Each year the Illinois General Assembly passes legislation that can have an impact on families, or the organizations in our communities providing early childhood or related supportive services to families. Start Early leads on some of these legislative changes, often in coalition with others, and in other cases we contribute our early childhood lens and expertise to support the efforts of another lead organization. The 2022 Legislative Summary provides a listing of those bills that became law in the spring 2022 session that we thought would be relevant to families with young children and the field. We hope that this is a resource you will download and share with colleagues and families alike. We are happy to provide additional information about any of these initiatives or connect you with other advocates where needed. Initiatives that were led by Start Early are marked “*”.
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Our own Policy Analyst Melissa Maldonado provides a brief overview of the 2022 Legislative Summary
Download Our Legislative Summary
The 2022 National Home Visiting Summit brought together over 1,200 systems leaders, researchers, practitioners, policy advocates, key partners and decision makers in a collaborative pursuit to advance the home visiting field and systems of care to increase service quality and improve child and family outcomes.
Attendees at this year’s virtual event participated in workshops, affinity groups, communities of practice and plenary sessions that discussed issues facing the home visiting field today, including innovations in home visiting practices and systems, addressing systematic and structural racism, and improving maternal and child health outcomes.
Making Research More Meaningful Through Community Engagement: Challenges and Opportunities
This plenary focuses on opportunities and challenges of engaging programs, families, and communities in the conduct of home visiting research, moving their role from participants to partners in the process. The plenary highlights two different research teams who have approached home visiting work with this collaborative focus.
Using Innovative Funding Strategies and Equitable Approaches to Strengthen Early Childhood
This plenary session is focused on the opportunities provided through federal, state, community, and tribal nation initiatives to elevate equitable systems and structures that create pathways to success for all families. This session offers unique perspectives from an expert panel of local, state, tribal, and federal leaders to share successes, challenges, and visions for creating program services and supports that center the voices of families and communities. The panel discussion includes the potential benefits of funding initiatives, such as Build Back Better or increased MIECHV funding, for children and families and how system and program leaders can prepare for implementing additional state or federal funding. In addition, the panel shares experiences, considerations, and lessons learned in creating dynamic systems that have laid a foundation for additional resources that may become available to states and tribal communities across the country.
Home Visiting & Child Welfare: Emerging Family First Opportunities and Challenges
Child welfare system leaders across the country are leveraging the Family First Prevention Services Act to increase family access to home visiting programs and build capacity for upstream prevention. Several states are centering their Family First strategy on home visiting and the creation of community pathways to meet needs early, achieve more equitable outcomes, and realize the prevention intent of the legislation. Opportunities and challenges in this approach are emerging as states submit their five-year Prevention Plan and begin implementation. In this plenary session, Bryan Samuels, the Executive Director of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, facilitates an exploration among several child welfare leaders regarding their strategies, plans, and needs to inform the deepening of partnerships across home visiting and child welfare.
Listen to and Trust Black Mothers: Eviction Research for Action
This plenary describes the methods and preliminary data from the Social Epidemiology to Combat Unjust Residential Evictions (SECURE) Study, a community-based participatory and mixed methods research project focused on court-ordered and illegal residential evictions and their impact on Black women in Metro-Detroit Michigan. This project is for Black women, by Black women, and is focused on collecting evidence for action (including interventions, policy change, and social activism) in service of our shared liberation. We conclude our conversation with the role of home visitors in realizing solutions to housing instability caused by residential evictions.
While the home visiting field understands that parent leadership strengthens families and promotes optimal child well-being, engaging parent leaders in advocacy spaces is another crucial part of the equation for creating positive systems and policy change. As the home visiting field prepares for major federal advocacy opportunities like the upcoming reauthorization of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV), there is a pressing need for home visiting advocates and policy makers to elevate the voices and advocacy of families and parents of young children. But where can parent advocates build their advocacy muscle, and learn about opportunities to engage in support for early learning programs in their communities?
Building on the National Home Visiting Summit Advocacy & Policy Community of Practice’s Advocacy 101 video series, Start Early is proud to share a new set of videos that highlights the skills parents bring to the table as powerful advocates and elevates opportunities to grow as leaders in advocating for home visiting and other early childhood issues impacting families.
