FEBRUARY 2023 

Upcoming Training & Events

Montana Child Care Business Connect's Tiny Training Webinar Series:

• Feb. 9: What is a Cooperative? 
• Feb. 23: What is Cost-Informed Rate Setting? 

Montana Child Care Business Connect professional development opportunities in partnership with First Children's Finance:

• Feb. 15: Precision pricing for child care centers
• Feb. 23: Precision pricing for your family child care center

Scroll down the newsletter to register & learn more about these trainings!
 

Inaugural "Have A Heart for Kids" day a success!

Our first Have a Heart for Kids Day at the Montana State Capitol is in the books! What an incredible opportunity to engage with parents, partners, friends (and young children!) along with our legislators and the governor’s policy staff.

Huge thanks to families and our partner organizations for traveling to Helena from across the state and taking the time to participate in this very lively, successful day of action. 

We heard remarks from Sen. Shannon O’Brien, Sen. Dan Salomon, Rep. Brad Barker and Rep. Laurie Bishop on the importance of workforce, early care and education policies, and got to engage with many other elected officials who joined us for conversation in the rotunda. Lewis & Clark Library provided story time for children at the event, including special visitors from Ohana Day Care & Preschool.

The legislative session continues, and Zero to Five Montana's work does, too. We’ll be focused on policies for investments in services and supports essential to families like early learning and literacy, child care, tax credits, and long-term funding solutions that work for Montana families. 

We also encourage you to continue taking action – join "the herd" at Montana Parent Voice, send messages to your legislators using this form and visit our website for more information & resources!
 

2023 Session Updates

HB 268, a bill that would establish a $1,200 child tax credit for families with young children, has passed out of committee and is on to the House floor! (Keep an eye on our social media, we'll let you know when that is scheduled.)

Child tax credits are well-known to encourage parents to participate in the workforce, ensure that kids don’t go hungry, and support families with rising costs. If passed, HB 268 could positively impact the lives of more than 50,000 kids ages 0-5 in Montana. 

Reach out to your legislators and let them know how you feel about child tax credits here: https://bit.ly/creditforkids2023. 

We are offering a few ways for you to stay up-to-date on legislative happenings! The first is a Zoom update on Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. It's a great opportunity to learn about bills you can take action on or just ask questions. Register below!

Another way for you you to stay in the loop --> check out our Instagram on Fridays for Jenna's weekly video recap of the week's legislative activity.

Don't forget: we're regularly updating our early childhood bill tracker!
 

 In the News

• Governor's office, bill sponsor say they are open to phase-out for proposed Montana Child Tax Credit - Daily Montanan
• Bill revises Montana Indian Language Preservation Program, elevating tribes - Helena IR
• The child care crisis poses a $122B economic threat to the US - Fortune
• The problem child care subsidies can't solve: the shrinking provider pool - The Hechinger Report
• The rest of the US can learn a lot from how New Mexico is tackling the child care crisis - Business Insider
• Dads in Congress form a caucus to push for family-friendly policies - Washington Post
   

Business Connect by the numbers

Since launching our technical assistance program in fall of 2022, Business Connect has... 

• Delivered 170 hours of one-on-one consultation to 17 new and existing providers across the state.  

• These services have supported more than 25 jobs in the early education industry. 
   

Coming soon: Capacity building program

Montana Child Care Business Connect will soon be accepting applications for community cohorts for our community child care business capacity building program. The goal of this program is to engage communities in identifying solutions to increase the supply of high quality affordable child care. This will be done through mobilizing community members and empowering the creation of community-based solutions (by preserving existing child care businesses and adding new child care slots).  

Community participants will work to evaluate, enhance, establish, and expand existing and/or new child care programs. Applications should be submitted by a team of invested community members. Teams are encouraged to include a cross-sector of individuals. Team representatives may include (but are not limited to):  

• Local business leaders 

• Community and civic organizations 

• Economic development programs 

• Child care programs 

• School districts 

• Local government 

• City or county administrations 

• Parents/families 

The first cohort will span six months, and we will only be accepting 10 groups this first round.  

The application for cohort 1 will be open on February 15, 2023, and will close when all spots are filled. MCCBC will gather awardees with an in-person kick-off event. 

With questions about the community cohort program, contact Rhonda at RhondaS@zerotofive.org.   
 

Register today for the next free webinar in Montana Child Care Business Connect's Tiny Training Webinar Series. 

Webinar Schedule: 
February 9: What is a Cooperative? 
February 23: What is Cost-Informed Rate Setting? 
March 9: What is Risk Management? 
March 23: What are Different Types of Marketing? 

All Tiny Training webinars are held from 1:30 - 2 p.m. 

These free offerings are part of a webinar series specific to different aspects of business practices for business owners/directors/managers. Participants must attend a minimum of four of the seven offerings to receive CE credit. 

Missed a Tiny Training webinar? Subscribe to our new YouTube channel to access past recordings. Or, check them out on our website.