Submissions can be an application (apply on your own or a program/organization’s behalf), or nomination (submit on behalf of another individual or program/organization) to be acknowledged for work around equity in the early childhood education or afterschool setting. Self-applications are accepted. Get more info or submit an application/ nomination.

Continuums of Care and Head Start Working Together to Address Housing Vulnerability of Pennsylvania's Families contains information and key data on children and families enrolled in Head Start who are experiencing homelessness and seeking housing assistance, in Pennsylvania. This report includes Head Start data for the 2018-2019 program year (school year). This report also presents Head Start data for each of Pennsylvania’s 16 Continuum of Care (CoC) regions.

A State-Level Brief, Participation of Young Children Experiencing Homelessness in Early Childhood Programs in Pennsylvania contains data from the early childhood and housing service sectors. Throughout the brief there are multiple examples of the challenges presented by the way data is defined and collected not only across service sectors but in the various early childhood programs.

The PA HSSCO and People’s Emergency Center are hosting a forum on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, 10 AM to 11:30 AM, via Zoom, to explain the new report on Head Start and Continuums of Care and offer insight from local leadership from rural, suburban, and urban regions.

The forum will feature a panel of practitioners discussing strategies to increase enrollment and new data showing the prevalence of children experiencing homelessness enrolled into Head Start, according to the CoC regions. Moderators include Tracy Duarte, Director of PA HSCCO, and Joe Willard of People's Emergency Center.

Panelists will include:

Click here to register for the forum.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) recently announced that organizations may now submit their intent to apply for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) grant program. Under the program, $20 million in grant funding will be available to establish and/or support community learning centers that provide academic, artistic, and cultural enrichment opportunities for students and their families.

The 21^st CCLC program provides opportunities for communities to establish or to expand activities in community learning centers that:

For additional details, including how to apply, please click here.

The Program Quality Assessment (PQA) team announces the Let’s Talk Quality Series February topic, “Observation, Documentation, and Reflection.”

The Let’s Talk Quality Series includes three-monthly activities – Let’s Talk Quality Blog, Let’s Talk Quality Webinar, and the newest, Let’s Talk Quality Spotlight. Each month the PQA team publishes a blog article, creates a webinar, and offers a spotlight session--all that focus on a monthly topic. Check out the Let's Talk Quality Blog, for the blog post related to this month’s topic. While there, check out all the other great blog posts! 

Presenter: Laurie Litz, T.E.A.C.H. Director. Audience: Early Childhood Professionals. 

T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (PDE). For more information, visit dhs.pa.gov and education.pa.gov. 

Now is the time for child care programs to obtain certified lifeguard training for the upcoming summer!

The following staff:child ratios apply while children are swimming: When children are swimming, supervision shall include one person certified in lifeguard training and this person may not be included in the staff:child ratio. The lifeguard must be at least sixteen years of age and have a staff file including: proof of age, address, background clearances, disclosure statement, health assessment, TB test, two references and verification of lifeguard certification. Any staff person included in the staff:child ratio while children are swimming must much complete water safety instruction annually.

Age level and staff:child ratio:

For information on training options, please click here.

Get more resources and information.

Family and Group Child Care providers in Philadelphia who participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) can apply for one-time grants of $2,500 for their meal programs. Grants can support a variety of needs connected to operating a CACFP meal program, including kitchen equipment (such as deep freezers or refrigerators), the cost of food, and labor for preparing and serving meals. These grants are available to current CACFP participants, and home-based providers that are currently registering to participate in CACFP through one of four state-approved Family Day Care CACFP Sponsors. Get more info. Applications are due Feb. 11, 2022.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service is seeking input from Family Child Care Home providers on their data collection for the 2023 Family Day Care Home Participation Study. The survey asks current and former Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)-participating child care homes about their experiences with the program.

Comments are due in the online portal by Feb. 28, 2022. 

