Early Learning Insights
Newsletter of the Illinois Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development
In This Issue
About GOECD
Alignment. Quality. Access.

GOECD leads the state's initiatives to create an integrated system of quality early learning and development programs to help give all Illinois children a strong educational foundation before they begin kindergarten.  Learn more.
Upcoming Events
calendar for more events and details.
GOECD Initiatives
Resources
Stay Connected
Greetings Early Childhood Community,

In Governor Pritzker's Budget Address on February 20, 2019, he requested an unprecedented increase in appropriations for the State's Early Childhood Block Grant (ECBG). The budget request of an additional $100 million would increase availability of Preschool for All, Preschool for All Expansion, and Prevention Initiative programs to children in communities with high needs. We are anxiously awaiting release of the Request for Proposals for the Early Childhood Block Grant. Please watch our website for news of the release.

Governor Pritzker also requested a $30 million increase in the Child Care Assistance Program to increase income eligibility for low income families; a $7 million increase for Early Intervention services for infants and toddlers with developmental delays; and level funding for home visiting services provided by the Department of Human Services. We appreciate the Governor's recognition of the importance of early childhood development for the long-term health and success of our children, families, and communities.

In this issue, we highlight members of the Pyramid Model Master Cadre. These highly trained and skilled professionals provide coaching and direct support to staff of programs in Preschool Development Grant Expansion sites who are implementing the Pyramid Model statewide. As a result, program staff are better able to help young children develop social and emotional skills, to identify and minimize implicit bias, and to ultimately reduce suspension and expulsion. The Master Cadre is a valuable resource for professional development across our state.

And again, as I do in every issue, I remind everyone of the ongoing tragedy of family separation at our border; the failure of officials to reunite families; and the long-term effects of this trauma on children in their most vulnerable years. This situation is despicable and is in no way over. Let's not get distracted!

Best Regards,
 
Cynthia L. Tate, Ph.D.
Executive Director, GOECD
Announcements
GOECD is Accepting Applications for New Positions 
 
GOECD  leads the state's initiatives to create an integrated system of early learning and development programs to support Illinois' vision that access to a continuous, equitable, and high-quality early childhood system enables children, with the support of their families and communities, to grow up safe, healthy, happy, and ready to succeed. We are hiring for several positions to assist in the coordination, management, and implementation of activities for the Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5). 

We are now hiring for an Administrative Assistant in addition to the below positions, for which we are still accepting applicants:
Cover letters and resumes should be sent to the Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development c/o GOV.OECD@Illinois.gov.
 
Please share these job postings widely! 
Lead Testing Rules: Announcement for Providers 
 
The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has adopted final rules for licensed child care centers and homes to address lead in drinking water. Effective January 1, 2019, the DCFS licensing standards include the following requirements for currently licensed providers and new licensure applicants:
  • All providers must complete training on the hazards of lead and mitigation strategies
  • Centers and homes constructed on or before January 1, 2000, and serving children under the age of six must:
    • Test all sources of drinking water for elevated levels of lead
    • Develop a mitigation plan, including immediate and long-term actions, for any water sources with results indicating 2.01 parts per billion (ppb) or more of lead present
    • Share lead test results and mitigation plan with DCFS and families
    • Retest water to ensure mitigation strategies remove or reduce lead to 2.0ppb or lower
Providers must collect samples from their sources of drinking water and send samples to an approved lab by May 1, 2019.

More information can be found on the DCFS Sunshine website, including:
  • Updated licensing standards with lead-related requirements
  • List of IEPA-approved laboratories
  • FAQs
Additionally, Illinois Action for Children's website has information on an approved training and resources from experts to help providers move through this process. As more training materials are identified, the website will be updated.
2019 NAEYC Governing Board Election Results are in! 

  • Ann McClain Terrell, President Elect
  • Anthony Broughton, Governing Board At-Large
  • Nicol Russell, Board Member at Large
  • Yohana I. Quiroz, Student Board Member
  • Uhriel Bedoya, Board Member at Large-Appointed
Members terms begin on June 1, 2019.
Click here to view the member profiles. 
Perinatal Depression Prevention and Illinois Home Visiting

The United States Preventative Task Force has released recommendations for preventative treatment of perinatal depression and  Mothers and Babies, a program implemented by Illinois Home Visiting, was cited as a particularly effective program. The task force's report amounted to a public call for health providers to seek out women with certain risk factors and guide them to counseling programs. Mothers and Babies is highlighted as a program to support this call. A recent New York Times article featured the national recommendations and interviewed Dr. Darius Tandon of Northwestern University. Dr. Tandon along with the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership , partners with Illinois home visiting to provide training and support of the Mothers and Babies program. Sixty Illinois home visiting programs implement the Mothers and Babies curriculum. According to research results published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine , mothers in Illinois who received Mothers and Babies exhibited statistically significant decreases in depression and anxiety symptoms at 6-months post-partum. We were pleased to find that Illinois home visiting is ahead of the curve when it comes to providing evidence-based services to mothers in our State!
In Memoriam
Dr. Edward F. Zigler
Dr. Edward F. Zigler, a psychologist who in the mid-1960s was instrumental in the design of Head Start, died on February 7, 2019, at his home in North Haven at the age of 88. Head Start began as a summer program under President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. He and other experts were recruited to design and carry out the program.

In 1970, Dr. Zigler was named by President Nixon to become the first Director of the Office of Child Development and Chief of the U.S. Children's Bureau. He led efforts to conceptualize and mount other innovative programs such as Home Start, Education for Parenthood, the Child Development Associate, and the Child and Family Resource Program. More recently, he helped bring to fruition the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Early Head Start program, and the large network of Schools for the 21st Century.

