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
83% 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 February 28. Stay informed with the Monterey County COVID-19 portal.
News
- Child care centers in Monterey County can get free COVID-19 home test kits for staff and children in their program! Click on this link to order your kits, or contact Laura@BrightBeginningsMC.org. Kits are also available through the Resource and Referral (MAOF) for private centers, family child care homes, and Family Friends & Neighbors (FFN).
- Child care decision trees are now available from the California Department of Public Health. Find resources if a child is feeling sick or tests positive for COVID-19 here and if there has been an exposure in a child care setting here. For more information, go to California For All COVID-19 Child Care Resources.
- There is a recall on some infant formulas including Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare. Families, child care providers, and educators should immediately check all of the formulas in their possession. Find the lot number on your formula package and compare it to this notice, or call 1-800-894-8540.
- Mask mandates for schools in California are changing on March 12. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) strongly recommends, but does not mandate, the use of face masks indoors. The latest guidance from CDPH on face masks is located here.
- Everyone can use a little parenting support, especially during those important teen years. Positive Discipline Community Resources will offer free virtual and in-person support groups in both English and Spanish this Spring for families. These support groups are great for families who have teens ages 13-18. Learn more and share these flyers.
- California has allocated $130 million in ongoing preschool funds. The Request for Applications (RFA) for CSPP funds are for Local Education Agencies (LEA’s) interested in serving full- or part-day preschool for 3 and 4-year-olds. New LEA’s as well as currently operating CSPP programs are encouraged to apply. Learn more about the funding process here. Applications are due April 7!
- The Central Coast Advocacy Network wants to hear from you! Please complete this short survey in English or Spanish that will help CCECAN to prioritize efforts in 2022.
- Child care workers continue to struggle to survive. Research shows that one in three child care workers in the US experienced food insecurity in 2020 according to this sobering article from EdSource.
- Learn about new professional development opportunities available for ECE providers in the coming weeks. See the Quality Matters calendar for upcoming events!
- 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.
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.