Upcoming Events

Sept. 13-14: Montana Child Care Business Connect Summit at Fairmont Hot Springs, Anaconda
⚠️ WE HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF REGISTRATIONS LEFT! If you would like to attend, please sign up by midnight on Monday, Sept. 4! ⚠️

Legislative Interim Meetings:
Sept. 11-12: Education Interim Committee
Sept. 12: Children, Families Health & Human Services Committee
Sept. 12: Joint meeting of Education Interim Committee and Interim Budget Committee Section E
Sept. 26: Economic Affairs Interim Committee

Coming up in October:
Oct. 10: Rural Child Care Resources Roundtable in Wolf Point
Oct. 12: Rural Child Care Resources Roundtable  in Baker 
Oct. 19-21: MTAEYC Conference in Billings

Tiny Trainings in October & November - see below!

Congress to decide on funding affecting children & families

The U.S. House and Senate will reconvene this month and important discussions regarding funding related to grants that support young children will be on the agenda.

The majority of funding that comes to Montana for essential child care, early education and health services is funded through the federal government – Montana children and families depend on these programs. Our state needs long-term comprehensive solutions at the federal level to allow for safe, nurturing, and affordable child care options for every family.  
 
Join us in asking our elected officials to expand funding for the Child Care & Development Block Grant, Head Start, and Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five program AND to co-sign the Child Care for Working Families Act at bit.ly/MTworkingfamilies. 

Keep an eye on our social media channels on Sept. 20 as we encourage as many folks as we can to contact their representatives that day to let Congress know how important this issue is to Montana!

Employers - we need your feedback!

Back in 2019, we launched the Family Forward Montana initiative to help employers learn more about and implement family-friendly business practices. The initiative was just gaining steam when the Covid-19 pandemic began, and we had to hit the pause button on the anticipated rollout.

We are excited to announce we are relaunching Family Forward Montana under our Montana Child Care Business Connect program. More details on that soon – but we want to make sure our team has a solid understanding of the family-friendly business practices already at play in Montana and learn what is working for employers.

So, if you are a Montana employer, we’d love your feedback! Please fill out our survey here: https://bit.ly/MT-survey
 

Welcome New Team Members! 

We are so excited to welcome Kendra Edlin as Child Care Business Advisor and Richard Heitstuman as our Program Assistant. Our Connect team is now fully staffed and we are so thrilled to be able to connect with and help more child care professionals and community leaders! 

Community Capacity Cohort 2 Announced

The MCCBC team welcomes the participants of the second Community Child Care Capacity Buidling Cohort! The eight communities listed below will spend the next six months building the foundation for early childhood systems change in their area by collecting data, collaborating with their communities, and developing solution focused action plans to continue their development.  

• Anaconda, Deer Lodge County - Team Lead: Michelle Harrington, Organization: Anaconda Community Involvement 
• Broadwater County - Team Lead: Allison Kosto, Organization: Broadwater County Development Corporation 
• Big Horn County - Team Lead: Shelly Sutherland, Organization: Big Horn County Best Beginnings Coalition 
• Cascade County and surrounding counties - Team Lead: KC Beall, Organization: Peace Place 
• Jefferson County - Team Lead: Rochelle Hesford, Organization: Southwest Montana Youth Partners 
• Lincoln County - Team Lead: Dorey Rowland, Organization: Zero to Five Lincoln County 
• Sanders County - Team Lead: Ray Brown, Organization: Sanders County Community Development  
• Yellowstone County and the city of Billings - Team Lead: Maia Dickerson, Organization: United Way of Yellowstone County 
   

Education & Events

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. 

Webinar Series Schedule: 

• October 5: Q&A with a Banker/Lender  
• October 19: Q&A with an Accountant 
• November 2: Q&A with an Insurance Agent 
• November 16: Q&A with a Lawyer  
• November 30: Q&A with Human Resources 
• December 14: Q&A with a Licensor & an R&R  

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

Missed a Tiny Training webinar? Subscribe to our new YouTube channel to access past recordings. Or visit childcarebusinessconnect.com. 

In the News 

• MCPS, UM expand early education programs, begin partnership (Missoulian)
• Head Start's 'Step Back' (Flathead Beacon)
• Local child care gap worsened by low wages (Daily Inter Lake)
• Opinion: Think child care is hard to find now? Wait a couple of months. (Washington Post)
• Teetering on the edge of the child care cliff (Politico)
• The death of a day care: When a child care center closes, an entire community is affected (The 19th)
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