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

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.

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.

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.

Vehr reflects on how even a 3-month policy wouldn’t have felt sufficient. “With a 3-month policy, I would have spent about a third of my leave with at least one child in the hospital. The extended 6-month leave meant that I could spend meaningful time, especially in those precious early days, focused on establishing new routines and caring for my children.”

Decreasing an employee’s salary and retirement savings opportunities at a time when their expenses are increasing causes high levels of stress, conditions that have been shown to negatively affect children’s growth and development. Start Early’s parental leave program also aligns with research evidence about the impact caregiver stress and access to high-quality healthcare has on young children by providing employees with 100% of their salary and benefits during parental leave.

“I was really one of the fortunate parents in the NICU,” says Vehr. “I think about mothers who have to return to work before they’ve fully healed or parents who are forced to return to work when their little ones are so very young because not receiving a paycheck is simply not an option.”

A comprehensive paid parental leave program can aid in retaining women in the workforce. One study from Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that implementing paid parental leave policies in California and New Jersey resulted in a 20 percent reduction in the number of women exiting their jobs in the first year after welcoming a child and up to a 50 percent reduction after 5 years.

“When you invest in your people, they invest back in the organization which ultimately leads to increased retention,” notes Byville. “I feel a much stronger sense of loyalty to Start Early because of the space they made for my family.”

Vehr agrees, “I feel a deeper sense of commitment to our organization and more cared for as an employee.” She adds, “it really calls on employers to consider a far more empathetic, humane approach to parental and family leave, and it also calls on our lawmakers to support employers with that aim.”

The benefits of paid parental leave set families, employers, and our communities up for success, which is why Start Early will continue to advocate for family-friendly policies that support time for parents and caregivers to bond with and care for their children without jeopardizing their ability to afford basic needs.

At Start Early, we know that reading is fundamental to a child’s development. As we celebrate Read Across America Day, we recognize the importance of making reading with your little ones a priority every day! By reading with your young child, you are not only bonding and inspiring a love of reading, but also developing strong early language and literacy skills that are key to future learning and success.

Whether your child is a newborn or about to head to kindergarten, here are some great books to read during storytime:

• Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
• Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
• Smile, Baby Faces Board Book by Roberta Grobel Intrater
• Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
• Peekaboo Morning by Rachel Isadora
• We’re Different, We’re the Same by Bobbi Kates
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems
• Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang
• What If by Samantha Berger
• Swimmy by Leo Lionni
• The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Other Early Learning Resources:

• 7 Books for Teaching Young Children How to Be Great Leaders
• 12 Tips to Boost Early Literacy

As the 2021 National Home Visiting Virtual Summit comes to a close, this year’s presenters share final thoughts on equity, systems, diversity, flexibility, families, innovation, home visiting, parent voice and hope.