September 30 | Early Care and Education Digest

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Early Care and Education Digest

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

  • Don’t forget to register for breakfast with Nobel Laureate James Heckman!Join the community and learn facts about the importance of investing in early childhood education in fighting crime and poverty among other benefits. Friday, October 7 from 8:30am – 10:30am at the Monterey Conference Center. Register here and share these flyers. Spanish interpretation and scholarships are available. Contact Cristina@first5monterey.org for scholarship registration.
  • Halloween and Fall events in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties! Visit the Monterey Bay Parent Article for fun Fall events for everyone.
  • Fight the Flu! Getting a flu shot can protect you and your loved ones. Schedule your flu vaccine today at vaccines.gov or myturn.ca.gov/flu
  • Raíces y Cariño (RC) Family Collective – Opening Celebration! Join many local organizations, agencies, and individuals who support families to bring marketing materials and educational information to this event, celebrating the opening of this family resource center serving Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties. Please share these fliers!  
  • Free Preventative Health and Safety Training! Santa Clara County resource and Referral program is offering an EMSA-approved eight-hour Preventative Health and Safety training (with nutrition and lead poisoning prevention) required for child care licensing. This training is open to participants in San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties. Learn more here.
  • 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.
  • Impact Monterey County wants to hear from you! Youth and adults are encouraged to take the Impact Monterey County’s survey here. Information will inform organizations and agencies in Monterey County  on what you think is important for the future of our community. Contact Kalyssa King at kalyssa.king@unitedwaymcca.org for more information or if you would like to participate in community conversations being held in Monterey County. 
  • Child Care and Development Quarterly Stakeholder Webinar. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) will be hosting a webinar that will cover State’s progress towards rate reform and quality, a summary of the fiscal year 21-22 child care enrollment and more. Monday, October 3  from 9:30am – 11:00 am. Please register here.  
  • Why are physical exams important for children? Physicals can help find and prevent medical, dental and mental/behavioral health issues before they become urgent. Get free health checks and immunizations at the Child Health and Disability Prevention (CHDP) Program. Check out and post these fliers to learn more. 
  • Lucy’s Closet offers free items to the public. Need clothing, blankets, toys and food? Go to Lucy’s Closet and Food Pantry at Binsacca Family Farms-36200 Arroyo Seco Rd on Thursdays 10am – 5pm and Saturdays 10am – 2pm or by appointment by calling 408-887-4737 or email lucyscloset831@gmail.com.  
  • Free FFN training with Program for Infant Toddler Caregivers! Join the free training for FFN providers. Contact Maria at MAOF, call 831-757-0775. 
  • March for Peace will be happening Saturday, October 1 at 2pm in Salinas to memorialize those who were lost due to violence. Learn more about the march here.
  • New Multilingual Learning Toolkit Updates! This month marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the website. To celebrate this milestone, Early Edge California and partners have developed exciting new enhancements to the Toolkit. Take a look!
  • Innovative Approaches to Identifying and Supporting Dual Language Learners. Early Edge California invites you to join their webinar on Tuesday, October 18 at 1pm. Nearly 7.5 million children in the U.S. are DLLs. Research shows that DLL children have better long-term academic outcomes when they receive support in preserving their home language. Register here.
  • Join 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.

Monterey County Vaccines By the Numbers

Overall, 80.3% 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. Stay informed on all things COVID-19 on the Monterey County COVID-19 portal.

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.