October 30, 2020 How Educators Can Avoid Mental, Physical, and Emotional Exhaustion Are you interested in learning strategies to avoid exhaustion and burnout? Join Dr. Tina Boogren and Dr. Timothy Kanold on November 18 for “Attend to Your Well-Being: How Educators Can Avoid Mental, Physical, and Emotional Exhaustion.” About To counter the pressure, stress, and chaos around us, professionals need to practice healthy, practical habits, and routines of wellness and self-care. They also need to rise up to the expectations of taking care of students and their colleagues, amidst the challenges of this unprecedented school season. In this engaging, fun-filled webinar, Dr. Tina Boogren and Dr. Timothy Kanold will provide practical strategies to avoid exhaustion and burnout and give you the courage and permission to attend to a more balanced and joyful professional life! Time for questions will be provided. Registration This webinar is best suited for prek-12 teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders. To register, visit the EdWeb website.
October 12, 2020 Grants Available for Child Care Programs In partnership with the Pennsylvania Key, the GIANT Company is offering a grant opportunity for early childhood education providers licensed by and in good standing with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS). About Through this grant opportunity, early learning programs can apply for grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. This funding is intended to assist programs with meeting the unique needs of families and children served during the pandemic. These needs may include, but are not limited to, increased staffing, expanded operating hours, care of school-age children, Personal Protective Equipment or other sanitation measures, increased technology needs or services, school-age virtual learning labs, serving of meals, or addressing food insecurity needs of families and children served. Eligibility Criteria Applicants must operate a family child care home, group child care home, or child care center that is licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services; the program must be in good standing with DHS. Applicants must serve families that receive child care subsidy/Child Care Works funding or demonstrate other means of serving families in need. Applicants must remain operational through part of all of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide services to children in any age range (birth through school-age). The early childhood education facility must be located in one of the following counties: Adams, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clearfield, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Snyder, Union, York. Submit An Application To apply for a grant, visit the Pennsylvania Key website. All applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 13, 2020. Funds will be dispersed by January 29, 2021.
September 24, 2020 Jeremiah’s Place: Provider Engagement Session Are you interested in learning about Jeremiah’s Place and its services? Join them on October 7 and November 5 for their online “Provider Engagement Sessions.” About Jeremiah’s Place protects children and strengthens families by providing a safe haven of respite, health, renewal, and support for children when their families are experiencing a critical need for child care. These online sessions will explore: what Jeremiah’s Place is and what services they provide; why families might need to access services at Jeremiah’s Place; how providers can make a successful referral; and the Jeremiah’s Place intake process. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage. Registration for the November 5 session will be provided in the coming weeks. For questions, please email Renee Schmitzer at empower@jeremiahsplace.org. Share this flyer with your network.
Jeremiah’s Place: Provider Engagement Session Are you an early learning provider who is interested in learning about Jeremiah’s Place and its services? Join Jeremiah’s Place on November 5 for their online “Provider Engagement Session.” About Jeremiah’s Place protects children and strengthens families by providing a safe haven of respite, health, renewal, and support for children when their families are experiencing a critical need for child care. These online sessions will explore: what Jeremiah’s Place is and what services they provide; why families might need to access services at Jeremiah’s Place; how providers can make a successful referral; and the Jeremiah’s Place intake process. Registration This event is intended for child care providers. To register, visit the event webpage. For questions, please email Renee Schmitzer at empower@jeremiahsplace.org. Share this flyer with your network.
September 21, 2020 State Office Candidate Conversation: Child Care In Allegheny County, 48 percent of eligible children do not have access to publicly funded pre-k programs and 67 percent of Child Care Works subsidy-eligible children under age five remain unserved. Before you vote on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, find out what your candidates think about early childhood education. Registration Join the Children Matter Action Fund on September 23 for an online conversation about child care with Allegheny County candidates for state office in House Districts 28, 30, 44, and 45! To register, visit the event webpage. Unable to attend? Check out each candidate’s views on the Children Matter Action Fund website.
