COVID-19 Response & Recovery for Child Care & Wellbeing
Our goal is to ensure that young children have quality, nurturing, and safe child care and education during and post-pandemic. For more information about this effort and the coalition behind it, please visit our web hub here.
News and resources are shared below. Previous Weekly Digests are available here.
If you have information, flyers, or events you would like to share in this publication, please contact or send information to: Laura@BrightBeginningsMC.org.
Want more information from Bright Beginnings? Stay up-to-date and join the mailing list for the BB Weekly Recovery Coalition Digest, Maternal Mental Health Task Force, and the BB Quarterly Update.
News
- Vote for your favorite new look for the weekly digest! It’s time to leave COVID behind, but not the news and resources to support early care and learning. So we are going for a new look and want your input – vote here!
- Free COVID vaccine clinics are open for adults and children two years and up. Check out the English and Spanish flyers for August and September dates and various locations across the county, such as MCOE, CHISPA, Boys & Girls Club, etc.
- Need to find a testing or vaccine clinic in Monterey County? Visit MontereyCountyVaccines.com or find your location in the flyers here: Free Testing Clinics and Free Vaccination Clinics.
- NEW COVID advice for schools and child care from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Key changes are: 1) Cohorting no longer recommended and 2) new isolation recommendations after exposure. More details here.
- Join a statewide webinar on COVID, the new vaccine for children under 5, and what we can do to support young children’s health. The webinar, sponsored by the Children’s Partnership and Vaccinate all 58, will be held August 31, from 5- 6:30pm PT. Click here to register.
- Join “Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting Children Who Have Experienced Trauma and Loss.” a free 7-part training series for all types of parents, kinship caregivers, legal guardians, and other primary caregivers. Register here.
- What’s the hardest thing about starting school for a child, especially the first year? Separation anxiety and saying goodbye to kids at drop off! Check out this article from EdSource that shares a few tips for children just starting school.
- Play Based Learning (or Guided Play) works better than direct instruction for young learners, especially for math and spatial skills. Read more in this Edutopia article!
- Capri Sun is recalling the wild cherry flavor drink pouches. Read the recall notice here or call 1-800-280-8252.
- ECE Community College students: Funds are available to help with tuition & textbooks. The funds will go fast, so share this application with those you know and apply early.
- Thinking about starting a family child care business? Join a family child care home orientation at the end of August! To pre-register, call Community Care Licensing at (408) 324-2148.
- Applications for the Infant Family and Early Childhood Mental Health (IFECMH) training are now open! This amazing program is free for those who work with children prenatal through age five and their families in Monterey County. Visit the First 5 Monterey County website to learn more and register before Monday, August 22.
- Join the Hartnell ECE Apprenticeship Program and earn while you learn. Get a paid job in a classroom while taking ECE courses in the evening. Share this flyer and sign up now!
- Bright Beginnings is hiring an Integrated Services Program Manager! Help spread the word and view the job announcement here.
- Parent wellness groups in Spanish and English, to help parents with emotional stressors at The Parenting Connection of Monterey County. Share English and Spanish flyers or register here. The Support Warmline is also available to receive voice and text messages 24hrs a day from both families and professionals: (831) 783-5933.
- Calendar of ECE professional development opportunities: Visit MCOE’s Early Care and Education Department virtual magazine and calendar.
- Funds are available for new and expanding child care programs in Monterey County for materials, training, and fees associated with starting up. Contact Maria Ortiz at the MAOF Resource and Referral at 831-757-0775 for information.
- Join the Monterey County Preschool Service Corps through the United Way’s AmeriCorps program members for the 2022-23 academic year. Visit Monterey County’s United Way website or contact Taylor Jonte-Saiz at (831) 372-8026 x1976 for more information.
Monterey County Vaccines By the Numbers
Overall, 79.8% of the eligible population in Monterey County have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. For more details on COVID health data, visit the Health Departments website here.
COVID-19 Information
COVID-19 Vaccine Information ➡️ click here to learn more…
General COVID-19 & Public Health ➡️ click here to learn more…
Resources & Tools
Financial Relief for Families ➡️ click here to learn more…
All Ages Learning & Development Supports ➡️ click here to learn more…
Resilience & Mental Health Resources ➡️ click here to learn more…
Child Care & Education Quality & Business Tools ➡️ click here to learn more…
Policy & Advocacy ➡️ click here to learn more…
It Takes a Coalition
The emergency response providing coordinated solutions for child care and education is led by a coalition of early childhood champions, united under the Bright Beginnings Strategic Framework to better support all young children and their families, to prepare every child for life and school. This coalition is ever-growing:
4th Monterey County Supervisorial District
30th California Assembly District
Building Healthy Communities
CAPSLO
Carmel Unified School District
Child Care Planning Council
Child Development Centers and Continuing Development Incorporated
Children’s Council
Early Development Services
First 5 Monterey County
Go Kids, Inc.
Health Department
MAOF Resource & Referral & Alternative Payment Program
Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
Natividad Medical Center
North Monterey County Unified School District
Office of Education – Early Learning Program
Office of Education – Educational Services
Public Health Office
Quality Matters Monterey County
Salinas City Elementary School District
Social Services – Child Abuse Prevention Council
United Farmworkers Foundation
United Way of Monterey County
YMCA
A special thanks to the coordinating team and major funders: Bright Beginnings Backbone, Child Care Planning Council, First 5 Monterey County, MAOF Resource & Referral, Quality Matters, and the United Way of Monterey County.
For more information, please contact sonja@brightbeginningsmc.org.