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The purpose of this guidance document is to support families, early childhood programs, and States by providing recommendations from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education (ED) for preventing and severely limiting expulsion and suspension practices in early childhood settings.

The purpose of this policy statement is to set a vision and provide recommendations to States, local educational agencies (LEAs), schools, and public and private early childhood programs, from the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Departments), for increasing the inclusion of infants, toddlers, and preschool children with disabilities in high-quality early childhood programs.

This document is a house bill to support early learning titled Strong Start for America's Children Act of 2013.

This Information Memorandum (IM) provides an overview and guidance to Tribal CCDF lead agencies, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Head Start award recipients, and Tribal MIECHV recipients regarding how CCDF, Head Start, and Tribal MIECHV funds can be used to address challenges recruiting and retaining an effective Tribal early childhood workforce serving Tribal communities where access to affordable housing is limited.

To: State, territory, and Tribal lead agencies administering the Child Care and Development Fund program, and other interested parties.

Subject: Using the Child Care and Development Fund to Promote the Mental Health and Well-being of Children, Families, and the Child Care Workforce.

Reference: The Child Care and Development Fund Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.); Child Care and Development Fund Regulations (45 C.F.R. Part 98).

Purpose: This information memorandum (IM) provides guidance to Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) lead agencies regarding how CCDF funds can be used to improve the mental health and well-being of children, families, and the early care and education workforce. This IM does not include any changes to the Office of Child Care’s (OCC) existing interpretation of how CCDF funds can be used but clarifies allowable uses for supporting mental health.

TO: Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five grant recipients

SUBJECT: Using PDG B-5 to Promote the Mental Health and Well-being of Children, Families, and the Early Care and Education Workforce

REFERENCES: This grant program is authorized by section 9212 of the Every Student Succeeds Act, Public Law 114-95 (December 10, 2015), 42 U.S.C. 9831 note.

Purpose: The purpose of this Information Memorandum (IM) is to provide recommendations to Preschool Development Grant (PDG) Birth through Five (B-5) Planning and Renewal grant recipients (“recipients”) on key strategies for promoting the mental health and well-being of children, families, and the early care and education (ECE) workforce. This IM does not include any changes to the Office of Early Childhood Development’s interpretation of how PDG B-5 funds can be used but clarifies allowable uses for supporting mental health.
Background: The purpose of the PDG B-5 grant program is to strengthen the state’s integrated ECE system to prepare low-income and disadvantaged children to enter and have a seamless and high-quality early childhood experience from birth to kindergarten and into elementary school. In the service of this goal, states and territories invest in strengthening the early childhood workforce, expanding access to high-quality ECE programs, and collaborating with partners to enhance coordination across the early childhood system.

This letter summarizes past guidance from ACF about promising strategies that promote ECE staff mental health and well-being, discusses how infant and early childhood mental health consultation can provide further support, and shares resources that help connect early childhood educators and providers to health care and mental health resources in their communities.

Effective outreach promotes families’ awareness of, access to, and use of early childhood care and education and comprehensive services. States, territories, tribes, and their partners can use this resource to learn the six, research-informed strategies for outreach to families living in remote or rural communities. Each strategy is designed to support and strengthen your outreach efforts. Includes related resources and specific examples from CCDF Plans.  

This resource is part of the Family Outreach Series. Other resources in the series include:

Strategies for Outreach to All Families: Overview  Strategies for Outreach to Families Experiencing Homelessness  Strategies for Outreach to Families with Limited English Proficiency

This webinar  focuses on state capacity to quantify access to early childhood programs in rural communities. It highlights states’ compilation of data, analyses of early childhood services in rural communities and their utilization, and assessment of strengths and gaps.

During the opening session for Ensuring a High-Quality Workforce strand , presenters reviewed several early childhood workforce issues. The dialogue reflected on the latest national and state efforts to tackle the most challenging workforce issues facing the field. The presenters introduced two resources, the Power to the Profession Unifying Framework and Build Stronger from the Alliance for Early Success. The presenters also discussed access to education and training post-pandemic, highlighting a move to online learning and a change in the development of new coursework towards trauma-informed and culturally responsive care.