Sharing Web Resources

On the Children’s Defense Fund website, I decided to look into their Head Start & Early Head Start tab. CDF supports Head Start’s mission of providing comprehensive, quality early childhood services to children and their families, and advocates for increased funding for the program so more eligible children and families can benefit. They also had a link to the National Head Start Association. One of the association’s current initiatives is the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 set aside $500,000,000 for a new investment in high quality early learning opportunities for infants and toddlers through partnerships between Early Head Start and child care programs. The Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships, the National Head Start Association, the California Head Start Association, and representatives from numerous other child care and Head Start practitioner organizations came together to form the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Project to help guide the planning and creation of successful partnerships that will reach a growing number of vulnerable children and families with high quality services that enable children to learn and grow in nurturing environments while their families achieve greater stability and long-term success. Efforts that have been done by the groups are:

•  Listening calls with Head Start/Early Head Start directors and their child care partners
•   Survey research on experiences and attitudes of the Head Start field around partnerships
•   A national convening of experts and practitioner organizations representing both center-based and family child care and Head Start
•  Development of a website to organize resources about Early Head Start-Child Care partnerships
• Webinars and resources to encourage the successful planning and implementation of partnerships for all stakeholders
•  A Learning Network to support new and established partnerships

    The association and their collaborators are grateful for the Administration’s commitment to increasing investments in high-quality early learning experiences for the children and families who needed this for success both in school and throughout their lives. The money was awarded this year at the end of March.

Reference

Association, N. H. (n.d.). Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Project. Retrieved from National Head Start Association: https://www.nhsa.org/content/early-head-start-child-care-partnership-project