Office of Child Care Initiatives

Emergency Preparedness

A primary goal of the OCC is to help ensure early childhood programs support children's healthy growth and development. This goal becomes especially important in the event of a major disaster or emergency, as children are among our most vulnerable populations. The OCC has created a webpage of emergency preparedness resources for grantees and child care providers. Some of the key resources include:

• OCC’s framework for developing child care emergency preparedness and response plans
• State emergency preparedness resources for child care providers

State Early Childhood Education Webinar Series

As part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ 50 State Technical Assistance Strategy, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development and the Offices of Child Care and Head Start are presenting a series of webinars on topics we believe are of interest to state and national  early childhood leaders. Please visit the webpage for a schedule, registration information, and archived content from previously held webinars.

Affordable Care Act: Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Grant Program

Information on the pre-application webinar for the Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Grant Program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Funding Opportunity Announcement, HHS-2012-ACF-OCC-TH-0302, including the date and time will be posted here. Please check back for more information or email tribal.homevisiting@hhs.gov to receive an update once the information is posted.

• Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 Tribal Home Visiting Grantees & Abstracts
• Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program: Guidance for Submitting a Needs Assessment and Plan for Responding to Identified Needs, (Phase 2 Implementation Plan)

ASSET Initiative for Families with Young Children

Financial security is a key component for all families. Children are more likely to thrive if their family environment is economically stable. Infants, toddlers and young children living in households with low financial stress are more likely to achieve developmental goals and succeed in many ways. The OCC, in collaboration with our partners at the Office of Community Service and the Office of Head Start, has been working to develop tools and resources dedicated to the asset development and financial stability of families with young children:

• ASSET Initiative Overview and Fact Sheet
• The Office of Child care and Office of Head Start joint Information Memorandum on Early Childhood Programs and ASSET Building
• ACF resource on strategies for family financial security