We hope you enjoy these videos, and we invite you to share them with your networks. For additional discussion on how home visiting providers and policy advocates can bring parent leaders into meaningful partnership, check out the January webinar from the National Home Visiting Summit Advocacy & Policy Community of Practice. This webinar features a panel discussion with parent leaders about the key relationship building strategies that are foundational to creating space for parent voices.
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Last week, we hosted our 20th Annual Luncheon—our first-ever hybrid event—where we welcomed hundreds of individuals in-person here in Chicago and hundreds of others virtually across the country. Presented by LaSalle Network, the powerful program demonstrated how quality early learning and care programs can promote resilience and hope for families with young children—now more than ever.
If you were unable to join us or want to tune in again, you can watch a recording of the full program below.
Through this powerful program of diverse voices and experiences, we hope you can see the role we each have as parents, family members, friends or colleagues to support our children, families and those who care for them. From spreading the word about early learning’s impact in our communities, to contacting your legislator in support of proposed policies or sharing the gift of financial support, your investment of time or resources will make a difference.
As Luncheon Co-Chair Curt Bailey shared, “adversity brings opportunity, and we have an incredible opportunity to create a new normal that ensures equitable access to quality early learning and programs that promote resilience for every child and family.”
I am overwhelmed with appreciation for the parents, educators and early learning champions, including out Luncheon Co-Chairs Curt Bailey and Mary Hasten, who highlighted the critical need for quality early learning and care programs and services in our communities.
We are grateful for the incredible support and generosity of our donors and event sponsors who helped us exceed our fundraising goal of $1.3 million. Every dollar will help change the course for our youngest learners. You can still show your support by making a gift today. When we come together and invest in early childhood education, we can transform the lives of our future generation.
Luncheon Co-Chair Mary Hasten said it perfectly. “There is certainly more work to be done, but we know that our collective work IS making a difference today, and TOGETHER, we know that we can impact every tomorrow for young children and their families.”
Thank you for being part of our 2022 Annual Luncheon, and we hope to see you again soon.
The Illinois Policy Team at Start Early is pleased to release our annual Illinois Legislative Agenda, a snapshot of the budget requests and legislative priorities for which Start Early will be advocating during the spring 2022 legislative session in the state.
With the new legislative session underway, our team is focused on moving forward funding requests and legislation that will support families and providers across our early childhood system.
Our goals for the year include:
- Securing additional funding for the Early Childhood Block Grant at the Illinois State Board of Education and voluntary home visiting programs, the Early Intervention (EI) program, and the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) at the Illinois Department of Human Services
- Codifying existing timeline for the initiation of EI services
- Expanding eligibility to CCAP and EI for kids involved in the child welfare system
- Passing legislation to create paid family leave program, among other priorities
Watch Our 2022 Legislative Session Webinar
Hear from our team about our priorities for this legislative session and learn more about: the state’s legislative landscape, Governor Pritzker’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget address and opportunities to support advocacy for young children and families through our Advocacy in Action series.
Download Our Legislative Agenda
The following two modules provide a brief overview of NEAR@Home core concepts and what a NEAR home visit looks like in practice.
NEAR@Home is a resource for home visitors to respectfully and effectively address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with families. In addition to our free and easily accessible NEAR@Home Toolkit, we have developed a Facilitated Learning process through which trained facilitators guide home visitors and supervisors through the process of implementing a NEAR home visit.
Learn more about the NEAR@Home Facilitated Learning program and how it can support you and your home visiting program by watching the two videos below (Module #1 and Module #2).
Interested in bringing the NEAR@Home Facilitated Learning program to your community and developing your own team of NEAR@Home-trained facilitators? Please reach out to us at ProfessionalDevelopment@StartEarly.org.
Introduction to NEAR@Home: Trauma and Hope Informed Home Visiting Module 1
Rhonda Crooker, a NEAR@Home Facilitator, shares why and how NEAR@Home was created and explores some of the core concepts that guide this work including: our social justice perspective, a life course view of trauma and adversity, and how to ensure safety for the home visitor and the family.
Introduction to NEAR@Home: Trauma and Hope Informed Home Visiting Module 2
Rhonda Crooker, a NEAR@Home Facilitator, shares the process of becoming a trauma and hope informed home visitor and the steps in doing a NEAR home visit.
