fee). One credit of ED 399 will be available for those who attend the full 8-hour class and complete the course assignment.

Saturday, March 14: Creative Arts in ECE

Set 1, CKCs: LEC, HGD

There will be a couple of Zoom workshops held for other southern Oregon locations. They will have a waitlist availability for Jackson/Josephine County providers. We will send more information by email.

To register for any SOU Saturday Workshop please contact Susan Faller

at fallers@sou.edu

or 541-552-8436.

If you'd like to earn SOU college credit, be sure to make note of this during your registration SOU Saturday Workshop opportunities will be shared via email as we receive them.

Training Reminders!

Please remember that to receive credit for a training session you must:

Attend the session: Training credit requires full attendance and participation, which is measured through staff and Zoom reports. You CANNOT miss more than 15 minutes!
Be active and engaged in the content of the session (this is verified by reviewing the saved chat): You MUST participate in breakout rooms, polls, and chat. You have options in order to support your needs. Please speak with CCRN staff if you feel like there is a barrier to your full participation.
Be PRE-Registered through CCRN: You MUST register by noon the day before a training to GUARANTEE that you are registered (we do not always have staff available for last-minute requests – though we do our best!)

Thank you! We are always open to your feedback and suggestions for upcoming topics.

If you share the link to a session with your co-worker who has not pre-registered through CCRN, we will not know how to look for them in the attendance report and the chat, and they will not receive credit for the session in ORO.

If you have attended a training session and have not received credit, please feel free to contact us at CCRN and we can look into this further for you!

To register for a training session please click the link below to register through our online registration form or you can call the CCRN training request line at 541-776-6768.

Please reach out with any questions you may have! You can reach CCRN's Main Office Number at 541-776-8590 x1126.

Winter 2026 Training Calendar

Online Training Registration Form

Did you know you can update your program information and available openings yourself?!

The Find Child Care Oregon Provider Portal gives you access to your FCCO program profile and allows you to update your program’s information at any time.

You have access to update

information such as:

Referral Status
Contact Information
Operational Days & Hours
Age Groups Served
Enrollment
Vacancies
Message for families
Pictures

A Message for Providers!!

I wanted to share a quick message from a blog/podcast I listen to...

Visit Amanda's Page Here

"Every once in a while, a message written in the past suddenly feels like it was meant for right now. That happened to me this month as I revisited a post I wrote nearly ten years ago: “There’s Good in the World. And It’s Worth Fighting For.”

It references movies from two decades ago, based on words first penned by JRR Tolkien 80-90 years ago.

I just recorded it as a second-read episode on the podcast, and even after all these years, it still caught me off guard emotionally.

(Let’s just say my “one-take recording” goal didn’t survive the first paragraph.)

But I decided to share it again because:

It may be exactly what you need today.
It's a reminder I often need myself.
Looking back a decade later has shown me how true this message really is.

This quick, 15-minute episode revisits a powerful exchange from The Lord of the Rings—a reminder that even when the world feels heavy, “there’s some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”

For those of us who work with young children, the fight isn’t often on an epic, cinematic scale.

It’s quiet. Ordinary. Daily.

It looks like:

the way you greet a child in the morning.
the patience you offer during a meltdown.
the play you protect.
the community you nurture.
the skills you build for a world decades in the future.

Wise Gandalf said it best in a preface to the trilogy: “It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

If you need a reminder that your work matters — deeply — I hope you’ll take a moment to listen.

Because serving young children is an act of optimism.

And optimism is contagious.

And goodness — real, lasting goodness — grows one child, one relationship, one small act of love at a time.

Thank you for being part of that good.

Thank you for standing up for children and for childhood.

With gratitude,

Amanda