The $14 million in new federal funds will be dispersed to an estimated 1,200 centers with families who rely on Care 4 Kids certificates to pay for child care.
Office of Early Childhood
Posted inEducation
Bye brings passion for social justice to early childhood work
The idea of working to support families motivates Beth Bye in her new post as commissioner of the Office of Early Childhood.
Posted inEducation
Officials fear link between loss of subsidies and increase in day-care deaths
Six of the nine infant and toddler deaths in Connecticut day cares over the last two years took place at illegal home care programs, prompting state officials’ concerns that a temporary reduction of the Care4Kids program two years ago drove more parents to resort to unlicensed forms of care.
Posted inEducation
Obama official to run state’s Office of Early Childhood
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy tapped a former Obama administration official Thursday as commissioner of the Office of Early Childhood, naming David Wilkinson to oversee a relatively new state agency that has been squeezed by shifting federal priorities and Connecticut’s chronic budget pressures.
Posted inEducation
Growing wait list for child care subsidies taking its toll
Thousands of low-income families hoping to receive child care subsidies are stuck in limbo as a wait list for the program swells. The number could grow to 5,000 families by this summer, advocates say.
Posted inHealth
CT stepping up efforts to treat trauma in the very young
A baby crying inconsolably. A toddler stealing food. They’re signs of trauma, but often, even those who work with young children don’t recognize them. Can a new effort change that?
Posted inEducation, Politics
Early Childhood Commissioner Myra Jones-Taylor to step down
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Friday that Myra Jones-Taylor, commissioner of the state Office of Early Childhood, will step down from her position effective Sept. 1. She is leaving to pursue “new professional opportunities,” the governor’s office said.
Posted inEducation
Child care funding: A choice between the struggling and destitute
On Tuesday morning, in a room at the state Capitol complex, a single small number seemed to tell its own story about the fiscal bind legislators are likely to find themselves in over and over again this session.
Posted inEducation
Universal preschool: Reality falling far short of vision
An ambitious state plan to assure every child access to a high-quality preschool is rolling out far short of what was envisioned because of fiscal realities facing the state and school districts.
Posted inEducation
State lands federal funds to move toward universal preschool
Connecticut has landed federal funding to offer high-quality preschool to hundreds of additional children from low-income families, with an emphasis on those who are homeless or in foster care.
Posted inEducation
Third time a charm? State again seeks federal preschool funding
Connecticut leaders are asking the federal government for $47.6 million so hundreds of foster and homeless children can attend a high-quality preschool. Though children from all families in poverty will be eligible for the expanded preschool program, the state says it will give priority to children who are homeless or in foster care.
Posted inEducation
Raising Connecticut’s kindergarten age — a help or a harm?
Personal anecdotes conflict with numerous studies saying socioeconomic status and other factors outweigh age in determining success in school. The age a child starts kindergarten has nothing to do with his or her long-term academic success, those studies say.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Of butterflies, children and a governor seeking re-election
Liberated butterflies, excitable pre-schoolers and gubernatorial politics intersected Wednesday as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy chose a YMCA playground in Meriden to publicize the allocation of funds to provide preschool education for 1,020 children.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Connecticut Smart Start is smart policy
As many as 60,000 Connecticut children are not enrolled in any sort of pre-K program. These children are all but guaranteed to enter the classroom academically and socially behind their peers.