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 the pandemic. For more information about this effort and the coalition behind it, please visit our web hub here.
If you have information, flyers, or events you would like to share in this publication please contact Laura@BrightBeginningsMC.org.
This Week’s Highlights
A few highlights from this last week are shared below. Previous Weekly Digests are available here.
Vaccines By the Numbers
82% of eligible Monterey County residents ages 5+ have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as reported here by the Monterey County Health Department on January 31. Stay informed with the Monterey County COVID-19 portal.
News
- A revised TK-12 Decision Tree was released on January 31 to help school personnel identify when to isolate or quarantine students who may have been exposed to or who have symptoms of COVID-19. Take a look at the guide in English and Spanish here.
- Mask Mandates are still in effect until February 15. Masks should be worn when indoors in public settings, regardless of vaccination status according to California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Click here for more information.
- A new publication from the CDPH – Mask for Kids – is available to show how particles spread with and without wearing a mask. Check out their flyer here.
- Building a robust, effective, and supported workforce is critical to the health and success of the Early Childhood Education and P-3 community. Join the California Department of Education’s Opportunities For All Branch as they discuss how to support the teacher pipeline on Thursday, February 17 from 3-5 pm. Register here.
- Are you a child care educator or provider? Don’t miss out! You may be eligible for an ECE Workforce Retention stipend! Learn more and apply here. Applications are due Wednesday, February 15 by 5pm.
- Learn and Earn by participating in Monterey County’s paid apprenticeship program in ECE! Child care careers are in high demand. Join the fast track and earn a living while you learn the skills through the ECE Pathway. Sign up here or call 831-386-7105. Share this flyer in your community!
- Sesame Street in Communities (SSIC) can help educators, families, and children cope with traumatic experiences and challenges as well as build social emotional skills. Their Coming Together and the ABC’s of Racial Justice includes information on how adults can talk about race, prejudice, and skin color. More tips and activities from SSIC are available here.
- Understanding Bias in ECE settings as well as our workplaces can lead to positive change and a better community. Check out this very short article from the Greater Good Science Center, which gives us some tips on rooting out bias.
- Join this hands-on class on Children’s Art and Small Motor Skills (ECED 81) and earn three units in ECE. Monterey Peninsula College is offering a five-week in-person course on Monday nights from 6:30-9:15pm, starting Wednesday, February 15. Register here for ECED 81 or go here if you are new to the registration process.
- Hartnell College is offering a free class for Spanish speakers as they learn to improve English skills while helping graduate students learn Spanish and understand Latino American culture. This language exchange class (ESL 639) will meet on Fridays 10am-2pm from now until Saturday, May 21 at the Hartnell Main Campus in Salinas. No homework, no exams, no cost! Email Kathleen Slattery (kslattery@hartnell.edu) to register.
- Interested in starting a business (including a family child care), but not sure where to start? Register at the Empresari@ class for 13 virtual training classes and learn how to get a loan and other capital opportunities. Register for classes here or call 831-722-1224.
- Did you misplace your COVID-19 vaccine card? Sign up for a new digital vaccine card from the California Department of Public Health! Get a vaccine card here.
- Need to find a testing or vaccine clinic in Monterey County? Visit MontereyCountyVaccines.com or find your location in the bilingual flyers below:
- Free Testing Clinics
- Free Vaccination Clinics
- Note: some clinics are short staffed due to COVID outbreaks and may need to close on short notice
- Launch of New Mobile Vaccine & Testing Clinic in Soledad! In partnership with UC Berkeley, VNA, the VIDA Project, IGI, Mobility Health, and Soledad Unified School District, there is a mobile vaccine and rapid PCR testing van coming to San Vicente School this Saturday, February 5 from 2-5pm. Here are the specific flyers for the event in English and Spanish.
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.