News

22 Sep

Posted at 15:27h in News by

KXAN Texas
By Sally Hernandez
September 22, 2023
Millions of kids, including 305,976 in Texas, are at risk of losing childcare by September 30 when the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act expires, according to an analysis by the Century Foundation. “Congress has to act quickly to resolve the immediate funding crisis for childcare,” said Jamie Bussel with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a non-profit that says it’s the Nation’s Largest Health Philanthropy. The Foundation is calling on Congress to extend the federal funds to help...

21 Sep

Posted at 15:04h in News by

CBS News Colorado
By Shaun Boyd
September 21, 2023
State lawmakers grilled administrators of Colorado's Universal Pre-School program at a hearing at the State capitol. The Legislature's Joint Budget Committee called the hearing. It approved $135 million for the program on top of $190 million from nicotine taxes approved by voters. The state promised the money would cover up to 30 hours of free pre-school for all low-income kids but then backtracked at the 11th hour, leaving families scrambling. Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer demanded to know why...

20 Sep

Posted at 15:19h in News by

MPR News
By Kyra Miles
September 20, 2023
The first three years of childrens’ lives are shaped by a wide range of social factors. The Zero to Three LEARN conference held at the Minneapolis Convention this week tackled a number of those factors, including racial disparities in postpartum depression to climate change. Over the last two days, thousands of early childhood professionals gathered to discuss how to best serve children and families. And this year’s big themes are focused on the impact COVID-19...

15 Sep

Posted at 21:16h in News by

Time Magazine
By Nik Popli
September 15, 2023
The emergency childcare funding Congress allocated during the pandemic is set to expire at the end of the month, raising concerns for the millions of families and childcare providers who relied on it over the last two years. The funding, part of the American Rescue Plan Act that congressional Democrats passed in 2021, included $24 billion in childcare stabilization grants, offering a financial reprieve to providers grappling with the multifaceted challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic....

15 Sep

Posted at 21:08h in News by

Boston Globe
By Nancy Shohet West
September 15, 2023
Parents might gauge their child’s progress in preschool by how many letters they recognize, which shapes they can draw, or how comfortably they play with peers. But when Corey Marcotte of Littleton looks back at daughter Evie’s first year of preschool at Good Pickin' Farm in Westford, success is all about the chickens....

14 Sep

Posted at 20:58h in News by

Forbes
By Allison Robinson
September 14, 2023
For working parents, this September doesn’t just spell the start of the new school year — it also marks the end of childcare funding via the American Rescue Plan. Known as the “childcare cliff,” this act’s expiration means the withdrawal of $24 billion in federal funding for childcare. Without those funds, over 3 million American children may lose access to care. This is problematic for millions of families who depend on that care and the caregivers for...

11 Sep

Posted at 22:43h in News, Zaentz Innovation Fund by

Baltimore Fishbowl
By Sponsored Staff
September 11, 2023
Since 2016, the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins University has run a fellowship program supporting Maryland’s early-career artists in filmmaking and technology-based media. These fellows represent the vibrancy and urgency of Baltimore-grown storytelling, leading the charge in the creative renaissance of the city, and contributing to economic renewal. The recent commitment of $3.1 million dollars by the Saul Zaentz Foundation, disbursed across the next three years, ensures funding for...

11 Sep

Posted at 15:43h in News by

The New York Times
By Eliza Shapiro and Asmaa Elkeurti
September 11, 2023
Not long after Crystal Springs started her new job at a large insurance company in Midtown Manhattan earlier this year, she realized that a much bigger chunk of her paycheck than she expected was going directly to child care for her 5-year-old daughter. Ms. Springs had dreamed that the job, which allowed her and her husband to make about $200,000 a year combined, would help provide a comfortable middle-class life for...

05 Sep

Posted at 20:14h in News by

The New York Times
By Camilo Ortiz and Lenore Skenazy
September 4, 2023
A colleague in suburban Kentucky let his 12-year-old daughter walk two houses down to her friend’s place. At the end of the play date, the other girl’s mom walked her home, just to be safe. Such excessive caution is hardly unusual — over the past several decades, children have become less and less independent. Instead of running outside to play after school or riding their bikes around “Stranger Things”-style, they’re more...

01 Sep

Posted at 01:29h in News by

WDRB.com
By Katrina Nickell
September 1, 2023
Louisville, KY – Parents with preschoolers in Jefferson County Public Schools' Early Childhood Education program are still working to find child care. The program's first day was set for Aug. 23. But the day before, the district announced the start would be delayed for "at least" two weeks. But no new start date has been announced yet, as the district works to figure out logistical issues. JCPS initially postponed the program's start as it worked on fixes for...