September 11, 2020 Nurturing the Nurturer: Self-Care for Providers & Parents Join Brazelton Touchpoints Center on November 2 for “Nurturing the Nurturer: Self-Care for Providers & Parents” to learn self-care practices for early care professionals and families. About This webinar will explore self-care practices for early care professionals and the families they work with. Participants will be introduced to a variety of self-care strategies, and learn why we all need self-care, particularly during extremely stressful times. Participants will learn how to make the oftentimes difficult shift from nurturing others to nurturing themselves first. A certificate of attendance will be provided after the end of the session. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event registration page. Space is limited.
September 10, 2020 Pennsylvania’s Child Care Crisis: A Virtual Public Forum Child care providers, teachers, parents, and advocates in Pennsylvania are invited to join Start Strong PA on September 16 for “Pennsylvania’s Child Care Crisis: A Virtual Public Forum.” The Forum will include an important discussion with the congregational delegation regarding Pennsylvania’s child care crisis. About During the Forum, featured speakers will present the following: PennState’s Dr. Philip Sirinides will review major takeaways and recommendations from a new study documenting the financial impact of COVID-19 on the child care sector. Pennsylvania Chamber of Business Industry President and CEO Gene Barr will discuss child care’s vital role in Pennsylvania’s economic recovery. Providers, advocates, and others will detail the changing face of child care and challenges caused by COVID-19, the essential role that child care will have for working families in a recovering economy, and the need for additional financial stabilization assistance to prevent the collapse of the sector. A question and answer session with panelists and members of Congress will follow these presentations. Registration To register for the Forum, visit the event webpage. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
September 8, 2020 Policy Change: Parents Caring for Their Own Children in Child Care OCDEL’s Bureau of Policy and Professional Development recently released Announcement 20 #15 which explains changes to the policy regarding parents and caregivers caring for their own children in a child care setting during the COVID-19 pandemic-related Proclamation of Disaster Emergency. This policy change is effective as of September 1, 2020. Read below to learn more. About For the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic-related Proclamation of Disaster Emergency, the current policy will be revised to allow for parents and caregivers to provide care for their own children in a child care facility. This change allows a parent or caretaker who is a teacher, assistant teacher, or aide in a classroom at the same child care facility where their children are enrolled to have their children in their classroom. Parents and caregivers will be able to receive subsidized child care payments for their children as long as there is another paid teacher, assistant teacher, or aide present in the classroom for a majority of the day. Additionally, there must be at least one other child in the classroom, that is not the child of the parent or caregiver, for which the parent or caregiver is caring for. More Information For more information, read the full announcement.
September 2, 2020 August OCDEL Child Care Provider Survey Since March, the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on child care providers. To better understand the successes and challenges child care providers are experiencing, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is collecting information monthly through online surveys on staffing and enrollment. Complete the survey today to share your experience. About This survey is only intended for child care providers and will be utilized to gain an understanding of the status of child care in Pennsylvania. The August survey will be particularly helpful as it will provide insight into the impact of changes in local school district schedule and school-age child care enrollment. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes and must be completed by Tuesday, September 8, 2020. Participation is voluntary. OCDEL will issue the final survey at the end of September to compare and analyze changes. Take the Survey To submit your experience, complete the survey.
August 31, 2020 Virtual Community of Practice Meetings Are you interested in discussing topics of interest and current trends with fellow professionals in the early childhood field? Join ELRC Region 5 for their virtual Community of Practice sessions! About Community of Practice sessions provide early learning professionals with opportunities to discuss topics of interest, current trends in the early childhood field, and offer insight and inspiration to their fellow professionals. In September, these virtual sessions will discuss the most current school-age care updates, information, trends, resources, and professional development opportunities. Participants will connect with out-of-school-time partners and professionals, and they will receive support as new or existing school-age care programs. The session will also focus on supporting virtual learning, daily schedules, and keeping the children engaged. Available Sessions Saturday, September 12: School-Age Care Updates 10 a.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session Thursday, September 17: School-Age Care Updates 10 a.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session 1 p.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session More Information For questions, contact ELRC Region 5 at elrc5@alleghenycounty.us or 412.350.3577. Share this flyer with your network.
