March 11, 2019 New Study on Maternity Leave Unveiled Study A new study in the International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy finds a direct link between length of maternity leave and quality of mother-child interactions. The study: The Role of Length of Maternity Leave in Supporting Mother-Child Interactions and Attachment Security Among American Mothers and Their Infants suggests these results have implications for the development of family policies that support the needs of infants and mothers during the first months of life. Policy The implementation of comprehensive and universal maternity leave policy can complement child care policies. Both quality child care and maternity leave policies constitute solutions to similar needs. The results of this study support the need for parents to have the opportunity to choose to take maternity before infants enter child care. While quality child care can result in positive developmental outcomes for the infants, maternity leave can ensure that mothers have time off from work. This way, maternity leave can give mothers the opportunity to spend time with their infants, engage in positive and stress-free interactions, and learn to read a child’s cues before they negotiate the stress of balancing parenting and work. Ultimately, a combination of comprehensive maternity leave and child care policies will give each family the opportunity to have some choice in timing and combination of work, leave, and child care. Read the complete study here.
March 8, 2019 PA’s Program Reach and Risk Assessment Report Released About Children in 40 Pennsylvania counties (60 percent) are at moderate-high or high-risk of low academic performance. This is according to the recent release of the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning Program Reach and Risk Assessment State of Fiscal Year 2016-2017. As a result, OCDEL annually creates its Program Reach and Risk Assessment Report. This report offers information on the level of risk for school failure for children (based on 16 risk factors). It also offers information on the availability, or reach, of most OCDEL programs to children in each county and school district in Pennsylvania. Consequently, the Reach and Risk Report includes data for all children under age five. It also provides a breakdown of program reach by infants/toddlers (birth – two years) and preschool (ages three and four). Report Breakdown Highlights within the report include: One-third (34 percent) of children under age five participate in state and/or federally-funded quality early care and education programs in Pennsylvania. Of all state-funded programs, the most children are reached through the Keystone STARS program. This program provides services to an estimated 14 percent of children from birth to age five. Approximately one-fourth (24 percent) of Pennsylvania’s infants and toddlers (birth to age two) participate in publicly-funded quality early care and education programs. Almost half (49 percent) of Pennsylvania’s preschoolers are served in state and/or federally funded quality early care and education programs. Full Report To read the full report and access county and school-based specific information, visit the PA Key website.
March 7, 2019 Disability and Mental Health Summit Join State Representative Dan Miller in the 2019 Disability and Mental Health Summit. Happening over three days, this summit includes the following opportunities: Informative Sessions Topics of interest for parents, students, providers, and professionals seeking continuing education A Resource Fair State, county, and local agencies; service providers, advocacy and support groups; post-secondary education organizations; and employment opportunities Free and open to the public, this summit includes multiple sessions on a range of disabilities and mental health issues spanning from early intervention to adults and seniors. View the attached flyer or visit the Summit website for more information.
Disability and Mental Health Summit Join State Representative Dan Miller in the 2019 Disability and Mental Health Summit. Happening over three days, this summit includes the following opportunities: Informative Sessions Topics of interest for parents, students, providers, and professionals seeking continuing education A Resource Fair State, county, and local agencies; service providers, advocacy and support groups; post-secondary education organizations; and employment opportunities Free and open to the public, this summit includes multiple sessions on a range of disabilities and mental health issues spanning from early intervention to adults and seniors. View the attached flyer or visit the Summit website for more information.
March 4, 2019 2019 Capital Area Chapter of PennAEYC (CACPennAEYC) Conference Conference Information The Capital Area Chapter of PennAEYC (CACPennAEYC) invites you and your colleagues to participate in a day of learning, networking and professional development. Returning to Messiah College on March 16, 2019, the Capital Area Early Childhood conference is especially designed for early childhood professionals and advocates who work with and on behalf of young children. This year’s conference will include a wide variety of in-depth workshops, an inspirational keynote speaker, an assortment of vendors, and additional resources for up-to-date information on early care and education. Please bring this brochure to the conference for easy reference. Professional Development Up to six DHS and PA Key professional development hours will be awarded. Forms for Act 48 credit will be available at the registration table for teachers holding a PA professional I or II certification. CEUs are not offered at this event. Directions on where to obtain documentation of your attendance will be included in your conference folder materials. We look forward to seeing you on March 16, 2019! Please view the attached brochure for more information!
