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SEPTEMBER 2022
Upcoming Events!
- Sept. 12: Education Interim Committee
- Sept. 13: Education Interim Budget Committee (Early childhood education is on the agenda at 2:30 p.m.)
- Sept.15: Revenue Interim Committee
- Sept. 20: Child Care Innovations Webinar Series featuring Head Start
- Oct. 20-22: MTAEYC Early Childhood Conference
Child Care Innovations Webinar Series: Head Start as a Partner
Join us and our special guests, Kathy Rich with the Montana Head Start Collaboration Office and Karen Filipovich with the Montana Head Start Association, to learn more about Head Start and some of the innovative community solutions that exist around the state.
This webinar will provide an overview of Head Start, feature a panel of Head Start program directors leading the way, and a discussion and question session.
If you've ever wondered what Head Start has to offer or how they can be a collaborative partner in your community, this session is for you!
When: Sept. 20, 11 a.m.
Where: Zoom - Register here.
Child Care Summit in Richland County!
Will you be in Eastern Montana for the Child Care Summit in Sidney on Sept. 16? The Richland County Economic Development Corp. is hosting a great meeting next week.
Zero to Five Montana will see you there!
DPHHS survey regarding
Best Beginnings Scholarship subsidies
DPHHS has created a short survey for families and providers who access Best Beginnings Scholarship subsidies for child care.
In 2020, the state used federal COVID-relief funds to expand eligibility, reduce copays, and provide stable reimbursement payments to providers based on enrollment (rather than attendance). While many states have used other ARPA funds or state resources to maintain higher eligibility levels, Montana may let these temporary provisions lapse, creating even greater barriers to accessing child care.
Montana Advocates for Children – a statewide coalition to improve child care access and affordability, of which Zero to Five is a member – is calling on the state to expand Best Beginnings eligibility and maintain these COVID-relief provisions. Please consider submitting language in Question 4 to urge DPHHS to maintain all three of these critical provisions by close of business today, Sept. 9.
Benefits to becoming a licensed
or registered child care provider
Montana offers individuals interested in providing care and education to children many benefits including resources, support, incentives, and business-related advantages.
Becoming a licensed or registered provider ensures child care businesses meet the health, safety, and developmental needs of the children in care. Licensed or registered child care providers can receive a variety of monetary benefits such as involvement in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the STARS to Quality Program. Other monetary benefits are offered through special circumstances such as the recent Child Care Stabilization grants.
Learn more and find additional child care business resources here.
Innovations Pilot program working for change in Seeley Lake
Sparrow's Vine - Parenting and Pregnancy Resource Center and the Seeley Lake Community Foundation are among the first cohort of Zero to Five Montana and the Montana Cooperative Development Center’s Community & Business Child Care Innovations Pilot. Through this project, they are working on addressing one of their community’s most pressing needs -- child care.
The Seeley Lake area’s primary issue when it comes to child care is the barrier of location -- there are individuals who want to create a child care, but there is not a viable location. The groups hosted a community conversation this week for anyone interested in talking about child care solutions for their area.
Through these community-level meetings, pilot sites across Montana are working together to help identify, plan and solve their area’s issues related to child care including workforce challenges, supply and demand and infrastructure. Learn more about the pilot project at https://www.zerotofive.org/innovations-pilot.
In the News
Religious vaccine exemption rule temporarily blocked by lawmakers
Childcare remains scares & expensive as school year approaches
Survey aims to better understand childcare needs in Lewis & Clark County
Montana represented in Bipartisan Policy Center / U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Early Childhood and Business Advisory Council