He dedicated his life to furthering our understanding of the motivational determinants of children's performance and the influence of life circumstances on children's behavior and development. His work studied the effects of socialization settings, child care, schools, intervention programs, and family factors. A major area of Dr. Zigler's studies and writings concerned the development of social action programs to meet the needs of children and their families.
Pyramid Model
Message from the Illinois State Pyramid Model Initiative 

We want to introduce the first cohort of the Pyramid Model Master Cadre! These individuals have been selected through an application process to be part of Illinois' Pyramid Model statewide initiative. Twenty-four individuals make up the Master Cadre. It is funded through the Federal Preschool Development Expansion Grant. Since spring of 2018, the Master Cadre has completed the Pyramid Model 3 modules for Social Emotional Competence as trainer of trainers, Practiced Based Coaching, Culturally Responsive Practices to Reduce Implicit Bias and Suspension & Expulsion, Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT), and Positive Solutions for Families.

The Master Cadre concept offers Birth - 5 programs opportunities to have individuals who are experts in the Pyramid Model support their programs in the area of social emotional development. The Master Cadre can offer training, technical assistance, and coaching support to leadership teams. This support will assist programs in training staff, build capacity with program-wide implementation, and work with leadership teams in becoming an implementation site. By using the Pyramid Model framework, programs will become confident in their social emotional practices, reduce challenging behaviors, reduce suspensions, and eliminate expulsions.

To find out who these individuals are, visit the GOECD website.
Featured Resources 
NCIT Launches Online Solutions Center

The National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers (NCIT), funded by the Pritzker Children's Initiative, recently launched an Online Solutions Center to support states and communities that are working on policies related to infants, toddlers, and their families. The site features lessons learned from states and communities, a data section broken down by state and county, customizable communications content, and a multitude of other resources highlighting the importance of investing in young children and families.

Home-based child care accounts for the largest sector of the early care and education workforce. Despite this prevalence, a relatively small research base exists on strategies that support and help providers improve their caregiving practices. Researchers at Erikson Institute are working to close that gap. Their report, Mapping the Family Child Care Network Landscape: Findings from the National Study of Family Child Care Networks, sheds light on the types of staffed family child care networks that exist across the country.

Read more about the study here
Access the full report here
Upcoming Events 
Sign up now! Illinois Risk and Reach Webinar this Friday

The Illinois Risk and Reach Report provides county-by-county data on the well-being of children and the public resources available to them.  Erikson Institute, along with the Illinois Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development, will host a webinar to explore ways to use data on child well-being and publicly-funded resources found in the report to provide optimal conditions for children to thrive.

The webinar will take place on:
Friday, March 29, 2019 from 12:00 - 1:00 PM CST - Register today!

Click here to view the Risk and Reach video.
Click here to read more about the Illinois Risk and Reach Project. 
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month 

Child Abuse Prevention Month has been observed each April since its first presidential proclamation in 1983. Since that time, millions of Americans have participated in this national campaign. Individuals, organizations and communities across the United States plant pinwheels, tie ribbons, organize trainings, host fundraisers, and support a multitude of other activities celebrating healthy, happy childhoods and raising awareness that all children deserve to grow up in nurturing, safe homes.
 
Visit Prevent Child Abuse Illinois for a list of events happening across the state and to see what you can do to honor and celebrate April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Week of the Young Child - Step it Up: April 8-12, 2019

The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the world's largest early childhood education association. The purpose of the Week of the Young Child™ is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.

NAEYC first established the Week of the Young Child™ in 1971, recognizing the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children's success in school and later life. The Week of the Young Child™ is a time to plan how we-as citizens of a community, of a state, and of a nation-will better meet the needs of all young children and their families. Click here for additional information. 
Save the Date: Illinois Association for Infant Mental Health's Annual Conference 

Sensorimotor Approach to Arousal Regulation and Developmental Trauma
Presenters: Sheila M. Frick, OTR/L and Tracy Bjorling, M.S., OTR/L
Date: Friday, October 11, 2019
Location: UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608

This conference will explore the connections between trauma, sensory integrative difficulties, arousal, affect, and self-regulation. Participants will learn how sound and movement are critical in the development of body based, perceptual-motor, and social-emotional foundations for feeling safe in the world and in relationship to another. The basics of auditory and vestibular/somatosensory processing, and their relationship to arousal, attachment, self-regulation, and learning will be explored. Video and case presentations will bring key concepts and treatment strategies to life in this theoretically-based, yet practical course. Registration will open this summer. Click here for more information.
Registration is Open for Erikson's Summer Institutes 

In July of 2019, Erikson Institute is offering two unique professional development opportunities: MEME: Meaning-Making in Early Mathematics Education (July 9-12, 2019) and Big Ideas in Early Learning (July 16-19, 2019).These two events offer a chance for early childhood professionals to work with Erikson Institute experts and gain an in-depth understanding of foundational mathematics as well as language and literacy, technology, social emotional learning, and collaborative relationships in early education.
 
Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN) is a conceptual model and practical tool for communication in relationships and reflective practice. The goal of the FAN is to strengthen the provider-parent relationship, resulting in parents who are attuned to their children. The FAN is a track on Erikson's Summer Institute (the Collaborative Relationships track of the Big Ideas in Early Learning Summer Institute). Click here for more information on this opportunity and to learn more about the other tracks available at Erikson this summer.  
Illinois Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development | earlychildhood.illinois.gov
160 N. LaSalle St. Suite N-100
Chicago, IL 60601
312-814-6312