Calling all early childhood providers, educators and parents: your voice is needed! Help us shape a federal policy agenda focused on improving equity and inclusion for young children with disabilities and development delays across the birth-to-five early childhood system by sharing your experiences, perspectives, and ideas. Please complete our survey by March 18 and help us amplify our reach by sharing with your networks:https://bit.ly/3pd6uya
Tag Archives: infants and Toddlers
Home Visitor Webinar Series: Socializations in Home-Based Programs
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Learn about the key role socializations play in home-based programs during this webinar. Monthly socializations offer both children and parents a chance to participate in group activities and interact with peers. Parents have many time demands so it can be challenging for them to participate. Join us to explore practices, activities, and strategies for offering engaging and effective socializations. |
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Topics for the webinar include:
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Target Audience
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How to Register |
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Questions? To learn more, contact the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning at ecdtl@ecetta.info or (toll-free) 1-844-261-3752. |
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Home Visitor Webinar Series 2018 Calendar Save the dates and mark your calendars! The Home Visitor Series webinars occur bi-monthly, from 3–4 p.m. ET:
To watch previous webinars in this series on-demand, visit https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/home-visitor-series. |
Joint Statement on Collaboration and Coordination of the MIECHV and IDEA Part C Programs
January 19, 2017
Creating a high-quality system of services and supports for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.
The purpose of this joint statement from the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Departments), is to set a vision for stronger partnerships, collaboration, and coordination between awardees of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part C Program (IDEA Part C Program). Specifically, this joint statement provides recommendations to states, territories, and tribal entities to identify and enhance opportunities for collaboration and coordination between MIECHV and the IDEA Part C Program.
Effective collaboration and coordination across MIECHV and the IDEA Part C Program can create a high-quality system of services and supports for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. It is the position of both Departments that all infants and toddlers and their families should have access to coordinated, comprehensive services that support overall health, development, and wellness. This joint ED and HHS statement aims to advance this position by:
- Providing an overview of the MIECHV and the IDEA Part C Programs;
- Emphasizing the potential for collaboration and coordination between MIECHV awardees and the IDEA Part C State programs;
- Highlighting existing opportunities for partnerships between MIECHV awardees and the IDEA Part C State programs; and
- Providing recommendations to states, territories, tribal entities, and local programs for identifying and increasing opportunities for collaboration and coordination.
Download:
Follow us on Twitter and see tweet about this joint statement here! https://twitter.com/ED_Sped_Rehab/status/822090143721025536
A Farewell Letter from Dr. Enriquez
Dear Head Start program staff and parents,
I am blessed beyond words to have spent the last 20 months working with such intelligent, committed, and loving colleagues as yourselves. So it is with a mixed heart that I announce that as the Obama Administration is coming to a close, so is my time at the helm of the Office of Head Start. Simultaneously, it is a pleasure to remind you of the successes that we have accomplished together as we enhanced the Head Start legacy for future generations.
We strengthened Head Start, set our sights on creating high-performing agencies, opened and enhanced communication systems, reported on lessons learned from the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) and the Designation Renewal System (DRS), and worked in unison to publish the new Head Start Program Performance Standards. These accomplishments were designed to position present and future generations with quality tools to help them become even more successful!
Though each of our Head Start families is unique, it is our job to help them become as strong and stable as possible, regardless of what they believe or who they are. Our Head Start community consists of traditional two-parent households and non-traditional families made of a single mother or father; children raised by grandparents, relatives, or older siblings; and families whose parents are both of the same gender. We have students who open gifts on Christmas, who are taught the Torah, and who proudly wear headscarves as part of their Muslim faith. Some of our families are indigenous Native Americans, some are descendants of the pilgrims, and yet others moved to the United States within the last year and may migrate to work and bring food to our tables.
Our Head Start family is a snapshot of this country, and we are faced with the task of creating an environment that celebrates and harnesses the strengths of all of these differences. As partners, staff, and parents, I know you strive to get better at that—and I thank you for all you do!
You serve more than one million children annually, but it is your passion to focus on the “one child in a million,” as though each were our own that makes me most proud. You are the face of Head Start, made even more beautiful by the loving attitude and hard work you bring to Head Start every day.
I have traveled our nation and met magnificent and highly competent people throughout all levels of Head Start. It is not just your minds, but your hearts and minds working in unison that must continue guiding us forward with compassion and focus. Therefore, I leave the Office of Head Start with the knowledge that it remains in capable hands—hands that are guided by passionate hearts and sharpened minds.
As always, I am deeply humbled and honored to have worked with each and every one of you. My very best wishes for you from this day forward.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Blanca E. Enriquez
Dr. Blanca Enriquez is the Director at the Office of Head Start.
Source: A Farewell Letter from Dr. Enriquez
Available at: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/news/blog/farewell-dr-enriquez.html
Brush Up on Oral Health: December 2016
December 2016
Choosing Healthy Drinks
- Milk and Water Are Healthy Drink Choices
- Many Drinks Have Added Sugar
- Helping Parents Make Good Drink Choices
Cook’s Corner: Cheesy Snowmen
Did You Know?
To keep children healthy, the American Heart Association recommends the following:
- Children under age 2 should not consume foods with added sugar.
