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
80% 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 10. Stay informed with the Monterey County COVID-19 portal.
News
- Hot off the press! As of January 12, 2022, the CDPH updated COVID-19 Public Health Guidance for K-12 Schools. This is in alignment with the CDC’s K-12 guidance, and supports as much in-person learning for students as possible.
- Are you a child care provider? You may be eligible for an ECE Workforce Retention stipend! Check out the link, click on the scan and apply!
- In the first nine days of January, the VIDA Project tested 2,688 people. Of these, 23.3% (or 624 tests) were positive. This prevalence makes testing and sharing of testing sites even more important. To find these and a list of vaccine sites, go to MontereyCountyVaccines.org.
- Individuals who are unable to leave their home due to a medical condition may be eligible for in-home vaccination services. Call the Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association at 831-648-3777 to schedule an appointment or call the California COVID-19 Hotline at 1-833-422-4255.
- VNA, VIDA, and the COVID Collaborative will soon have a mobile testing and vaccine van available to go to underserved communities on Fridays and Saturdays starting in late January. They are happy to go to a school, church (or other faith-based institution), or business that has a large number of people that need to be vaccinated. Please reach out to Kim Stemler if you know of a significant need.
- Did you or your family get an IHealth COVID-19 home test kit? Feel free to share these bilingual flyers and these videos in English and Spanish to help with the testing and reporting process.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has brought overwhelming grief to many families. If your family experienced a loss due to COVID-19, there is funding available. Share this Funeral Assistance Flyer and click here for more information.
- Community Care Licensing has issued their Winter Update here.
- Looking for an interesting and rewarding job at the Monterey County Office of Education? Quality Matters is hiring a Program Development and Compliance Specialist. Review the job description and apply on EdJoin.
- Governor Newsom announced next year’s budget proposal for California on January 10. Highlights include an additional 36,000 spaces for subsidized child care (in addition to the 110,000 spaces added last year), $1 billion to begin phasing in Universal TK, ECE Mental Health Consultation, and funds for data collection. Check out the Early Childhood section of his budget here.
- Your voice matters! Please complete this professional development survey from Quality Matters to help them plan their 2022-2023 training calendar. Check out the Quality Matters calendar for upcoming events!
- Do you want to start a child care business or know someone who does? MAOF is recruiting potential family child care homes and offers free training, marketing, and up to $1,000 in support to help start a new or expanded child care program in Monterey County. Share these flyers with your friends and family or call MAOF at (831) 757-0775!
- Need to find a testing or vaccine clinic in Monterey County? Visit MontereyCountyVaccines.com or find your location in the bilingual flyers below:
- In addition to scheduling COVID-19 vaccination appointments, My Turn is an online tool that allows Californians to schedule their flu vaccinations and find walk-in clinics in their area. Learn more about the flu vaccine with this up-to-date fact sheet from the CDC.
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.