March 1, 2019 Restorative Justice Practices A+ Schools, Carlow University’s Education Department, and Trying Together are pleased to present, “Restorative Justice Practices: Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline” on Thursday, March 21, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Arsenal Middle School. About A long-time social justice activist, civil rights trial attorney, restorative justice practitioner, writer, professor, and scholar with a PhD in Indigenous Knowledge, keynote speaker, Dr. Fania E. Davis is considered a leading national voice. Dr. Davis will share her personal journey to restorative justice. Attendees will also hear her presentation on what restorative justice is, how it differs from other forms of justice, and its history. Dr. Davis will also share the way it is being used in Oakland, California’s schools and juvenile justice system. The evening will conclude with a panel discussion between Dr. Davis and Mr. John Wetzel, Secretary, PA Department of Corrections. During Mr. Wetzel’s tenure an elimination of a 24-year average growth of 1,500 inmates per year occurred presiding over the first population reduction in PA in more than four decades. With more than 29 years of experience in the corrections field, Mr. Wetzel has been selected as chair of the Council of State Government’s Justice Center’s Executive Board and Vice President of ASCA. Register Get more information and register for this event.
February 25, 2019 Trying Together 2019-2020 Public Policy Agenda Released Trying Together is pleased to announce the release of its 2019-2020 Public Policy Agenda. The objectives listed build upon our successes and expand to include new areas of focus. The 2017-2018 agenda called for several action items which were positively advanced in the past two years. While there is still work to do, Trying Together helped to achieve several key accomplishments in support of these goals including: Advance the use of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). released a Kindergarten Transition white paper; formed a Recess Advocacy Team in partnership with the playful Pittsburgh Collaborative to elevate the importance of free play and promote recess best practices for children in pre-k through sixth grade; released a DAP white paper and guide for parents; hosted a DAP webinar; developed custom professional development on DAP for early childhood professionals; and presented information on the role of DAP to an assembly of school superintendents. End early childhood suspensions and expulsions*: released a white paper and guide for families; hosted a lunch and learn with the Remake Learning Council; presented at The Early Childhood Education Summit in 2017 and 2018; and sits on the state workgroup in Pennsylvania *Notably, Pittsburgh Public Schools ruled in 2017 that suspensions and expulsions for minor, non-violent infractions for K-2 students would be ended, after which Philadelphia followed. Additionally, The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) released a policy announcement and provided resources on how to do reduce suspensions and expulsions. Increase access to high-quality pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs. partnered on the Pre-K for PA campaign which successfully advocated for an increased investment of $55 million dollars in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 budgets collectively. Increase access to high-quality infant toddler care. successfully advocated for an increased investment of $26.8 million dollars in child care services as of the 2018-19 budget; and convened and partnered on a workgroup to launch the Start Strong PA campaign in January 2019 to advocate for high-quality child care for infants and toddlers. Transform the early childhood profession. provided several dozen Level 1 Teachers their Induction program; hosted the ECE Advocacy Fellowship for more than 20 early childhood professional; and successfully updated language state statute and regulations to use the term ‘child care’ instead of ‘day care’. Leverage resources and partnerships. has continued its partnership with the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University to provide professional development to 1,000 early care and education professionals who utilize the Message From Me digital tool, allowing 20,000 children to consistently communicate about their day with caregivers. In 2019, we, along with our partners, will develop an Advisory Board to bring this to PNC markets nationwide; and partners with the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU3) to lead the Hi5! Kindergarten Readiness and Registration campaign – working with nearly all 43 school districts in Allegheny County to facilitate roundtables and networking for best practices in supporting young children as they transition into kindergarten. As a leading advocate for high-quality early childhood care and education in Pennsylvania, Trying Together educates and engages regularly with policymakers on access, affordability, and quality policies that affect the lives of children, families, and professionals throughout the state. Partnering with education, government, business, nonprofit, and philanthropic stakeholders, Trying Together advocates for public policy changes throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, with an emphasis in the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Visit tryingtogether.org to view the full 2019-2020 Public Policy Agenda. Advocates are invited to sign on support for the 2019-2020 Trying Together Public Policy Agenda at tryingtogether.org to begin engaging their legislators today.
