March 6, 2023 Harm and Healing: The Mental Health of AAPI and LGBTQ Children Join the Brazelton Touchpoints Center and Burke Foundation for the second episode of their Learning to Listen: Conversations for Change webinar series, featuring Dr. Warren Ng, president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Attendees will learn about the mental health of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and LGBTQ+ children, the harms they experience, how those harms have been exacerbated by the pandemic and political polarization, and the ways that we can help them heal. Session Details Wednesday, March 15 | 3 – 4 p.m. Virtual Register Learn More To learn more, visit the Brazelton Touchpoints Center website.
March 3, 2023 T.E.A.C.H. Scholarships – Supports for ECE Professionals to Earn a Degree Debt Free! Are you an early childhood education professional interested in furthering your education? Join the Pennsylvania Child Care Association (PACCA) for this information session, and learn more about the T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship Program. T.E.A.C.H. is a unique opportunity that provides financial and other supports to help ECE professionals enroll in college, earn their degree debt free, and earn more money. Session Details Tuesday, March 14 | 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Virtual Register Learn More T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Pennsylvania is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (PDE). Join us for this information session to hear from T.E.A.C.H. Director Laurie Litz and learn more about: Higher education options and selecting a degree program, Next steps to enrolling in college, Timelines for enrolling in Summer or Fall 2023 semesters, How to access a variety of financial supports, including the T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship Program, and Time for Q&A to help attendees develop a personalized plan for next steps. To learn more, visit the PACCA website.
February 23, 2023 Art in the Trauma Informed ECE Classroom: Process over Product Art is a creative process of self-discovery that grows the brain and engages the mind and body with sensory materials. This active engagement strengthens the mind in early childhood and serves to both calm the nervous system and release emotions. These calming and releasing functions have important implications for trauma-informed classrooms. Join Early Childhood Investigations Webinars and the ChildCare Education Institute for this webinar, presented by Anna Reyner, MA, LMFT, founder of CreativePlayLA. Attendees will learn how to use art for self-expression and building community. Process art offers children a sense of freedom…the freedom of choice, thought and feeling. Session Details Wednesday, March 22 | 2 – 3:30 p.m. Virtual Register Learn More This webinar will share key practices that are necessary to reduce the use of cookie cutter crafts in favor of true art that reflects children’s authentic thoughts and feelings. Join this webinar to: Learn how current neuroscience supports art as self-regulation and stress release in trauma informed classrooms Discuss why teachers still deliver product over process art and how to change that mindset Receive tips and resources on how to motivate staff to deliver social emotional process art over product art Engage in a process-oriented art activity that will relax and replenish your creative energy. You can earn .2 CEUs for this webinar. The cost is $15 paid to University of Oklahoma online when you apply. To learn more about credits or this webinar, visit the Early Investigations Webinars website.
February 14, 2023 Celebrating Joy & Harmony: 10th Annual Education Student Affiliate Dinner In our high-tech, high-pressure educational environment, it is so easy to forget how children and teachers need to experience the joy and fun of learning. They need to experience it without stress and fear of failure, but with confidence, success, and high-quality experiences of delight. Through this, children make meaningful connections and feel valued, confident, and safe in loving classroom communities. If you are an educator looking to bring more joy into your classroom, join Seton Hill University for this annual event, featuring Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld. Brodskey Chenfeld is an educational consultant, teacher, and the author of “Still Teaching in the Key of Life: Joyful Stories From Early Childhood Settings.” Event Details Wednesday, April 12 | 5 – 8:30 p.m. Cecilian Hall Administration Building (2nd Floor), Seton Hill University 1 Seton Hill Drive Greensburg, PA 15601 Cost: $25 Register Interested individuals must register by Monday, April 3. Learn More Event schedule: 5:00 Registration, appetizers 5:30 Welcome 6:00 Dinner 7:00 Keynote Speaker 8:00 Raffle/Closing While Seton Hill students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend, all members of the Greater Pittsburgh community are welcome at this event. To learn more about this event, visit the Seton Hill University website.