For me, advocating for Black fathers is a matter of personal, professional, and societal importance. My father’s indelible impact on my life — including my own role as an active father to my children — led me to pursue a career ensuring Black fathers are recognized as assets to their children, families, and communities. Research has highlighted the important role and contributions that Black fathers have on their families, including influences on children’s school adjustment, social competence, psychological well-being and positive racial socialization.
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A father’s involvement in his child’s life from very early on has a tremendous impact on their development. Children with involved, caring fathers have stronger educational and developmental outcomes with better linguistic and cognitive capabilities. They also start school with higher academic readiness. Fathers that spend time playing with their infants and preschoolers in stimulating, engaging activities help their children learn how to regulate their feelings and behavior. I can personally attest to spending a lot of time playing with my youngest son, a toddler, as he learns to explore the world around him.
Addressing systemic racism can help fathers fill this important role and empowering them with resources. Below are ways we all can create opportunities for marginalized fathers and better position them as the assets they are in our society.
- Change the narrative. We must change society’s misguided view of Black fathers as negligent parents and recast them as integral parts of our family and community, just as my father was for me and how I strive to be for my children. This requires presenting positive and culturally affirming narratives of Black fathers in the media — including social media— and through research studies, organizational cultures and legislation.
- Expand home visiting and parent education programs to ensure they are father friendly, father-centered and culturally inclusive. All fathers want what is best for their children, and home visiting programs can empower fathers in their role by engaging them in program activities and supporting their involvement in their children’s lives.
- Drive policy change that transforms the child support system into a family-building institution. Eliminating government-owed child support debt for fathers unable to pay will go a long way in enabling Black fathers to advance economically and to better provide for their children.
Supporting Black fathers in their role as a child’s first and most important teacher is an investment in our children and our communities. This Father’s Day, let’s intentionally change the narrative, advocate for local, state and federal policies that benefit Black fathers and promote positive and culturally relevant parent and home visiting programs that benefit early childhood development.
Learn more about my work and continue to follow this blog for the latest updates from Start Early.
The importance of partnering with parents to support them in their role as the children’s first and most important teacher is at the core of the documentary film, “Tomorrow’s Hope,” which will have its virtual nationwide premiere this Thursday, May 20. The film spotlights three students from Educare Chicago, an early childhood education center run by Start Early, who started at the school as infants through their high school graduation.
“Parents are critical in helping their children learn. Your best chance of any educational intervention sustaining itself is to invest in the parent,” former vice president of program and innovation Portia Kennel notes in the film.
Elishaba Poindexter, a mother whose son Jamal is featured in the film shares, “When my son started at Educare Chicago, he was 18 months old. I thought ‘Wow, this program is actually engaging not only the students but the parents as well — teaching us how to be with our child at home.’” She emphasized how Educare Chicago provided a key sense of community. “For Jamal, to constantly have that guidance and push that’s the village [needed] to raise a child.”
Families are a child’s first and most important teachers, which is why Start Early works directly with families, often starting before birth, to empower parenting skills and nurture the strong bonds between children and their caregivers that are essential to every child’s present and future well-being.
“We work hard to create relationships with parents and look at each family as an individual with their own hopes and dreams,” noted Brenda Eiland-Williford, director of early childhood quality and impact at Start Early in the film.
Parents and caregivers have the clearest perspective of what their family needs. As we begin the work of rebuilding our early childhood system back better in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, family voices — like those featured in “Tomorrow’s Hope” — must be included in the planning, implementation, oversight and evaluation of all programs serving children from birth to age 5 and their families.
As Rebecca Berlin, chief learning officer at Start Early and principal investigator of the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement (NCPFCE) shared with Early Learning Nation, “We know [lifting family voices] will lead to early learning programs that truly support family well-being, effective family and community engagement and children’s school readiness so that every child has the opportunity to thrive.”
We encourage you to register for the Thursday, May 20 nationwide virtual premiere of “Tomorrow’s Hope.” Continue following our blog to stay up to date on our latest initiatives, including our work leading the NCPFCE.
“Tomorrow’s Hope” was produced by the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation and is presented in partnership with a group of organizations from across the U.S. that are united in their dedication to early childhood education.
