Resources & News

Courses, Webinars & Workshops

Hosted by External Partners

Hosted by Start Early Professional Learning Network

Ages and Stages SE
Registration is at www.startearly.org/PLN

Home Visitor Reflective Practice Groups
September-December flyer with dates for the Home Visitor Reflective Practice Groups. We continue to offer these in English and Spanish. Registration for the groups is at www.startearly.org/PLNEnglish Reflective Practive Groups September-December 2022;  Spanish Reflective Practice Groups

Resources to Expand Your Knowledge

Community & Family Resources

Child Tax Credit– 3 weeks left for families to claim the Child Tax Credit, if they did not receive monthly CTC payments in 2021 and have not yet filed a tax return. See the following resources: a helpful FAQ and a new video from the IRS to support those in claiming this benefit by the Nov. 15 deadline.

Governor Pritzker Launches Illinois Cares for Kids
          Statewide Enrollment Campaign “I Got Love / ¡Siento Amor!”
Governor JB Pritzker announced the launch of “I Got Love / ¡Siento Amor!”, the statewide enrollment campaign for childcare and early education services, featuring Illinois artists, musicians, and production partners. More information on programs is available at www.illinoiscaresforkids.org/
Free Kindergarten Readiness Program
Illinois Cares for Kids is inviting all families to join Ready4K! Ready4K is a free research-based text messaging program for families with child(ren) ages 0-11 in Illinois. The program supports families, increases children’s learning, and provides a method for the State to share customized early childhood messaging with families. Want to learn more? Ready4K is hosting weekly information sessions to share about the program offer and discuss implementation. For questions, please reach out to LeeAnn Kiper at lkiper@inccrra.org.

Head Start Eligibility and SNAP
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) issued new guidance announcing the family-friendly policy of permitting families and guardians to use proof of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) receipt or eligibility as a pathway to enroll in Head Start.

Affordable Connectivity Program
The Region 5 Office of Child Care has announced that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is now open. The ACP is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program to help low-income households pay for internet service and connected devices. Eligible households can enroll in the ACP through an approved provider or by visiting one of two simple and easy-to-use websites: ACPBenefit.org or GetInternet.gov.

Keep Medicaid Coverage
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) is preparing for the end of the Federal Covid-19 Public Health Emergency. They will need to send out paperwork and are asking Medicaid customers to update their mailing address if it has changed. Families can update their address with Illinois Medicaid by calling 877-805-5312 from 7:45 am to 4:30 pm or visit the website.

Programs & Staff Resources

• Trauma-informed resources on supporting immigrant children and families who have experienced or fear family separation or other immigration trauma.Resources for Providers an Caregivers_Traumatic Separation and Immigrant Families
• Home Visiting Services for Refugee, Immigrant, Migrant, and Dual Language Learner Families: The National Home Visiting Resource Center has just released this brief highlighting five home visiting programs across the country using innovative, strengths-based practices. Program staff discussed strategies for supporting these families, such as removing barriers to program enrollment, leveraging community partnerships, and recruiting home visitors who represent the community’s culture and language.
• Family Voices Launches Anti-Racism Toolkit: A toolkit website designed to support the important work of dismantling racism in health care. The website offers concrete tools designed to support organizations and individuals to become more culturally competent and responsive by building meaningful, equitable engagement with Black children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families.

• Reflective Supervision: A Planning Tool for Home Visiting Supervisors: The Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation has published this tool as part of The Supporting and Strengthening the Home Visiting Workforce project, which seeks to understand reflective supervision in the home visiting context: how it should be defined, measured, and bolstered to improve staff, program, and family outcomes. Another product of this project is a report titled Improving Home Visitor Professional Well-Being: A Resource for State and Tribal Home Visiting Programs, Model Representatives, and Local Programs.

Research Opportunities

General Information

• The National Home Visiting Resource Center published the 2022 Home Visiting Yearbook
  This yearbook features information on where programs operate, the families they serve, and the families who could benefit but are not being reached; data tables on services delivered by MIECHV awardees, downloadable files with key data, and more.
• ISBE updated materials: For ISBE PI funded programs: ISBE has some updated Quality Assurance forms, including the PICC and CQIP. They can be found here .
• New “988” National Dialing Code for Crisis and Suicide Lifeline
  Earlier this month the US launched “988” to access the National Crisis and Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Lifeline is a national network of over 200 local, independent crisis centers equipped to help people in mental health-related distress or experiencing a suicidal crisis via call, chat, or text. The Lifeline provides free and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or mental health-related distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the U.S.
• Early Intervention Extended Services (EI/ES): Effective January 2022, children with birthdays between May 1 and August 31 can continue to receive Early Intervention services past their third birthday. If a child meets the criteria, families will be offered the option to continue with Early Intervention services until the beginning of the next school year.
• Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development e-Newsletter: Interested in checking out the e-newsletter from the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development? Click here to register to receive the e-newsletter or briefings in the future.