News
For Educators
- Great News: The California State budget addresses child care wages and family fees. Read the full story from Parent Voices.
- Early Care & Education and Equity: Watch this powerful dialogue on the history of activism in early education featuring folks from Worthy Wage Movement, ECHOs project and early educators. Hosted by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley and Jumpstart.
- Learn how to recognize and respond to trauma in children. Safe Spaces is a free online training program for anyone who works with children early care providers, educators and school personnel. Each self-paced module is about two hours and is filled with case examples, videos, strategies and practices. Released June 30 by the CA Surgeon General.
- Help gather information about the needs and well-being of family households. Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors is partnering with the RAPID survey team at Stanford University. Please help share with parents and child care providers of young children (birth to 5 years old) by July 24.
- Stipends for child care educators/providers are headed to you! See if you are eligible to receive $1,442 per subsidy child and complete the required ARPA survey by August 15, 2023.
- Plan on attending professional development next school year? Check out the 2023 Early Care and Education events from Quality Matters. Topics include DRDP mini sessions, teaching pyramid, math concepts, ASQ and more!
- ECE Students – get financial help for tuition and books. The Child Development Training Consortium is offering support grants on a first come, first served basis for ECE students enrolled at a Community College.
Job Opportunities
- Pajaro Valley Unified School District: Child Development Department is hiring! Share these flyers with interested individuals.
- Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is looking to hire more staff! Join this excellent team of professionals, and you might receive a signing bonus. Share these flyers with interested individuals.
Looking for Activities or Child Care?
- Monthly Play Connect Grow class in Soledad. Join Special Kids Connect this Friday, July 21 at 10 am. FREE diapers for families who attend but they must pre-register (diaper size needed).
- Connect with other moms and their children- join a Mamas and Babies playgroup. Forward Together, sponsored by County of Monterey Behavioral Health, offers in person and ZOOM play groups for parents with children ages 0-5. Learn more or call Sandra Avina at (831) 796-6118.
- Fun activities for you and your family are happening at the Salinas Library. Check out their calendar of events for times and dates.
- Looking for child care? Go to Montereycountychildcare.org or Mychildcareplan.org for help finding the right care for your child.
Resources for All
- Need to find a COVID-19 testing or vaccine clinic in Monterey County? Visit MontereyCountyVaccines.com or find a location in the flyers: Free Testing and Free Vaccination sites.
- FEMA will continue to provide funeral assistance until September 30, 2025, to those who have lost loved ones due to COVID-19. Our thoughts go out to those who have lost a loved one during the pandemic.
- Are you or others you know interested in starting a child care business? MAOF is recruiting potential family child care homes and is offering free training, marketing, and up to $1,000 to new or expanding child care programs in Monterey County. Learn more or call MAOF at (831) 757-0775.
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…
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: info@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.
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.