February 15, 2019 Response to Governor Wolf’s Budget Proposal On Tuesday, February 5, Governor Tom Wolf presented his fiscal year 2019-20 budget proposal. In highlighting his plan to make the Pennsylvania workforce the strongest in the nation, he outlined several increases in early care and education programs, as well as his plans to spend over $101 million in federal child care funds. Governor Wolf’s proposal includes the following: Child Care $15 million in federal funds to provide subsidized child care for 970 additional infants/toddlers in STAR 3 and 4 programs. $10 million in federal funds to provide a 28 percent increase to tiered reimbursement rates for STAR 2, 3 and 4 providers for infant/toddler care. $2 million in federal funds to support an “Early Childhood Career Pathways Initiative” for education, training and professional supports for an apprenticeship, or work-based learning model for professionals serving infants/toddlers in early care and education programs. $74 million in federal funds to provide a rate increase for subsidized providers for an increase in the minimum wage to $12/hour. Today only one-third of subsidized children are accessing high-quality STAR 3 and 4 care, 4,300 children are on the subsidy waiting list, with families waiting 88 days to access subsidies they need to work, 50 percent of child care staff are receiving public assistance and child care subsidy reimbursements do not cover the cost of quality care. Trying Together, along with nine partner advocacy organizations, launched a new advocacy campaign last week – Start Strong PA – to turn those numbers around and increase access to high-quality child care for families so their infants and toddlers can grow, learn and succeed. We are pleased to see the federal spending plan includes a waiting list initiative to serve more infants/toddlers in high-quality care and an increase in tiered reimbursement that will provide further program stability and consistency in teacher:child relationships. These are proposals for which we and partners advocated and align with our goals. We also believe the “career pathways” initiative will help to attract and retain talented early care and education teachers, another hallmark of the campaign. Trying Together looks forward to learning more about Governor Wolf’s minimum wage proposal’s impact on the professionals in our field and the programs in which they work. While we appreciate the allocation of these critical federal dollars and again thank our federal delegation for strong, bipartisan support for high-quality child care, we are concerned with the lack of new state investments in this area. Pre-K $40 million for the Pre-K Counts program $10 million for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program This expansion would serve 5,500 additional young children. Today the commonwealth ranks 18th of the 30 states investing in high-quality, publicly-funded pre-k and with this investment 100,000 children still lack access. As a leading partner in the Pre-K for PA campaign, Trying Together is advocating that lawmakers fully-fund Governor Wolf’s proposal. Evidence-Based Home Visiting In addition, the budget proposal includes a $5 million investment in evidence-based home visiting programs to expand home visiting for 800 eligible families. For more information on home visiting advocacy efforts go to www.childhoodbeginsathome.org. Evidence-Based Early Intervention There is a $15 million state funding increase proposed in the Department of Education budget and a $9.75 million increase in the Department of Human Services (DHS) budget for Early Intervention to continue to support the cost of children receiving services. Trying Together commends Governor Wolf for his continued commitment to early care and education programs in the commonwealth and encourages a state investment be made in high-quality child care so we can provide children with the educational foundation they all deserve. We will advocate for these investments as the budget process continues. Stay up-to-date on how to advocate for these issues by signing-up to support Trying Together’s public policy agenda here.
February 8, 2019 Start Strong PA Encouraged by Calls for Increased State Investments Observations Start Strong PA observed the 2019-20 PA budget as an important down payment to ensure all infants and toddlers learn, grow, and succeed. The following statement was issued by the ten principal partners leading Start Strong PA, a campaign to ensure that children across the state can access affordable, high-quality child care programs during the most critical period of brain development, the first three years of life: Statement on the Budget “We are pleased Governor Wolf’s budget provides a plan for spending $101 million in federal child care dollars that will help Pennsylvania families who need high-quality child care for their children to thrive. Given the essential role that high-quality child care has to support Pennsylvania’s working families, we urge Pennsylvania policymakers to explore all options to allocate additional state resources to address the critical needs of our state’s early childhood system that limit access and affordability. Two elements of Governor Wolf’s budget proposal closely align with the campaign’s goals, including: a $15 million allocation to remove approximately 970 infants and toddlers from the subsidy waitlist and move them into programs that will elevate their potential; and a roughly $10 million allocation that will help to reinforce program stability and consistent staff-child relationships by increasing quality add-on rates for infants and toddlers by 28% for STAR 2, 3, and 4 programs. In addition, the Governor’s proposal includes a $2 million allocation to support early childhood career pathways which acknowledges that children develop best when they have consistent teachers and relationships. The campaign believes this proposal will begin to address the significant need to attract and retain additional talented adults to become early childhood