How can providers support the physical health of the children in their care? In this webinar, we learned about preventative behaviors that support physical health, as well as the importance of flu shots, nutrition, exercise and fresh air for children. We also learned tips for keeping programs clean and supporting good physical health as we head into flu season, including finding a pediatrician for your program. See the resources section, below for the presentation slides and recording of the webinar.

I can’t wait to learn more during our next webinar, Tuesday, October 27. Register now to join!

Natalie Brake serves as the director of community outreach and engagement for Early Learning Indiana.

Resources from the second webinar:

• Click to see the slides for the first webinar here.
• Watch the video of the webinar below:

Early education providers continue to serve on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. In my role working with providers and communities across Indiana, a common theme is that everyone wants to meet the physical and mental health and wellbeing needs of the staff, children and families they serve. However, it’s not always easy in our current context. To help address these concerns, Early Learning Indiana and the Indiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (INAAP) are hosting a three-part webinar series that brings experts together to talk about these issues.

During the first webinar’s Q&A session, I raised up questions sent in from programs across the state on the topic of forming and strengthening relationships between pediatricians and providers. The questions ranged from immunizations to paperwork difficulties to individual child development concerns. Across these diverse topics, the answers all led back to three key takeaways:

• Early learning providers play a crucial role in the lives of the children they serve, and pediatricians are in awe of their commitment!
• Immunizations protect us all. Providers can set the example with their staff. I am getting my flu shot for me and the children in my life. Are you?
• Providers and pediatricians can work together to ensure that staff, children and families are healthy and supported – and we can help make that connection. If you’d like to be connected, to a local pediatrician partner, please complete this brief survey.

I can’t wait to learn more during our next webinar, Tuesday, October 13. Register now to join!

Natalie Brake serves as the director of community outreach and engagement for Early Learning Indiana.

Resources from the first webinar:

• Managing Infectious Diseases in Child Care and Schools, A Quick Reference Guide
• CDC Learn the Signs Act Early
• FSSA Fact sheets
• Immunization Resources from CDC
• Find Adult Publicly Funded Immunization Providers

See the slides for the first webinar here.

Watch the video of the webinar below:

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve heard from many partners and providers that a top concern is the impact of COVID-19 on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of your staff and the children and families you serve.

To help provide you with information and resources to address this concern and offer your staff, children and families the best support and care, Early Learning Indiana – in partnership with the Indiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics – is hosting a three-part webinar series for early childhood education leaders and providers in Indiana.

We invite you to attend the first webinar this Tuesday, Sept. 29 from 2-3 p.m. EST.

Forming and Strengthening Relationships: How Pediatricians Can Play a Key Role in Child Care
Pediatricians are an important part of a child’s wellbeing and development and can serve as a great resource for early learning providers to support the children and families they serve. In this webinar, learn about the importance of immunizations for staff, children and families; the importance of well-baby and well-child visits; and how providers can support families in accessing care. You’ll also discover resources for finding a pediatrician partner and creating opportunities for your program.

When you register, we invite you to submit your questions for our expert panelists. Click here to register.

Media Contact: Jennifer Erbacher, 812-483-5124, jennifere@earlylearningindiana.org   

Early Learning Indiana today announced the latest grant recipients of the Come Back Stronger Fund that has awarded more than $13.1 million to 1,025 Indiana early childhood education providers. With support from Lilly Endowment Inc., Come Back Stronger Fund grants are reinforcing Indiana’s high-quality early learning programs, especially for the state’s most vulnerable children, by providing financial support for added pandemic-related-safety needs. Through these awarded providers, over 45,300 Hoosier children will continue having high-quality child care experiences. 

“The pandemic has proven what we’ve long known to be true – that as parents, early care and learning programs are critical to our family’s wellbeing and our ability to work and move forward as a society,” said Early Learning Indiana President and CEO Maureen Weber. “In the best of times, early learning providers operate on razor-thin margins, and COVID-19 has put them in a precarious position with added expenses and lost revenue. These grants are creating ripple effects across our state, from the early care and learning programs receiving them, to the children, families and businesses they serve.” 

Come Back Stronger Fund grants ranged from $2,000-$40,000 based on providers’ total enrollment and the percentage of children they serve from vulnerable family populations, defined as households at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Awarded providers serve children ages 0-5 and have achieved Paths to QUALITY™ Level 2, 3 or 4 on Indiana’s quality rating system. View a map of all awarded providers here. 

In their grant applications, providers outlined their plans for grant funds, citing opportunities like hiring additional teachers and staff to create smaller group sizes or do daily health screenings; supporting social distancing and safety in classrooms by purchasing and installing hand sanitizer stations, room dividers and additional washers and dryers for increased laundry needs; offering mental health and coaching services to staff members who struggle with the increased demands of their work; and building out new classrooms to increase the capacity of early learning opportunities in the community. 

