Early Childhood Focus

Early-childhood education has new meaning

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:35:40 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Washington Times
By Tom Howell Jr.
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray�s administration is preparing to be the county�s role model for early-childhood education through programs for children as young as 6 months.

Children in DC Child Care Centers Need More Opportunities for Physical Activity to Help Combat Obesity; Centers Are Willing but Face Major Barriers in Doing So New Study Shows

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:03:31 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Business Wire
By Business Wire
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A newly-released study calls for the District of Columbia to increase requirements for physical activity in child care centers as a tool for combating childhood obesity, but also finds that many child care centers face significant barriers to providing more physical activity for students. The study was conducted by Altarum Institute, a nonprofit health care research and consulting organization, as part of its multimillion dollar Childhood Obesity Prevention Mission Project.

ACF Announces New Office of Child Care

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 18:45:44 PST

EXCERPT FROM: WCTV
By STAFF
ACF Press Release - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced a reorganization that establishes an Office of Child Care (OCC) that will administer the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). The CCDF provides child care subsidies for 1.6 million children in low-income families each month and works to improve the quality of child care in states, territories, and tribes across the country.

Child-care Center for Feds to Stay Open

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:25:08 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Washington Post
By Lisa Rein
Small Savers, the day-care center steps from the White House that was threatened with closure under a provision of the new financial reform law, has won a reprieve.

Finding Hill Child Care Not Child's Play

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:19:47 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Politico
By Erika Lovley
Congressional staffers compare getting child care on Capitol Hill to landing season tickets to the Redskins: nice idea, never going to happen.

Parents, Childcare Providers Petition for Funds

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:59:42 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Washington Informer
By Norma Porter Anthony
As District Mayor Adrian M. Fenty prepares to release his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011, on April 1, a group of frustrated District residents wanted to make sure that he heard them loud-and-clear.

Snowstorms Throw Delicate Economics of Child Care off Balance

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:48:18 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Washington Post
By Donna St. George
There was the stress of the recession, then the record-setting snow. Finally, as February gave way to March, here's how the fallout looked at a Bladensburg child-care center:

With Rising Child-care Cost, Many Parents Are Paying to Work

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:55:01 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Washington Post
By Petula Dvorak
I really thought it wouldn't get much worse than the unpaid college internship.

Residents Rally for Child Care

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:25:57 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Washington Informer
By Norma Porter
Fahim Shabazz, a father of two small children, works as an events service supervisor at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Northwest at night. After his eight-hour shift, he hurries home to take care of his four-year-old daughter Aaliyah. Before the bell rings at 3 p.m., he�s at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in Southeast to pick up his five-year-old daughter Saniyah. It�s become a part of his daily routine.

Parents, Children Rally to Keep D.C. Child Care Centers Open

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:20:39 PST

EXCERPT FROM: NewsChannel 8
WASHINGTON - The Wilson Building knows protests; its steps are stamped with a cause nearly every day.

Parents Lament End of City-run Child Care

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:56:16 PST

WASHINGTON - Parents across Washington are scrambling to find affordable child care after learning that more than a dozen city-run day cares are shutting their doors.

D.C. Council Hears From Child-Care Community

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:58:59 PST

Child-care workers, parents and community activists, angry about the closing of 13 District child-care centers and the privatization of the city's child-care services, demonstrated in front of the John A. Wilson Building on Tuesday to support council legislation that would stop the process.

DC Mayor Closing Low-Income Child Care Centers

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:29:26 PST

The equation seems simple.

working parents - child care center = parent can�t work

bad economy + parent not working = even worse economy

But for DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, this doesn�t seem to make sense.

Child Care Center Closings Lead to the City-wide Summit on the Child Care Crisis

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:54:12 PST

On Saturday, Aug. 29, from 11am-1pm, DC residents, brought together by the organization Empower DC, will meet at the Martin Luther Library in NW as part of the City-Wide Summit on the Child Care Crisis. The summit aims to inform DC residents of upcoming plans to close 13 Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) centers and privatize them, laying off 160 DPR workers.

Losing a Child-Care Center

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:19:21 PST

Regarding the March 23 Metro article "NE Residents Protest Closure of D.C. Day-Care Center":

Holy Name Catholic Church and Catholic Charities are to be commended for their three decades of operating the Model Cities Child Development Center in the Trinidad neighborhood of Washington. It is disappointing that a pillar of support in the community that helps children learn and parents work would be replaced by a program serving only 4-year-olds because the church can obtain market rates for rent.

Senate Agrees to Boxer Amendment to Enhance Child Care Tax Credits

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:42:54 PST

Washington, DC Apr. 2, 2009 - The United States Senate today unanimously approved an amendment by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to incentivize child care for our families through improved tax credits.

Children's Autism Clinic Performing Small Miracles

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:52:40 PST

Kendra Atcherson has always had difficulty with communication. The 5-year-old from Ft. Washington, Md., was diagnosed with autism when she was younger and began receiving treatment at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development�s Autism and Communication Disorders Clinic when she was 2 years old.

Spotlight On Education

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:57:50 PST

WASHINGTON -- Despite its brief moment in the sun during the final presidential debate, education has not been a hot topic in the 2008 race. But the candidates� differences on two key issues � early childhood education and school choice � do raise temperatures among education leaders.

After Third Presidential Debate, NHSA Emphasizes Evidence Shows That Head Start Works

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:25:09 PST

A wide range of recent research shows that Head Start -- the nation�s premier early childhood and health program now serving about 1 million children and their low-income families each year -- yields major, long-term benefits for the children and families in the program and the communities in which they live, according to the National Head Start Association (NHSA).

Helping Children by Helping Families

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:18:12 PST

Almeta R. Keys is in charge of the Mazique Parent Child Center, which has a $4.7 million budget and provides services to 280 low-income families. But her title, executive director, was not the least bit intimidating to Cynthia Martinez-Cardozo when Keys interrupted the 4-year-old as she pushed orange clay into yellow molds.