On July 25th, 2023, the Food Research & Action Center released a nutrition report, “Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2023." The report emphasized the importance of summer nutrition programs to reduce food insecurity, especially during the summer and highlighted that participation in these programs declined from July 2021 to July 2022
On July 19, 2023, the Center for American Progress hosted an event titled “Health Equity in Early Childhood Policy” that facilitated a discussion about how policymakers can address inequality in health policy to create legislation that effectively serves all children. The panelists agreed that the most urgent need is to include community members in conversations
The Children’s Bureau and Learning Coordination Center hosted a webinar on June 21, 2023, titled “Supporting Children and Youth Coping with Unresolved Loss.” The panel focused on ambiguous loss, defined as when a parent is physically or emotionally absent in a child’s life due to foster care, incarceration, substance use disorders, or other physical or
SchoolHouse Connection hosted a webinar on Wednesday, June 22, 2023, titled "Homeless Youth at Risk: Lessons from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey." This webinar focused on presenting the findings from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), which is administered by the Centers for Disease Control every two years. Jennifer Smith-Grant, Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Public
On June 20, 2023, Early Edge California and National Women’s Law Center hosted a webinar entitled “Strengthening our Nation’s Child Care Infrastructure through FFN Care” to discuss the importance of Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) care as an alternative to more formalized methods of child care. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) each
As COVID-19 Pandemic relief funding is coming to an end, the child care sector is facing a severe funding cliff. On Thursday June 15, 2023, Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Warren (D-MA) reintroduced the Building Child Care for a Better Future Act, which provides new, permanent funding so that states, tribes, and territories have the critical
On June 12, 2023, First Focus on Children started their Child Week 2023 programming with a webinar titled “Protecting our Students – A Conversation with FL State Rep. Anna Eskamani & PEN America’s Jonathan Friedman.” This event focused on the increasing efforts to pass policies that censor students in public schools across the United States.
On May 31, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing focused on the stabilization funds for early childhood care centers that were initially disbursed as part of the American Rescue Plan following the COVID-19 pandemic. While Ranking Member Cassidy (R-LA) and other committee members expressed concerns that federal funding
On May 31, 2023, the National Women's Law Center published a new fact sheet, "The Child Care and Early Learning Workforce Is Underpaid and Women are Paying the Price." This fact sheet includes data and tables on who comprises the child care workforce, their educational attainment, parental status, and their pay. Key findings include: Women
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal waivers issued by the Food and Nutrition Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided flexibility that enabled child nutrition program operators to feed children amid challenges brought on by the pandemic, according to a new study. “Our study revealed how measures taken at the height