February 8, 2023 Collaborating for Inclusive Practices in Early Childhood: Focus on Attitudes and Beliefs This course looks at how our actions are shaped by our attitudes and beliefs, and how societal attitudes and beliefs have shaped service systems. Participants will have opportunities to explore the benefits of inclusion for all children and all adults, reflect on how their individual attitudes and beliefs were developed, and how they impact their practice, their colleagues and the service system. They will identify strategies teachers can use to create a sense of belonging for all children in the classroom, explore perceptions about disability and reflect on how attitudes and beliefs impact early care and education practices. Session Details Session Date: March 30 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Location: 5604 Solway Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Instructor: Shawna Mohler and Jillian Miller Standards: Child Development and Learning in Context, Professionalism as an Early Childhood Educator Registration Registration is now open. This session is eligible for 2 hours of PQAS and Act 48 credit. Registration closes on March 28, 2023. More Information For questions about the course or credit, contact Paige Kizior at paige@tryingtogether.org
Collaborating for Inclusive Practices in Early Childhood: Focus on Attitudes and Beliefs This course looks at how our actions are shaped by our attitudes and beliefs, and how societal attitudes and beliefs have shaped service systems. Participants will have opportunities to explore the benefits of inclusion for all children and all adults, reflect on how their individual attitudes and beliefs were developed, and how they impact their practice, their colleagues and the service system. They will identify strategies teachers can use to create a sense of belonging for all children in the classroom, explore perceptions about disability and reflect on how attitudes and beliefs impact early care and education practices. Session Details Session Date: March 9 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. | Virtual Instructor: Shawna Mohler and Jillian Miller Standards: Child Development and Learning in Context, Professionalism as an Early Childhood Educator Registration Registration is now open. This session is eligible for 2 hours of PQAS and Act 48 credit. Registration closes on March 7, 2023. More Information For questions about the course or credit, contact Paige Kizior at paige@tryingtogether.org
August 22, 2022 Recording of 2022 Market Rate Survey Available A recording of the Pennsylvania Child Care Association’s (PACCA) 2022 Market Rate Survey and YOU webinar is now available for child care providers. Webinar Recording The webinar, which was held on August 17, 2022, includes information about the importance of the Market Rate Survey, the elements of the survey, and how the information may be used. The team from Penn State Harrisburg, Institute of State and Regional Affairs, coordinators of the survey collection and evaluation, shared the new complementary study in progress to assess the Cost of Care. Watch the recording. About the Market Rate Survey Every two years, the federal government requires that states conduct a Market Rate Survey of child care. Information from the Market Rate Survey provides the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) with important data to compare private pay prices with the Child Care Works (CCW) base rate reimbursements. Rather than pulling information from Provider Self-Service as conducted in 2016 and 2019, this year the Market Rate Survey requires child care providers to fill out a survey form. The final deadline to complete the survey is October 11, 2022.
April 18, 2022 Healthy Minds for Educators All Pennsylvania early childhood education (ECE) professionals will have two years of free access to the Healthy Minds app, Healthy Minds @Work. About Healthy Minds The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has invested in providing access to the Healthy Minds app to all ECE professionals in an effort to support them as they learn to cope with their personal trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic while also supporting the children and families they serve. The Healthy Minds @Work program offers tools to help individuals train their minds to be more calm and focused, develop healthier relationships with colleagues, gain perspective in workplace interactions, and bring more meaning to work. With a combination of podcast-style lessons and both seated and active meditations, users learn what the science says about the brain and practice skills based on these insights. According to an OCDEL announcement, users of the Healthy Minds @Work Program report burnout symptoms reduced by 25% and 70% reported a clinically significant decrease in depression, anxiety, and stress. Access can be found on the Pennsylvania Key website where you will: Search for your Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) Region, Click on the link to get to to the login page for Healthy Minds. Download the app on your smart phone device and get started. Community of Practice for Child Care Providers The ELRC Region 5 will be hosting virtual Healthy Minds Communities of Practice sessions every Monday at 1:30 p.m. from May 9, 2022 through October 2022 for all child care providers. These are short sessions (15-minutes) where you can engage in a mindful practice together and talk about successes and challenges in practicing. Learn more about the Healthy Minds CoPs.
April 14, 2022 March 2022 Child Care Staffing Survey Results A survey conducted by partners of the Start Strong PA Campaign quantifies Pennsylvania’s current child care staffing crisis — caused by low wages. Survey Results The survey — conducted between March 8, 2022 and April 3, 2022 — details the current child care staffing crisis in 1,163 Pennsylvania child care programs across 63 counties and its effects on working families’ ability to access care. According to the survey: Nearly 32,500 children currently sit on waiting lists. More than 30,000 additional children could be served at respondents’ sites if they were fully staffed. 91% of respondents reported staffing shortages. Programs need to fill nearly 7,000 open child care positions. 48% of respondents have closed at least one classroom. In September 2021, Start Strong PA released a similar survey showing that Pennsylvania’s child care centers were experiencing a staffing shortage resulting in more than 25,000 children sitting on waiting lists. In just six months, the waiting list numbers have increased by nearly 10,000 children with 169 fewer providers reporting. The following fact sheets are available with statewide and county results: Statewide results Allegheny Armstrong Beaver Butler Fayette Indiana Lawrence Washington Westmoreland Petition Advocates are calling on the General Assembly and the Wolf Administration to “Raise Child Care” by allocating $115 million in sustainable state and/or federal funds as part of the final state budget to provide a $2 per hour wage supplement for child care teachers and staff. Start Strong PA is asking for your signature in support the investment to child care providers. More Information To learn more about the survey and petition, visit the Start Strong PA website.
March 9, 2022 March 2022 PA Child Care Staffing Crisis Survey The Start Strong PA campaign is collecting information from child care program owners and directors via a brief survey to help tell the story of Pennsylvania’s on-going child care staffing crisis. (This article was updated on March 31, 2022 to reflect a deadline extension). Take the Survey The campaign will use survey results to demonstrate the urgent need for increased child care funding in the 2022-2023 state budget and to urge congressional delegation to support long-term, substantial investments in the early care and education sector to strengthen and secure the industry. Directors and owners who complete the survey by Sunday, April 3, 2022 will be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift card. Start Strong PA will award two gift cards. Take the March 2022 PA Child Care Staffing Crisis Survey. Start Strong PA conducted a similar survey between August 30, 2021 and September 8, 2021. View the results of that survey.
