February 2024 Community Newsletter

Local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies build awareness of their services and the importance of early childhood education within the communities they serve and develop partnerships with coalitions and task forces to ensure the needs of families and early childhood programs are considered in planning efforts.

This quarterly newsletter shares what we are doing in the community, what we have coming up, and how community members can advocate for early care and education.

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Revises the definition of 'child care home'.

Provides that certain child care programs are exempt from licensure.

Amends certain licensing requirements for a class II child care home and a child care center.

Provides that certain child care providers are eligible for voucher payments.

Allows certain child care programs at schools to provide services to business employees' children when the business enters into a contract with the school.

View the bill details here.

Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced that the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning is awarding another $6.9 million in employer-sponsored child care grants to an additional 22 businesses, community groups and school corporations, bringing the total invested to $25 million. The initiative, part of Gov. Holcomb’s 2024 Next Level Agenda, is mobilizing employers and communities to create or expand child care offerings that address the needs of working Hoosiers.

View the full press release here

Early Learning Indiana is excited to announce the second round of grants in the Early Years Initiative (EYI), a program designed to help organizations in Indiana meet the developmental needs of infants and toddlers.

Watch their announcement to learn more: https://bit.ly/47WQZxI

Stay warm, stay safe. Call 2-1-1 to find warming centers open in your community. 211 community navigators are available 24/7 and can provide you with updated locations and hours of warming centers in your area or visit in211.org.

Early Learning Coalitions are groups of people with members from different organizations that put their resources together to better early learning in their community.

Coalitions can make an impact in the community in many different ways. They are encouraging parent engagement in young children with text programs, creating non-formal CDA programs to help providers get the credentials they need, launching programs to make child care more affordable, bringing child care centers to their area to increase capacity and more.

Click on the button below for contact information for existing coalitions, or reach out to us to learn more!

Morgan County Better Communities Coalition (BCC) held its first Policymaker Meet & Greet in December. Each committee was able to present its focus: child care, mental health, short-term affordable housing, long-term affordable housing, and transportation. After the round-robin presentations, a panel of policymakers (Senator Bob Grey, House of Representatives - Peggy Mayfield, Indiana Treasurer - Daniel Elliott, County Council - Don Adams, City Council - Anne Miller, and Representative for Senator Todd Young, Dianne Powell) were available to answer questions about those five focal points. They all agreed the focal points were important to the health and welfare of the people, community, businesses, and future of Morgan County.

The BCC Child Care Task Force was developed to address the lack of high quality childcare in Morgan County. The BCC Child Care Task Force understands the need for children to receive high quality child care and has started two focus workgroups, with another two coming soon. One group is focused on the Workforce and led by Jackie Bond jbond@inaeyc.org, and the second is Communications and Awareness and led by Jen Palmer jenpalmer@mygglc.org. If you are interested in hearing more about the Child Care Task Force please get in touch with the Coalition Leader Dawn Underwood at dawn@jclearningcenters.com.

Below you can see some of the places our team has been in the last 3 months!

We were at the Hancock County Baby Shower, Vigo County Bumps and Babies Resource Fair, Eastern Indiana Works Resource Fair, Parke Heritage High School Career Fair, Richmond Disability Resource Fair, Madison and Wayne County Family Resource Centers, and did a podcast with the Indiana Economic Development Association and presented about the Employer - Sponsored Child Care fund in Muncie.

We were at the Bloomington Community Resource Fair, Regional Opportunities Initiatives GIFT VIII Planning Seminar, Henry County CAN Diaper Giveaway, Vigo County All Babies Graduation and were featured on the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Radio Show.

We were at Bloomington Ivy Tech's Student Resource Fair, Hope Center's Family Fun Night in Mooresville and preparing for the new year.

The Brighter Futures Indiana Data Center offers data related to population, economics, supply and demand. These data points are relevant to many aspects of early childhood education. Whether you are a family trying to learn more about care options in your area, a provider looking to open a new business, or a community member that supports the local early childhood education market in your area – the data center is a tool for you.

Check out local, updated data at the Brighter Futures Data Dashboard

Use this form to schedule a meeting with someone from our team!

Allissa has a Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences with a concentration in Health Administration, and a Master’s degree in Public Health. Before joining CASY her focus was on health education programs and researching ways to better the lives of the community. Her public health experience is put to use when she is presenting data on the importance of early child care and education to community leaders. Allissa is moved by the impact health disparities have on child care accessibility, quality, and affordability.

Email: atheisz@casyonline.org
Website: https://casyonline.org/ccrr_services/
Phone: 812-231-8905

Ben has a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from IUPUI. He has devoted most of his life serving Country and Community through the military, and social work. His work includes advocacy, child abuse and neglect response/prevention, community outreach and referrals. He strives to connect families to quality early care and education through referral services, webinars, and more. Ben is also looking forward to building positive relationships and sharing the importance of early childhood development and education with families and communities.

Email: bflick@casyonline.org
Website: http://casyonline.org/ccrr-staff-services/
Phone: 812-231-8906

Jennifer has experience as a business owner, childcare teacher, preschool director, and case manager. While living in Georgia, Jennifer created an Early Childhood and Parenting Program and worked with teen moms helping them to learn essential parenting and life skills. She has three degrees from Indiana Wesleyan University, including a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership. Jennifer enjoys building positive relationships and sharing the importance of early childhood development and education with families and communities.

Email: jlee@casyonline.org
Website: http://casyonline.org/ccrr-staff-services/
Phone: 812-231-8916