Preschool for All in your county?

How are counties that are implementing Preschool for All dealing with professional development, financing, and program quality?

The Children’s Collabrium, with funding from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, is offering free, 90-minute workshops (through April 2009) on these and other topics, for both center- and home-based early care and education professionals.

For more information or to schedule a workshop in your community: 415-362-4880, mailto:info@thechildrenscollabrium

Read more news like this in the Jan-Feb Children's Advocate's Roundtable report, http://www.4children.org/issues/2009/
january_february/childrens_advocate_roundtable/ (for Spanish or Chinese, click on the link at the top of the page)

Resources and tools

Advocacy for flexible work schedules

MomsRising is an internet-based campaign “to bring together millions of people who share a common concern about the need to build a more family-friendly America.” They’ve collected many great tools to help people advocate for more family-friendly work schedules, including part time, flex time, and more. www.momsrising.org/work

Health and safety information in Spanish

Nuestros Niños radio program (http://www.nuestrosninos.org/) has published a Spanish-language booklet of culturally appropriate child health and safety information, advice, and resources. This is the first in a series, ¡Adelante con Nuestros Niños! Agencies that would like to buy copies for distribution ($2 each for orders up to 250, discounts for larger orders) can contact Interactive Parenting Media, PO Box 1212, Berkeley, CA 94701 or info@interactiveparentingmedia.org

Building a child care business

Building Child Care is new collaborative of child care organizations that offers help with:

• Capital financing ideas
• Developing a business plan
• Locating grant and loan resources
• Finding local child care resources

The collaborative includes Insight Center for Community Economic Development, the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, the Low Income Investment Fund, and The Children’s Collabrium. For info: 888-411-3535, http://www.buildingchildcare.org/

Read more news like this in the Jan-Feb Children's Advocate's Roundtable report, http://www.4children.org/issues/2009/january_february/childrens_advocate_roundtable/ (for Spanish or Chinese, click on the link at the top of the page)

The budget and the recession

The California Budget Project has produced a report called Budget Cuts or Tax Increases: Which Are Preferable during an Economic Downturn? (www.cbp.org/pdfs/2008/0807_pp_cutsortaxes.pdf).

According to CBP Executive Director Jean Ross, “If you look at the overwhelming body of economic research, it tells you that cutting spending is absolutely the worst thing you can do in a down economy. Why? Because public dollars that go out through state budgets, county budgets, school district budgets...immediately recycle through local economies.”

Read more news like this in the Jan-Feb Children's Advocate's Roundtable report, http://www.4children.org/issues/2009/
january_february/childrens_advocate_roundtable/ (for Spanish or Chinese, click on the link at the top of the page)