educators. Furthermore, an allocation of approximately $74 million would increase rates to support the move to a $12 per hour minimum wage in Pennsylvania. The Governor’s proposals use federal Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dollars. Start Strong PA campaign partners believe that these increased investments demonstrate the bipartisan support for ensuring our youngest children have what they need to thrive, while supporting the needs of our state’s workforce and education systems.” The Governor acknowledged the dual role of high-quality child care for children and families by saying, “We can get more kids off of waiting lists…and help more parents make their way into the workforce. Pennsylvania’s children deserve every chance to succeed.” Reaction to the Governor’s Address The importance of quality child care to the Commonwealth’s workforce was also raised by Senator Joe Scarnati in his reaction to the Governor’s address saying, “we have to focus on the families and we have to focus on their problems that stop them from getting to work.” Start Strong PA is urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to build on the proposed federal allocations, and invest additional state dollars to support the positive brain development of all infants and toddlers by addressing access and affordability issues. What Does Start Strong PA Support? Specifically, Start Strong PA supports: 1. Increased reimbursement rates for the highest quality STAR 3 and 4 programs serving infants and toddlers to the full cost of quality; 2. Increased investments to support more STAR 2 providers to move to STAR 3 and 4 thereby increasing high-quality capacity; 3. Increased investments in the child care workforce by adding slots for Rising STARS Tuition Assistance and T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Scholarships, fully funding Education and Retention Awards, and conducting a child care labor market survey. “Our state is at a critical moment for determining the future of infants and toddlers in Pennsylvania. Legislators must build on last year’s momentum that acknowledges the role of state funds in our early childhood system. We call on legislators to use this year’s state budget to foster a better future for all children by providing them a solid educational foundation through access to high-quality child care that their families can afford.” Budget Details The 2019-20 proposed budget includes the following expanded investments to early learning: ● Allocation of $101 million in federal child care funds; ● Increase in Pre-K Counts investment: $40 million; ● Increase in Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program investment: $10 million; ● Increase in state funds for evidence-based home visiting: $5 million. Start Strong PA is an initiative of Early Learning PA (ELPA), a statewide coalition of advocates focused on supporting young Pennsylvanians birth to age five (5). ELPA also advocates for expanding publicly funded Home Visiting services via the Childhood Begins at Home Campaign and access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-k for income eligible children via the Pre-K for PA Campaign. What is Start Strong PA? Start Strong PA is an initiative of Early Learning PA. Through a statewide collaboration of partners, Start Strong PA aims to support healthy child development, working families, and the economy by increasing access to and affordability of high-quality child care programs for young children. Learn more at www.startstrongpa.org Partners Fight Crime: Invest in Kids | First Up | Mission: Readiness | Pennsylvania Association for The Education of Young Children | Pennsylvania Child Care Association | Pennsylvania Head Start Association | Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children | Public Citizens for Children and Youth | The United Way of Pennsylvania | Trying Together
February 4, 2019 Pittsburgh Launching New Book Gifting Program With support from The Benter Foundation, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration plans to launch a free book program for children from birth to age five. Tomorrow, Pittsburgh City Council will introduce legislation to accept $250,000 from the foundation, introducing Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program to the city. Since starting in 1995, this program has sent more than 113 million books for free, to children in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The Role That Access Plays Studies of the Imagination Library have discovered: Parents believed their children were more interested in reading when receiving the books every month Parents read aloud to their children more often Children were excited when books arrived in their name Positive views of the program transcended demographics and longer participation provided better outcomes The City’s Role The Imagination Library covers overhead costs, databases, monthly mailings, and a book selection committee. The City of Pittsburgh, as an affiliate of the Imagination Library, would cover the ongoing costs for mailing each book every month, as well as enrollment and promotional activities. Once funding is approved, outreach and communication plans will be launched, as well as engaging with local organizations that work with young children and families. Quotes from the Partnership Tiffini Simoneaux, manager of the City’s Office of Early Childhood in Mayor Peduto’s Bureau of Neighborhood Empowerment: “Research shows that early literary experiences, including access to books in the home, are fundamental ingredients for academic success. This program will enable young children throughout the city to build a home library of up to 60 books.” Bill Benter, president of The Benter Foundation: “We’re pleased to partner with the City of Pittsburgh and other community allies to help children develop a lifelong love of reading. Having your own books at home unlocks a new world of learning and language that can help Pittsburgh’s children thrive.” *Information provided by the City of Pittsburgh
