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Executive Director Update
Summer is upon us! The team at Zero to Five MT has been busy implementing child care business supports across Montana communities through Montana Child Care Business Connect, so keep an eye out! In our policy work, we're learning and listening from partners about ongoing and emerging needs, and are eager to share new developments in our collective early childhood system building efforts. Later this month a couple of us are traveling to Washington D.C. to discuss early childhood policy opportunities with our federal partners and delegation. We are honored to be in this work with you all, and please reach out anytime!
DPHHS announces Montana Bright Futures project:
$24M in federal dollars to support Montana's early childhood system
Over the next three years, Montana will receive $24 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the Montana Bright Futures project at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
The Preschool Development Grant Renewal will provide the state with approximately $8 million per year for three years (2023–2025) plus state matching funds, to include subgrants to local communities to support child care infrastructure.
Montana Bright Futures Birth to Five (BF B-5) is a continuation of the previous Strengthening Montana’s Early Childhood System Project which began in 2019. The 2023-2025 BF B-5 project will continue its focus on developing the state’s comprehensive early childhood system.
ECCE professionals invited to share experiences
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is inviting ECCE professionals to share their experiences with early childhood programs and services.
ACF is supporting the development of a Working Partner Group with the goal of better understanding the experiences of early care and education professionals and providers working within early childhood systems.
The Working Partner Group will be composed of 20 professionals who will participate in 3-4 virtual meetings between July and December 2023. Each discussion will be 60-75 minutes.
They are looking for professionals working in early childhood systems as caregivers, teachers/educators, home visitors, or another role working directly with children and families. Professionals may be working in a variety of settings including: licensed child care programs, family child care, early education programs or preschools, home visiting programs, Head Start or Early Head Start, or other types of service settings.
Participating professionals will receive a $100 honorarium for each discussion they attend. APPLY HERE
60-Day Public Comment Period opened for draft CCDF Plan
The 60-day public comment period has opened in the Federal Register for the draft FY 2025-2027 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plan Preprint for States and Territories.
The draft FY 2025-2027 State and Territory CCDF Plan Preprint has been refined to maintain many elements of the 2022-2024 State and Territory CCDF Plan Preprint, including the 8-section structure. Some of the supports include:
Asking states and territories about their plans for implementation in the coming three years;
Providing lead agencies with the opportunity to describe how they effectively administer the program to meet the needs of children and families;
Providing lead agencies with additional opportunities to describe how they effectively and equitably support a qualified and well compensated child care workforce;
and more
The public comment period ends on Aug. 27, 2023. The Federal Register Publication provides instructions on how to submit comments.
Montana represented at #StrollingThunder in D.C.
Two-year old Liam (and his parents, Brian Murphy and our executive director Caitlin Jensen) represented Montana at ZERO TO THREE's Strolling Thunder held in Washington D.C. in June. The event is designed to draw attention to the policy needs of American babies and families.
Families were invited to an event at the White House, and 51 families from each state and Washington D.C. met with their congressional delegation on the Hill to discuss issues surrounding access to affordable child care, child tax credits and other supports.
You can also take action! Tell Montana’s congressional delegation it’s time to change more than just diapers. Go to bit.ly/congress-babies
Brian & Liam at advocacy training
Brian, Caitlin & Liam speaking at the White House about child care
Tribal Work Update:
Language Summit a success, new grant for coalition work
More than 125 participants registered for the annual Montana Early Childhood Tribal Language Summit held June 14 & 15 on the Salish Kootenai College campus in Pablo.
Breakout sessions focused on open discussions of language development, classroom practices, family engagement, adult learning, and immersion programs. Cree Whelshula, one of the keynote speakers who also facilitated a breakout session on art and crafts, spoke about the importance of implementing tribal language into all aspects of life to help children learn their cultural identity.
Zero to Five Montana is excited to announce we are the recipient of a technical assistance grant from ZERO TO THREE called "Built for Babies" to elevate birth through three policy in our state early childhood tribal policy work. Stay tuned for more details!
In the meantime, check out our 2023 report Building Partnerships: Leading Policies and Practices Through Our Voices.
Zero to Five Montana is Hiring!
Early Childhood Policy Manager - Do you gravitate towards policy as a driver to address systemic challenges and opportunities? Do you think of yourself as a “systems thinker” – meaning you are excited about complex problems, and can collaborate effectively
to identify concreate solutions that are relevant to Montana and evidence-based? If so, we hope you apply for Zero to Five Montana’s Early Childhood Policy Manger Position!
Not-so-tiny trips with our Community Navigator
The summer has just begun but we’re already hitting the road and traveling across Montana to visit with participants of our community capacity building cohort. Getting to meet with these communities and participants in-person has been an enriching experience and the amount of work and time these volunteers are spending to increase access to child care in their communities is inspiring!
Here’s an update, from Shelby, our Community Navigator on each trip:
Browning – The Blackfeet Nation was the second stop of the Tiny Trips series where I got to witness the early stages of the collaboration in and around the Browning community. While they have only met a couple times so far, this core team has made massive strides in content! We spent nearly three hours brainstorming the wants and needs of the community, gearing up for a promising funding opportunity, and starting the data collection plan.
Choteau – The core team in Teton county and I occupied the corner of a locally owned coffee shop to outline the trajectory of the child care growth they have been dreaming about. We chatted about a new location possibility being explored and a connection between upcoming focus groups through the health department and needed data collection. The Choteau community is on their way to early care success!
Shelby - I was thrilled to visit a town with such an engaging core team on June 6 with Heide, our communications & outreach coordinator. We discussed the importance of child care and the role employers can play in supporting the child care needs of their staff. The team planned to schedule licensing to visit a potential location and a local family friend and neighbor provider was excited about the opportunity to start training to be a family provider with the hope of future expansion.
Red Lodge – Heide and I visited the Red Lodge community in late June and met with the core team to discuss employer buy-in strategies and benefits, child care business models, legislative session, and previous and future data collection. To wrap up the visit, we were given a tour of their future location, which is nestled in a newly built Lutheran Church.
Stay tuned for more updates next month!
Shelby in Shelby, Montana
Touring a future child care center in Red Lodge, Montana
Re-Imagining Rural
Alex & Shelby
This June, Alex, Shelby and Heide attended the Reimaging Rural gathering in Townsend.
They spent the day listening and learning about different rural Montana communities and what they’re doing to improve their small towns. They engaged in insightful discussions and learned of a few new resources we will bring to our work and clients!
Upcoming in-person events:
September 13-14: Annual Child Care Business Summit
Fairmont Hot Springs Resort
Anaconda, Montana
More details to come!
In the News
- Lack of child care access causing some parents to leave the workforce - NBC Montana
- Lack of affordable child care in Montana pushing workers out of labor force - KTVQ
- New website offers a resource hub for all in child care - KTVH
- Language Summit connects language specialists with a common goal - Char-Koosta News
- Summit talks language learning in early childhood - Valley Journal
- Supporters celebrate new law to increase support for Montana families seeking child care assistance - KTVH
- Three Forks school district offering early learning program - Three Forks Voice
- Opinion: Parents to Congress: If you care about child care, show us the money - Washington Post
- Families flock to DC to protest child care crisis - WBUR
- Child care disruptions expected as record funding nears an end - New York Times