- Children ages 2 to 18 should consume no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day.
Source: The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness
Available at: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/health/oral-health/PDFs/brushup-news-201612.pdf
A Webinar for Child Care Health Consultants The Shifting Landscape for Health and Safety in Child Care
Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016
1–2 p.m. EST
The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness (NCECHW) invites Child Care Health Consultants (CCHCs) to register for the second in a series of ongoing webinars to support child care health consultation in all early childhood education (ECE) settings. Join us to explore new developments in early childhood health and safety. Find out how to strengthen programs’ health and safety practices.
Topics for the webinar include:
- Identifying the new state requirements for health and safety training
- Understanding key data that programs can use to promote effective health and safety practices
- Recognizing how to find information about your state’s approach to health and safety
Who Should Attend?
This webinar will benefit child care health and nurse consultants; health educators and advocates; Head Start health services staff; and school nurses working with pre-K programs.
Select the link to register: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/phta48t05aaa&eom
Questions?
Contact NCECHW at health@ecetta.info or call (toll-free) 1-888-227-5125.
Opportunities to Promote Children’s Behavioral Health: Health Care Reform and Beyond: Workshop Summary
11/2015
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law in 2010, has several provisions that could greatly improve the behavioral health of children and adolescents in the United States. It requires that many insurance plans cover mental health and substance use disorder services, rehabilitative services to help support people with behavioral health challenges, and preventive services like behavioral assessments for children and depression screening for adults. These and other provisions provide an opportunity to confront the many behavioral health challenges facing youth in America.
To explore how the ACA and other aspects of health care reform can support innovations to improve children’s behavioral health and sustain those innovations over time, the Forum on Promoting Children’s Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health held a workshop on April 1-2, 2015. The workshop explicitly addressed the behavioral health needs of all children, including those with special health needs. It also took a two-generation approach, looking at the programs and services that support not only children but also parents and families. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions of this workshop.
Source: The National Academies Press
Infants And Toddlers In The Policy Picture: A Self-Assessment Toolkit For States
11/2015
All infants and toddlers need good health, strong families, and positive early learning experiences. Furthermore, young children benefit most from an early childhood system that is built through collaboration. These goals form the framework for a policy agenda that creates a comprehensive range of services and supports that honor the needs and choices of families for their children. This self-assessment toolkit draws on research on effective policies and best practices to help states evaluate progress toward building an effective early childhood system and set priorities for improvement.
The toolkit will guide you through a series of questions that will prompt you to collect data on how infants and toddlers are doing in your state and to analyze existing state policies and funding choices. In each section, ZERO TO THREE has provided national comparison data as well as suggested sources where you can find information for your state. Each topical section also includes optional stakeholder surveys that you may use to gather input on how existing services are meeting families’ needs. We recommend that you read Suggested Process for Using the Self-Assessment Toolkit before you begin using the toolkit.
Source: ZERO TO THREE
Available at: http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/self-assessment-toolkit.html
Brief: Early Childhood Higher Education: Taking Stock Across the States
11/2015
By Marcy Whitebook, Ph.D. and Lea J.E. Austin, Ed.D.
This brief is based on findings from the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Higher Education Inventory conducted in several states: California, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. This brief highlights the extent to which ECE teacher preparation is currently integrated across the birth-to-age-eight continuum, and on variations in field-based practice opportunities for teachers of young children.
Source: Center for the Study in Child Care Employment
Available at: http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/cscce/2015/early-childhood-higher-education-taking-stock-across-the-states/
Systemwide Solutions to Improve Early Intervention for Developmental–Behavioral Concerns
11/2015
by , , , , ,
“Birth to Five: Watch Me Thrive!” (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ecd/child-health-development/watch-me-thrive) seeks to systematically increase early detection of developmental–behavioral problems among at-risk children, from birth through 5 years. This initiative represents a coordinated effort to increase early screening and detection rates across the health, education, and social service sectors. Although the earliest detection of children who need extra developmental–behavioral support is a laudable goal, these efforts will be for naught without appropriate supports to document follow-up and enrollment into services. To meet the challenge of what happens next, our nation must address its capacity crisis. The leadership issue across sectors is to build the capacity to increase and improve access to evidence-based services that are tailored to child and family needs.
This initiative is the stated promise of early intervention (EI) for ages 0 to 3 years, early childhood special education (ECSE) for ages 3 to 5 years, and other high-quality early learning programs. In 2011 and 2012, 2% to 3% of US children received EI under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; https://ideadata.org/) Part C, and 5% to 6% of children received ECSE under IDEA Part B, Section 619.1 Twelve percent of children are diagnosed with any developmental disability between 3 and 10 years and 16% between 11 and 17 years.2 Mental health disorders emerge in 21% of children between 9 and 17 years.3 Although it can be challenging to reliably identify infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with the more prevalent mild disabilities and disorders, red flags (eg, positive or concerning screens) may be identifiable. Alas, the chasm between percentage identified and served is unacceptable given the assortment of interventions or supports proven to improve outcomes (http://www.ectacenter.org/topics/effective/effective.asp).4
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics
Available at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2015/11/04/peds.2015-1723
Early Childhood News Update 