PAEYC Executive Director, Cara Ciminillo, is set to guest on “Our Region’s Business“, a local talk show.

“This program is co-produced by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and WPXI-TV; it aims to play a positive role in the Pittsburgh region by providing business news, information and commentary in a lively and entertaining format. The program is hosted by veteran broadcast journalist Bill Flanagan, who is Chief Corporate Relations Officer for the Allegheny Conference and its affiliated organizations.

Since May 2002, the Pittsburgh region’s leading economic development organization and the unit of Cox Television have collaborated to raise awareness of important issues facing employers in the region, highlight entrepreneurs and other business leaders, and provide useful information to help employers grow. Additionally, the program focuses on issues that are getting in the way of business investment and job growth, with the goal of influencing policy decisions to improve the economic climate and quality of life in the region.”

Tune in on Sunday, December 31st, 2017 at 11 a.m.  | WPXI-TV (Channel 11)

(Our Region’s Business airs on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. on WPXI-TV and is rebroadcast on PCNC-TV at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. that day, and 3:30 p.m. on the subsequent Monday.)

Navigating and completing federal background checks is easier now more than ever. “The Commonwealth has announced its new vendor for digital fingerprinting.The new vendor, IDEMIA, is now accepting registrations and completing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprinting for Pennsylvania agencies. IDEMIA uses Service Codes to identify the reason an applicant is being fingerprinted, and is part of a pre-registration process.”

Pre-registration is required before entering the fingerprinting site. “To pre-register for an FBI Background Check and find a fingerprinting location, applicants should go to www.identogo.com. Once pre-registered, you may walk in during a location’s posted hours of operation or you can schedule an appointment in advance. You do not have to schedule an appointment, however, scheduling an appointment may lead to lesser/no wait times.”

“With thousands of people fleeing the aftermath of natural disasters earlier this year in the southeastern U.S. and Puerto Rico, Governor Tom Wolf today announced the release of a new resource guide from the departments of Education, Health and Human Services to help school districts and communities welcome and assist those who have been displaced.

‘After hurricanes devastated portions of the southeastern U.S. and Puerto Rico, communities across Pennsylvania have been opening their arms to help those who have lost everything,’ said Governor Wolf. ‘That spirit of compassion is part of the fabric of our commonwealth and this new resource guide gives schools and local organizations the information they need to help the evacuees to get back on their feet.’

[…]This guide provides a one-stop-shop for families and students from pre-kindergarten to postsecondary education on a wide range of topics from the Homeless Education Assistance and Pre-K Counts programs to nutrient, health care and the state university system.”

Read more here.

Download the guide in English or Spanish.

“A dozen nonprofits in the Pittsburgh region have been awarded grants as part of a Heinz Endowments mini-grants program to support community-inspired family and child well-being projects and innovative education opportunities in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood.” (via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

PAEYC is proud to be the recipient of a $10,000 grant for the Buzzword Pittsburgh’s program and activities to promote early learning vocabulary development.

ChildCare Aware of America recently released its 2017 report detailing the high cost of child care parents face.

“Across all states, the average cost of center-based infant care exceeds 27 percent of the median income for single parents, an increase of 3 percentage points from our findings in the 2016 Parents and the High Cost of Care report.”

The report further details and includes:

• an interactive child care map;
• calculated example national figures;
• county level costs;
• estimated costs of summer care;
• and more.

It aims to analyze strategies that communities and states are using to afford child care.

Read the full report here.

Read the full article here.

“We absolutely need STEM from the very beginning,” says Cara Ciminillo, executive director of the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC). “It just reaffirms the natural way children learn, which is through observation, exploration, discovery, investigating, and constructing meaning.”

Read the full article here (shared via CARNEGIE Magazine.)

Read the full press release here.

Today at Mellon Park, Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto, City Councilman Dan Gilman, and the City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works announced the addition of play equipment for children of all abilities throughout Pittsburgh. The City will install 91 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-accessible swings and six wheelchair-accessible swings in 78 parks and playgrounds citywide. The City also unveiled a strategic plan to improve accessibility for children with differing abilities in all City parks and playgrounds.

[circle link=http://pittsburghpa.gov/press-releases/press-releases.html?id=1278 target=”blank”]Read More[/circle]

Read the full article here.

Pittsburgh Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak hopes to boost the quality of preschool in Pittsburgh with a $2 million allocation next year that would go to providers in the city.

Rudiak of Carrick said less than 20 percent of Pittsburgh’s 205 preschool facilities have received “high quality” rankings through the state’s Keystone STARS system. The money would be granted to public and private facilities to help them boost their performance.

Rudiak said city foundations, which she declined to name, have given her “confident assurance” they would be willing to provide matching funds. She said the city also plans to seek a state grant.

“This is an investment by City Council where we could leverage this money for millions of more dollars,” Rudiak said. “This fund and the leveraging of these funds will significantly improve the quality of childcare facilities in the city of Pittsburgh, which then actually improves educational outcomes for children, and those are lifelong gains.”

Read the full article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review here.

“The Center on Media and Human Development at Northwestern University is conducting a brief survey about early childhood educators’ technology use and are interested in how you use technology with the young children you work with.

If you are 18 years or older and work with children ages 0-8 in an early childhood setting (e.g., family childcare, center-based care, HeadStart Center, Preschool, etc), please consider taking the following survey. The survey will take approximately 20-30 minutes.” (via NAEYC)

[circle link=https://commstudies.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cUTvTany4qxSjd3 target=”blank”]Take Survey[/circle]

Prepare your family for winter by preparing to combat influenza. Flu season is often times more serious than the common cold. Each year, millions of children get sick with the flu, resulting in hospitalizations or death.

The annual influenza vaccine is recommended for all people 6 months of age and older. Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old, are at an increased risk of hospitalization and complications due to influenza. Since infants younger than 6 months are too young to get their own flu shot, the best way to protect these very young children is for all family members and caregivers to get the flu vaccine. Parents and caregivers can help protect more vulnerable children by vaccinating both the children and themselves.

Take steps TODAY to help your child care program prepare

• Get your flu vaccine NOW. Encourage all staff, children, and parents to get the flu vaccine. Everyone needs a flu vaccine each year! Next year, plan to have the vaccine by October.
• Examine and revise your program’s written plan for seasonal flu.
• Invite a pediatrician or child care health consultant to provide influenza prevention education to your staff.
• Use CDC posters and handouts to educate caregivers and staff about proper hand hygiene and cough/sneeze etiquette.
• Update family contact information and child records, so parents can be reached quickly if they need to pick up their sick child.

Plan ahead to prevent the spread of germs. Policies in child care programs can limit the spread of the influenza and should focus on encouraging vaccination and implementation of everyday preventive actions such as:

• good respiratory etiquette;
• hand washing;
• cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting;
• and excluding children and caregivers who have respiratory symptoms (cough, runny nose, or sore throat) and fever.

Learn more HERE.