Collaboration with caregivers and between disciplines and agencies is a recommended practice in the field of early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) as well as required by federal legislation for young children with disabilities. Review of relevant literature suggests that collaboration entails a complex set of…

A child's early language skills are one of the best predictors of academic success, and a number of community interventions have aimed to increase caregiver-child interactions to improve language development and related outcomes. This article describes ongoing community efforts in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aimed at enriching…

This briefing paper explores Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) policies and practices that state early intervention (Part C) programs may consider implementing to meet the social-emotional and mental health needs of infants and toddlers in the context of relationships with their parents and other caregivers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented, urgent challenges for the child care and early education workforce. Though the workforce has always been fragile, new stressors presented over the past year have highlighted fundamental structural problems in the system, including the inequities facing Black, Latina, and Native American child care…

This Reflection on Practice is based upon a change in the undergraduate course "Family and Community Relations." Historically, this course has been taught on campus in a lecture format, as well as small and large group activities. However, during a spring semester at a midsized Midwestern University, it was altered to provide more direct…

Second Substitute Senate Bill 5903 (2019) directed the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to contract with an organization providing coaching services to early achievers program participants, i.e., Child Care Aware of Washington (CCA WA), to provide statewide Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMH-C) to Early…

This Report to Congress is required by Section 658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act, as amended. The report provides information about the role of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which is authorized under the CCDBG Act. This report covers fiscal year (FY) 2016 and (FY) 2017. The data and analysis contained in…

In 1997, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to pass legislation establishing an education and support program for family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) care providers. This article describes the Minnesota Family, Friend and Neighbor Grant Program and findings from an evaluation of the programs and a curriculum scan of materials used in…

The 2011 National Federation of the Blind Youth Slam event at Towson University enabled a large group of blind youth to participate in a five day long science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) academy. Enrichment experiences such as this one may generate interest in STEM subjects for students with visual impairments. For decades,…

An itinerant service delivery model takes early intervention and special education services to environments where young children with disabilities participate in their communities. Reconciliation of the mismatch that often occurs between recommended and actual practice requires support at all levels of the service delivery system, including…

This article describes a program for supporting parents and caregivers of K-4 students at an urban university's charter school. To create this program, university faculty and school administrators developed a series of workshops to foster school-home literacy connections. Information about surveys, meetings and program implementation are provided…

The Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock is addressing one of the most pressing policy issues facing the United States: how to care for the burgeoning number of older adults. In 2001, the Institute created the Arkansas Aging Initiative, which established seven satellite centers on…

The purpose of this practicum was to develop an on-site training program for latchkey family day care home providers. Practicum objectives were to (1) develop a pilot project involving three family day care homes in Pinellas County, Florida; (2) assist caregivers in meeting the annual training requirements; (3) design and implement, on-site, a…

Family home childcare providers play an important role in the delivery of essential childcare and in early learning. According to the 1999 U.S. Census, 30.7% of children under 5 years of age in non-parental care attend organized family home care (Child Care Bureau, 2001). In Washington State, 27% of children attend regulated family home childcare…

Describes how a group of Extension educators developed, implemented and evaluated a child-care-provider training program that considered provider needs, research-based competencies, and current recommendations for child-care training opportunities. Presents information concerning program focus, program content, program evaluation, and two methods…