Earlier today, we hosted our Annual Luncheon — a virtual, nationwide celebration of the transformational power of starting early. Through the inspiring stories of families, educators and early learning champions, we witnessed how quality early learning and care programs lay a positive foundation for our youngest learners and provide necessary supports for all families.
Presented by LaSalle Network and the Zell Family Foundation, our Luncheon welcomed more than 3,000 individuals from coast to coast, many first-time attendees who are new to the Start Early family, along with some of our longest supporters. If you were unable to join us, you can watch a recording of the full program below.
Through this powerful program of diverse voices and experiences, we hope you can see the role we each have as parents, family members, friends or colleagues to support our children, families and early childhood workforce. From spreading the word about early learning’s impact in our communities, to contacting your legislator in support of an advocacy campaign or sharing the gift of financial support, your investment of time or resources will make a difference. Learn more about ways to get involved.
I am overwhelmed with appreciation for the families, educators and early learning champions, including our Luncheon Co-Chairs Kelly King Dibble and Diana Sands, who shared their personal and inspirational stories to help demonstrate the importance of early learning and care programs. Thank you to:
Michelle Obama
Former First Lady of the United States
Dr. Clinton Boyd, Jr.
Postdoctoral Associate, Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity
Diana Barrios
New Mother
Patricia Ceja-Muhsen
Doula, Healthy Parents & Babies
Danielle Jordan
Senior Master Teacher, Educare Chicago
Michelle Morris
Family Support & Community Engagement Manager, Educare Chicago
Kelly King Dibble
Senior Vice President, The Northern Trust Company; Board Member, Start Early
Diana Sands
Board Member, Start Early
Curt Bailey
President, Related Midwest; Board Chair, Start Early
We are so grateful for the overwhelming generosity of our donors and event sponsors, who helped us surpass our fundraising goal of $1.2 million. Each dollar invested in this mission will change the course for our youngest learners and their families. You can still show your support by making a gift. When we come together and invest in early childhood education, we can transform the lives of our future generation.
Thank you for joining us at our virtual 2021 Annual Luncheon, and we hope to see you again soon.
The 2021 National Home Visiting Summit brought together over 1,500 leaders, practitioners, advocates and decision-makers in a collaborative pursuit to advance the home visiting field and systems of care to increase service quality and improve outcomes.
Summit attendees participated in virtual workshops, Communities of Practice and plenary sessions that discussed issues facing the home visiting field today, including innovations in home visiting practices and systems, addressing systematic and structural racism, and improving maternal and child health outcomes.
State Leadership for Strong, Accountable and Equitable Home Visiting Systems
States are leading the way in advancing home visiting services, home visiting finance, and statewide systems with multiple models. Following adoption of federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, with support from the Pew Home Visiting Campaign, more than a dozen states adopted systems approaches, often supported by common, cross-model accountability measures and produce annual reports for their legislatures or governors. Panelists in this presentation walk through how to broaden the audience’s understanding of how to advance a home visiting system, use cross-model funding and measurement and improve equity in home visiting.
Maternal Health Outcomes: Balancing the Scales of Equity
Maternal health and well-being are necessary to the development of healthy outcomes for children and create the foundation for favorable opportunities to build strong parent-child relationships from birth. Yet data and research indicate that women of color have inequitable access to care during and after the perinatal period. In this presentation, moderator Andrea Palmer from the Pritzker Foundation, and panelists Zea Malawa, M.D., San Francisco Department of Health, Angela Doyinsola Aina, MPH, from Black Mamas Matter Alliance and Dr. Michael Warren, MD, MPH, FAAP, Associate Administrator of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, discusses current and desired maternal health outcomes, unintended consequences of policies and practices implemented in existing systems, and strategies to increase positive maternal health outcomes for women of color at the program, community, state and federal levels.
Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences, HOPE
Now more than ever, we have a tremendous opportunity – and responsibility – to fundamentally transform our work by adopting practices that recognize, value and actively bolster positive experiences, those positive childhood experiences that drive health and well-being. Children grow and develop in response to their experiences, beginning at the moment of birth. Experiences of strong foundational relationships, safe, stable and supportive environments, authentic engagement, and opportunities for social and emotional growth can support optimal development and resilience. In this presentation, hear from Dr. Robert Sege, director of the Hope National Resource Center, on this paradigm shift towards Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences – HOPE on the power of positive transformation for ourselves and the families and communities we serve.