Dr. Jessica Toste and her colleagues at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) are conducting a study to better understand how preschool-aged children can learn about anti-Black racism with their caregivers at home. They aim to develop and test the potential of the GoKAR! (Kids Against Racism) Program to reduce bias and increase awareness of racism. For this study, they are recruiting caregiver-child pairs to use the program materials at home and talk about their experiences. Learn more here.

A new report from Child Trends and the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation finds that, while most fathers do not seek out fatherhood programs to learn about healthy relationships, they are often engaged and interested in relationship programming once they are invested in the program. Staff and participants described the importance of cultivating an early connection to the fatherhood program and creating a safe group space where fathers can learn from their peers and the facilitators. The study also noted that fatherhood programs can equip fathers with skills to address difficult coparent relationships and help them navigate social and legal barriers to connecting with their children.  

The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) partnered with the Institute for the Study of Resilience in Youth (ISRY) at Harvard University’s McLean Hospital to conduct a national survey of 2,000 parents and caregivers whose children participated in programs last summer. Read about the survey results in the report, Building Resilience in Youth Through Summer Experiences: Structured Summer Programming Promotes Social-Emotional Growth and School Preparedness.

The Societal Expert Action Network (SEAN) has issued the report, Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on the Early Care and Education Sector, which contains strategies state and local decision makers can use to mitigate pandemic impacts on the early care and education (ECE) sector. SEAN links researchers in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences with decision makers to respond to policy questions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The publication focuses on five strategies for mitigating pandemic impacts, such as modifying subsidy reimbursement and payment policies and integrating data systems across provider and funding types.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, educators around the country are seeing an increasing need to support young people who may be struggling with anxiety, depression, fear, trauma, food insecurity or even homelessness. And nearly two-thirds of parents feel that their children’s social and emotional development has been affected by the pandemic, according to research from the EASEL Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

A recent webinar jointly hosted by The Afterschool Alliance, Every Hour Counts, and the Forum for Youth Investment explores how afterschool programs around the country have employed SEL strategies to help kids focus their thinking, manage their behavior, and understand and deal with feelings, particularly as they continue to face the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

It’s never too early to be thinking of a child’s smile—even if teeth have not yet appeared. Taking care of a child’s smile begins at birth and PA's Promise for Children has tips families and early childhood educators can use to ensure children develop healthy dental habits.

This Playbook is designed to help educators, providers, and advocates communicate about the value of out-of-school-time (or “extracurricular”) programs. It can also inform the design of programs and policies that make high-quality OST opportunities equitably accessible to all children. The Playbook stems from research on understanding how parents, teachers, and OST providers perceive the role extracurricular programs play in children’s social, emotional and academic development. The research was supported by The Wallace Foundation. 

February's a great time to promote the benefits of good oral health because developing good dental health habits early on helps children get a good start on a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums. The USDA has put together a one-stop-shop with links to handouts, recipes, a children's book, a webinar, and training resources. 

Applications are now being accepted for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). LIHWAP is a temporary emergency program to help families who meet income guideline pay overdue water bills. More information and applications can be found on the PA Department of Human Services website. Please share this information with the families you serve.

The January 2022 edition of the Family Support News Brief from Family Support at Center for Schools and Communities contains information about the importance of tradition, webinars and online courses, and more.

By providing the families of the children in your care with educational handouts, you can help inform them of the nutrition standards you meet through the CACFP and how they can continue these healthy standards at home. Use the handouts created by Team Nutrition designed for child care providers to give to families. Handout in English and handout in Spanish.

The new year is a great time to review your child care program’s emergency preparedness plans. Each year, Ready.gov encourages families to Resolve to Be Ready and Child Care Aware of America can help child care programs be ready in 2022 as well. Get info on Emergency Preparedness, including a checklist and next steps.

The January resources from Camille Catlett are now available. The January edition of Baby Talk includes information on promoting inclusion in infant and toddler settings, what's brushing go to do with it, and more. The January edition of Natural Resources shares free resources for learning about and using trauma-informed practices .