News

January 31, 2020

ECE Advocacy Fellows Complete First Month of Program

Convening for the first time at Trying Together’s main office, 2020 ECE Advocacy Fellows completed their first month of the Fellowship program this January.

About

In January 2020, Trying Together launched its second Early Childhood Education (ECE) Advocacy Fellowship. Now through September, Fellows will meet once per month to gain public policy knowledge, build on their leadership skills, and develop their voices as early childhood advocates.

In January, Fellows met for their first workshop session where they learned about Early Learning PA (ELPA) campaigns, including Start Strong PA, Pre-K for PA, and Childhood Begins at Home, and heard from past Fellows about how to make the most out of their Fellowship experience.

If you’re interested in advocacy, visit our Take Action page!

More Information

If you’re interested in learning more about the Fellowship, visit our webpage, sign-up to receive our newsletters, and follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Updates will be shared as information becomes available.

News

October 2, 2019

Governor Wolf Releases Report on Infant Toddler Support

Governor Tom Wolf released a report detailing seven Ready to Start Task Force priorities that were developed to better support the long-term success of infants, toddlers, and families in Pennsylvania.

Ready to Start Task Force

The Governor’s Ready to Start Task Force was created in September 2018 to “develop a framework of strategies to address health, human services, and education policy for infants and toddlers ages birth to three in Pennsylvania.” Led by six Governor-appointed co-chairs, the Task Force facilitated “six regional roundtable listening sessions with members of the Administration and approximately 150 stakeholders who represent early care and education providers, health care practitioners, research organizations, workforce development, state and local government, foundations, employers, postsecondary educators, and community-based organizations.”

At these sessions, stakeholders responded to three key questions on family and child health, home environments, and future school success. The Governor also provided an online feedback form to receive ideas and thoughts from the community. Through these methods, the Task Force identified a list of key themes and findings, from which the four-year framework report was created.

Priorities

“Governor’s Ready to Start Task Force: A Four-Year Framework to Support Pennsylvania’s Infants and Toddlers” lists seven key priorities, all of which include specific goals that guide Pennsylvania “to a stronger future for the Commonwealth’s infants, toddlers, and their families.”

- Increase the Availability of High-Quality Child Care and Home Visiting Service Slots
- Improve Early Intervention Quality and Streamlining to Enhance Availablity, Alignment, Integration, and Coordination of Services
- Increase Recruitment, Retention, Development, Support, and Training of Early Childhood Education Professionals
- Better Utilize Medicaid, CHIP, and State Regulatory Powers to Address the Risks to Infants and Toddlers Posed by Harmful Environmental Contaminants
- Promote Education, Engagement, and Support of Parents and Families as Children’s First Teachers
- Improve Information, Outreach, and Access to Services
- Promote Sustainable Systems of Care to Support the Health and Wellbeing of All Children and Women of Child-Bearing Age

Next Steps

Moving forward, Governor Wolf will “establish a cross-sector ‘Ready to Start’ Workgroup comprised of agency and external stakeholders that will be responsible for establishing measurable goals and ensuring progress on the framework priorities and recommendations.” Meeting monthly, the Workgroup will engage with other state groups in fields that intersect with the priorities.

Learn More

To learn more, read the full report.

*Information provided by the Office of Governor Tom Wolf

News

August 7, 2019

Call It Child Care

News

August 2, 2019

2019-20 PA NAP SACC Mini-Grant

The Pennsylvania Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (PA NAP SACC) program is seeking licensed child care providers for their 2019-20 Mini-Grant Project!

About the Program

PA NAP SACC is a continuous quality improvement process focused on nutrition and physical activity practices and policies within early care and education settings. The program utilizes Go NAP SACC, an online, evidence-based tool to guide providers through self-assessment action planning, implementation, policy development, re-self-assessment, and reflection. The process empowers program leadership and includes individualized technical assistance to increase knowledge and improve the quality of practice and policy.

With this, a limited number of programs will receive onsite, targeted technical assistance from a Child Care Health Consultant (CCHS) at no cost to the site. The CCHC reviews current practices and policies, assisting with developing sustainable policies and offering guidance for continuous quality improvement.

Program Participation

Beyond the reward of making a difference in the health of children in your care, those who participate and complete project requirements will receive a $500 mini-grant to support their action steps and enhance their nutrition and physical activity practices and policies.

For STAR 3 and 4 programs, and STAR 2 programs moving to STAR 3, participation in all components of the program satisfies the performance standards and/or bonus point requirements related to utilizing a health care consultant to establish and maintain health policies above those required by certification. In addition to this, the program ensures participation in an organized effort to promote nutritional health for children.

Technical support and policy consultation will be available to all participating programs.

