In the March Parent newsletter, Pollywog shares information from the Community Doula Program, a local prenatal educator, and two Maternity Care coordinators about the programs and services in Linn, Benton, and Lincoln Counties that new parents can find during pregnancy.

The Research Institute at Western Oregon University (WOU) is looking for parents/guardians and child care providers/early educators to participate in redesigning the statewide Quality Recognition Improvement System – otherwise known as Spark - a program designed to support, recognize, and communicate to families about high-quality early childhood care and education programs.

The first in a series of Data Justice/Data Equity Panels has been scheduled for April 20th from 12 pm- 2 pm via Zoom Webinar. The panel will be co-moderated by myself and Dr. Sandi Phibbs from OSU. This will be the kick-off to the Linn Benton Health Equity Alliance data equity/justice active learning groups, where they hope to influence research and evaluation processes and build community capacity to lead and inform projects. 

The Early Learning Division commissioned a study looking at the work environments of center-based and home-based early educators. Learn about the experiences of Oregon FCC providers!

With overwhelming bipartisan support, Senate Bill 599 just passed the Oregon Senate. This legislation requires housing providers to allow childcare services to operate in rental homes when certain conditions are met.

Learn about the transition of the Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) program to the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) by attending a five-meeting series for community partners and the public. The series will also include an opportunity to participate in a Rulemaking Advisory Committee (RAC) and help shape ERDC-related rules.  

Registration is now open for Spring 2023 Building A Trauma Informed Community workshop offerings!

More than 720,000 Oregonians rely on the federal food Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to eat. In April 2020, after the pandemic hit and many people lost wages and jobs, federal authorities increased monthly SNAP benefits by nearly 70% to an average of nearly $450 per household a month. But in March, those monthly emergency funds will go away, reducing the average benefit to nearly $270 a month for about 410,000 households.

New and updated Discover MyPlate: Nutrition Education for Kindergarten materials are now available from USDA’s Team Nutrition initiative!

On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, Gov. Tina Kotek proposed a state budget that includes more than $200 million for early childhood education and care programs.