Early Learning Indiana has prioritized the fund’s remaining $1.8 million to address critical service gaps and support the communities across Indiana with the greatest need.   

Media Resources

Photos

B-Roll

Early Learning Indiana is Indiana’s oldest and largest early childhood education nonprofit, providing leadership, advocacy, and early childhood education services to continually improve the early learning landscape in Indiana. Today, Early Learning Indiana operates nine high-quality Day Early Learning centers, a network of premier community-based lab schools used to advance the science of early learning, train the next generation of teachers and leaders, and instill essential skills in the children we serve. Through regional and statewide programs, the organization enables early learning providers to build capacity, transform operations, and improve learning outcomes. Moreinformation is available at EarlyLearningIndiana.org.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.

Choosing a high-quality early care and education program is an important decision. To make high-quality early learning accessible to all families, there are a number of financial assistance grants available through the state of Indiana. Hoosier families applying for Indiana’s child care assistance (CCDF) and On My Way Pre-K programs now have an easy way to do it: Early Ed Connect.

What is Early Ed Connect?

Early Ed Connect is a one-stop shop where Hoosier families can apply for child care assistance online. The application at Early Ed Connect functions as a screening tool to help families understand if they may qualify for federal or state-level support (CCDF, Title XX and OMWPK).

Early Ed Connect makes the process of applying for CCDF and On My Way Pre-K easier for families.

Early Ed Connect offers the following benefits:
• Easy use via smartphones, computers or tablets
• Ability to apply for multiple children in one application
• Ability to upload supporting documents, including photos from phones
• Ability to save application progress and complete it at a later time
• Notification of successful submission
• English and Spanish language versions
• Online support information and videos

Applying for Early Ed Connect

If you are a family applying for state-level support, the first thing you need to do is open an Early Ed Connect account. Check out this Brighter Futures Indiana blog post or visit EarlyEdConnect.FSSA.gov to learn more.

Early Learning Indiana today awarded grants totaling $2,341,000 to 155 early child care and education providers across Indiana to assist them with safety-related expenses and challenges as they serve families in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. This first round of grant awards is part of the $15 million Come Back Stronger Fund, made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., to reinforce Indiana’s supply of high-quality early learning opportunities, especially for the state’s most vulnerable children.

“The pandemic has shone a light on the critical role early care and education providers play in our society,” said Early Learning Indiana President and CEO Maureen Weber. “It’s estimated that nearly one-third of our state’s child care providers made the difficult decision to close their doors when the pandemic first hit. Now as many of them re-open to serve families who need quality care in order to go back to work, safety is of utmost importance. We’re excited to see how providers use their grants to increase health and safety measures and expand to serve more families who need care.”

More than 400 providers applied for funding in the first two weeks. Applications are being reviewed and awarded on a rolling basis, and Early Learning Indiana will notify new awardees each week. View a map of awarded providers here.

Grant awards are of varying amounts up to $40,000 based on enrollment and the percentage of children served who receive federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) or On My Way Pre-K assistance from the state of Indiana.

In their grant applications, awarded providers detailed how they would use grant funding to more safely serve families and expand to serve additional families. Examples include hiring an additional teacher to allow for smaller group sizes in order to minimize contact; creating a new role for a staff member who will meet families at the door to take temperatures and walk children to their classrooms; supporting social distancing and safety in classrooms by purchasing and installing hand sanitizer stations, room dividers to separate spaces for groups of infants and toddlers, and additional washer and dryer units to allow for increased laundry needs; and building out new classrooms at a center to increase the supply of early learning opportunities in the community.

To be eligible for grant funding, providers must be:

• Licensed and registered centers, ministries or family child care home providers in Indiana in good standing
• An approved CCDF or On My Way Pre-K provider or a provider that otherwise serves children from vulnerable family populations, defined as households at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level
• Operating as a Paths to QUALITY™ Level 3 or 4, or as a Paths to QUALITY™ Level 2 with a demonstrated commitment to achieving a higher level of program quality
• Serving children ages 0-5

Early child care organizations can learn more about the Come Back Stronger Fund and apply at www.earlylearningin.org/comebackstronger. Early Learning Indiana also invites others to contribute to the fund to help make more grants possible throughout the state.

Media Contact: Jennifer Erbacher, 812-483-5124, jennifere@earlylearningindiana.org  

Early Learning Indiana is Indiana’s oldest and largest early childhood education nonprofit, providing leadership, advocacy, and early childhood education services to continually improve the early learning landscape in Indiana. Today, Early Learning Indiana operates nine high-quality Day Early Learning centers, a network of premier community-based lab schools used to advance the science of early learning, train the next generation of teachers and leaders, and instill essential skills in the children we serve. Through regional and statewide programs, the organization enables early learning providers to build capacity, transform operations, and improve learning outcomes. Moreinformation is available at EarlyLearningIndiana.org.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. More information is available at lillyendowment.org.