Timeline

The PA NAP SACC Mini-Grant Project will follow the following timeline:

- Applications Due: August 27, 2019
- Notification of Acceptance: September 12, 2019
- Orientation & Kick-Off: October 2019
- Implementation: Period of 8 to 9 months
- Reflection & Wrap Up: June 2020

How to Apply

If you’re interested in participating, complete and submit the electronic application. All applications must be submitted by August 27, 2019.

More Information

For questions or more information, contact Lori McMonigal at 717.248.4942, x 112 or lmcmonigal@tiu11.org.

*Information provided by PA NAP SACC

News

June 4, 2019

Empowering and Strengthening Relationships Across Early Childhood Settings

Join the Harvard Graduate School of Education on June 27 and 28 for “Empowering and Strengthening Relationships Across Early Childhood Settings,” a new program intended for early education leaders, principals, program directors, administrators, and teacher leaders.

About

“Empowering and Strengthening Relationships Across Early Childhood Settings” is offered as part of the Zaentz Professional Learning Academy, featuring the tools and resources of “Simple Interactions,” a collaboration between the Fred Rogers Center on Early Learning and Children’s Media and the Zaentz Initiative.

Led by Faculty Co-Chairs Junlei Li, Nonie Lesaux, and Stephanie Jones, this two-day on-campus institute offers participants a combination of practice-based learning experiences, research and theoretical insights from both within and beyond the early childhood field, and community-supported problem-solving.

Program Objectives

Participants will:

- Define what is a developmental human interaction and how such interactions contribute to the full range of child development goals from language to social and emotional learning;
- Envision and plan how to support the development of young children’s helpers and empower adult-child human interactions; and
- Engage in practice-based conversations for professional learning settings and re-examine early childhood systems with a relationship-focused lens.

Program Costs

The program will be hosted on campus and will require a $199 tuition payment per person. Special rates are available for Program, Community, District, and Network Teams. Participants will receive a certificate of participation and a letter confirming clock hours of instruction.

Tuition includes all instructional materials, however, participants will have to pay for associated travel expenses and hotel accommodations. For more information, visit their Payment page.

Registration

Registrations must be submitted by June 20, 2019, via the event website.

More Information

For more information, visit the event webpage or email ppe@gse.harvard.edu.

Share this flyer with your network.

News

June 3, 2019

The 10th Annual PA Infant Mental Health Conference

Join the Pennsylvania Association for Infant Mental Health (PA-AIMH) on August 1 and 2 for the 10th Annual PA Infant Mental Health Conference.

Keynote Topics

PA-AIMH strives to provide a meaningful professional learning environment for all cross-sector professionals working with very young children and their families. Keynote topics will include:

- Infant and early childhood mental health-focused policy and messaging;
- Clinical interventions;
- Disaster and critical incident response; and
- Reflective supervision and practice.

PQAS and Act 48 credits available for professionals in the Early Childhood Education system.

Keynote Speakers

- Jordana Ash, LCSW, IMH-E
  Director of Early Childhood Mental Health Director, State of Colorado
- Sherryl Scott Heller, Ph.D.
  Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Tulane University
- Joy Osofsky, Ph.D.
  Professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Public Health Head, Division of Pediatric Mental Health, Louisiana State University
- Christopher Watson, Ph.D., IMH-E
  Director of the Center for Reflective Practice at the Center for Early Education and Development, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Registration

To register, visit the event website.

Registration cost:

- Member: $315
- General: $350

More Information

For more information, visit the event website.

For questions, contact PA-AIMH via email at pa-aimh@pa.-aimh.org.

News

April 26, 2019

PWSA Adopting Polices That Support Families

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) board will approve two policies that support caregivers.

Paid Safe Leave Policy

On Friday, April 26, 2019 the PWSA board will vote on a paid safe leave policy. The measure allows employees who have been victimized by domestic abuse to take days off from work. The PWSA joins Mayor Peduto who signed an Executive Order on safe leave for City of Pittsburgh employees last year.

“The cost of domestic violence for employers is the loss of productivity. Employees plagued by violence at home are often distracted and sometimes ill at work. This policy will allow employees in these situations to try and take steps to improve the situation without fearing the loss of their job,” a board statement says.

Parental Leave Policy

The PWSA board will also vote on a paid parental leave policy. This policy permits new mothers and fathers to take six weeks of paid leave after the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child.

“We’re grateful to the City of Pittsburgh for leading the way and our Board of Directors for adopting these progressive employment policies. The changes will help protect the well-being of our employees, help retain talent and attract the best and the brightest to join our team,” said PWSA Executive Director Robert A. Weimar.

Both policies were adopted by Mayor William Peduto and Pittsburgh City Council. Learn more about both PWSA policies by visiting the City of Pittsburgh press release page.

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.