01 Sep

Posted at 01:00h in News by

CBS 21
By Maxine Rose
September 1, 2023
York County, PA – Back to school can be stressful. Just ask Tori Allison, a former early childhood education teacher. “The education field is always changing. We’re learning new things, like, years ago, we didn’t know how important social and emotional development was," said Tori Allison, who has a background in early childhood education. Struggling to build her life, while also achieving her career goals, Allison says she found herself stuck between a rock and a hard...

01 Sep

Posted at 00:51h in News by

Wilmington Biz
By Jenny Callison
September 1, 2023
It’s not news that the demand for high-quality, affordable child care exceeds the supply. In July of this year, the White House released data showing that nearly 60% of children under age 6 in the United States spend time in nonparental care on a regular basis. The same report stated that, in 2019, almost 75% of center-based providers had more requests than capacity, and more than 75% of households that searched for care had a...

01 Sep

Posted at 00:46h in News by

News Channel Nebraska Central
Michael Shively
September 1, 2023
A Nebraska nonprofit is set up at one of the biggest stages in the state to raise awareness for its cause. We Care for Kids is operating an informational booth and display inside the Nebraska Building at the Nebraska State Fair. The Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative is helping out with the campaign. Program manager Ilissa Talkington says one of its goals is to share the importance of early childhood education. “It’s a huge opportunity to really...

31 Aug

Posted at 01:39h in News by

WCAX 3 Vermont
By Melissa Cooney
August 31, 2023
BURLINGTON, VT – Vermont’s groundbreaking Childcare and Early Childhood Education law, or Act 76, is now in place for Vermont families and providers, doubling the amount of financial assistance for families. The act makes a major investment in child care with the goal of increasing access, quality, and financial stability for child care programs and families. DCF Deputy Commissioner Janet McLaughlin says imminent changes will impact child care programs directly and parents indirectly. In July, most programs...

22 Aug

Posted at 21:10h in News, Press, Zaentz Initiative by

Cision PR Newswire
Provided by the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative
August 22, 2023
The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education today launched the Zaentz Navigator, an innovative, user-friendly, and interactive digital tool to help policymakers and leaders learn how cities and states across the country are working to structure, finance, expand, and advance early education and care. The Navigator is appearing at a time when it is needed most. Record spending on early education as part of...

16 Aug

Posted at 00:28h in News by

Axios Indianapolis
By Arika Herron
August 16, 2023
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch is all in on universal pre-K. Driving the news: Crouch told Axios on Tuesday that if she is elected governor next year she would push lawmakers to move Indiana's state-funded pre-K program, On My Way Pre-K, toward universal access more quickly. "We can't get there overnight because, quite honestly, we don't have the infrastructure or the people to be able to do that," she said. "But I think, because of the importance of...

11 Aug

Posted at 20:45h in News by

Center on Child and Family Policy
Early Matters Podcast
With Katharine B. Stevens, James Heckman and Jorge Garcia
August 11, 2023
In this inaugural episode of the Center on Child and Family Policy's new podcast, Katharine Stevens interviews renowned economists James Heckman and Jorge Luis Garcia about their collaborative research on the transformational power of early childhood interventions to build human capital, and their new paper, "Parenting Promotes Social Mobility Within and Across Generations." They discuss what's essential to conducting rigorous research in social science;...

11 Aug

Posted at 01:54h in News by

The Wall Street Journal
By Dana Suskind
August 11, 2023
Imagine being the parent of an infant or toddler a decade from now. Most aspects of child rearing won’t have changed, but others may well be transformed by the use of artificial intelligence. AI devices are likely to become electronic babysitters, just as previous generations of parents adopted television and video games as tools for lightening their caregiving duties....

02 Aug

Posted at 19:33h in News by

The Boston Globe
By Samantha J. Gross
July 31, 2023
Less than 24 hours after negotiators inked a compromise on a $56.2 billion annual spending plan, House and Senate lawmakers, with little debate, voted Monday to send the fiscal year 2024 package to Governor Maura Healey. The chambers’ action on the budget legislation, representing a record level of spending, came nearly a month after the July 1 deadline for the start of the new fiscal year. The budget is now in Healey’s hands for the...

29 Jul

Posted at 19:48h in News by

CPR News
By Jennifer Brundin
July 29, 2023
With the new school year just a couple of weeks away – and thousands of 4-year-olds taking part in universal preschool – there are still frayed nerves among some school districts and private child care providers. While thousands of families are happy to receive 15 hours a week of free education for their young child, behind the scenes a provider described it as a “debacle.” “There's just a big hesitancy to trust right now because...