2009 Advocacy Developmental Milestone Calendar:
Be a Big Voice for Little Kids™ Every Month!

The ZERO TO THREE Policy Network is excited to launch our new 2009 Advocacy Developmental Milestone Calendar! Each month in The Baby Monitor, we will feature a downloadable calendar that challenges Policy Network members to get involved in advocacy during the month. Each calendar will outline specific action steps and provide resources to assist you in your advocacy. We encourage you to print the calendar (Hang it on your wall! Tack it to your bulletin board! Tape it to your filing cabinet!) and use it as a tool to Be a Big Voice for Little Kids™.

In this month's calendar, we honor the inauguration of the new President of the United States with our advocacy challenge. During the month of January, we encourage you to identify the infant-toddler issue you care about most and send a message to President-elect Obama about why he should focus on that issue during his presidency. Download and print January's calendar now!

Federal Policy Update

On January 6th, the 111th Congress convened with nine freshman Senators and 56 freshman Representatives joining the ranks of their returning colleagues. Meanwhile, two Senate seats (MN and IL) are currently vacant pending a final resolution as to who is legally entitled to fill them. With an increased majority in both chambers, Democrats will renegotiate committee ratios with the Republicans and both parties will make changes to committee assignments in the coming weeks. Beyond organizational preparations, substantive work is also well underway on both sides of Capitol Hill. The House is expected to vote on the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) the week of January 12th, with the Senate taking action soon thereafter. On the Senate side, confirmation hearings are set to begin shortly, and both chambers will begin consideration of an economic stimulus package that is expected to be between $700 billion and $1 trillion. Finalizing the nine remaining Fiscal Year 2009 appropriations bills before March 6 when stop-gap funding expires, is also a top priority for members.

Click here to check out the newly redesigned federal policy section of our website, including specific pages dedicated to Child Care and Early Childhood Education, Child Welfare, Health and Mental Health, Poverty/Family Support, and Professional Development/Higher Education.

State Policy Update

Mississippi Creates Building Blocks for Young Children
On December 15th, Mississippi business leaders and education advocates announced the launch of Mississippi Building Blocks, a three-year pilot initiative to improve the quality of early learning experiences for children birth through age 4. The initiative is designed to improve teaching and learning in licensed child care centers, strengthen parenting skills, improve school readiness for children entering kindergarten, and increase the number of centers participating in Mississippi's quality rating and improvement system, Mississippi Child Care Quality Step System. A partnership of private funders have committed $4.6 million in funding over the three years, including $3 million from the Barksdale Reading Institute, $1 million from the Mississippi Power Education Foundation, and $600,000 from the Phil Hardin Foundation. The initiative will serve approximately 50 child care centers and 1,500 children. Click here to read the full state policy update now!

Publications & Resources

Fact Sheet on Infants and Toddlers Served by CCDBG
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has released a new fact sheet, Infants and Toddlers in the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program: 2007 Update, that presents key information about young children served by CCDBG. Findings indicate that although the share of infants and toddlers receiving CCDBG varies from state to state, more than one quarter of children served by CCDBG in 2007 were under the age of 3.

Technical Assistance Opportunity from the Help Me Grow Team
Through the support of the Commonwealth Fund, Connecticut Children's Medical Center has announced a new technical assistance opportunity, Linking at-risk Children to Developmental/Behavioral Programs: National Replication of Connecticut's Help Me Grow Program. Over the course of 18 months, the Help Me Grow team will assist two selected states or regions in implementing a system linking children at risk for behavioral and developmental problems to existing services. To learn more about the project and how to apply, click here.

Child Poverty to Cost U.S. $1.7 Trillion
A new report from First Focus, The Cost of Doing Nothing, estimates that if the current economic downturn continues, an additional three million children could be thrust into poverty. If this is the case, the cost to the United States is projected at more than $1.7 trillion. The report also examines the long-term consequences of childhood poverty, including the impact it potentially has on lifetime earnings, as well as health outcomes.

Kellogg Study on the Relationship between Health and Place-Based Initiatives
In November, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation released a new study, Health Matters: The Role of Health and the Health Sector in Place-Based Initiatives for Young Children. Eight high-quality early childhood initiatives provided the framework for this study, which resulted in a more in-depth understanding of health in the context of place-based initiatives for young children. The report offers ten key findings, including that the health sector is important to early childhood initiatives and their work to help children attain their developmental potential. The report also presents four overarching conclusions and recommendations for moving this vital relationship forward.