Engage | Utilize | Connect |
Engage | Utilize | Connect |
January means three things in Nebraska: the Unicameral is back in session, Temperature Tuesdays are on at Runza, and five new communities are joining C4K! |
The team from Dundy County poses at their C4K Orientation on January 9th. |
Please join us in welcoming the communities of Dundy County, Bridgeport, Crofton, Pleasanton Area, and Ravenna Area, who are all having their orientations in January and February. This brings our total to 76 communities and 1 region. We can't wait to get started! |
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New here, or need a C4K refresher? You can always check out the C4K Early Years Report: Partnering with Communities to Prioritize Child Care to get the full details, but here's the gist: The Communities for Kids (C4K) initiative was created in response to community requests for assistance with shortages of quality early care and education programs — shortages that both impact children’s optimal development and pose a challenge for communities hoping to attract and retain the viable workforces they need to thrive.
The initiative is dedicated to ensuring that communities, primarily rural areas, can grow and prosper by strengthening and sustaining a quality early childhood care and education infrastructure. The primary work includes partnering with communities to prioritize child care, delivering essential resources, and offering expertise.
C4K tailors technical assistance to align with each community’s strengths and needs. Using a collective impact approach, the C4K team guides communities to build a strong, diverse Core Team and a work plan to address both the unique challenges they face and the opportunities they have with enhancing and expanding local child care efforts. The team supports communities as they learn and implement the Three Pillars of C4K: - ENGAGE: Attract and retain community stakeholders through ongoing outreach activities to prioritize early childhood efforts.
- UTILIZE: Gather and analyze data and community voices to develop key messaging and an early childhood plan.
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CONNECT: Join a broad peer learning network and learn to navigate regional, state, and national resources.
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C4K communities are just the coolest. Here are some of our favorite stories from the last few months. |
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A small rural town needed more Spanish-language child care. Here's what it took. |
By Lauren Wagner of The Hechinger Report
In Lexington, Nebraska, where two-thirds of residents are Hispanic, hundreds of children lack access to high-quality child care from providers who can communicate with their parents. Something had to change. Read it here ››
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Early Childhood x Gering, NE: Advancing Community Solutions |
By Mark Swartz of the Stanford Center of Early Childhood
The town of Gering, Nebraska (population 8,564 in the 2020 census), nestles up against a range of hills known as the Five Rocks in western Nebraska’s 11-county “panhandle.” Gering was a stop along the Oregon Trail, and the town celebrates its heritage every year with an Oregon Trail Days festival (“Nebraska’s oldest continuous celebration”). The Oregon Trail Lounge closed years ago, but Learning Wagon is blooming in its stead. Soon, the establishment will serve baby bottles instead of beer bottles, and the music will be more “Sesame Street” than the Eagles (band member Randy Meisner, 1946-2023, is perhaps the area’s most famous son).
“People have a lot of memories here,” says Staci Castro, owner-operator of the new child care center. “And don't get me wrong, I felt bad, but at the same time, you know what? The community is different now and has different needs. And we have plenty of bars.” Read more ››
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A Legacy of Service: Veterans and Child Care Group Unite for Community Benefit |
The community of Thedford, population 211, lives inside one of the 11 Nebraska counties that were classified as a child care desert when they began partnering with the C4K initiative in 2023. The entirety of the county had no licensed child care at all, and residents were worried their town was dying. They applied for American Rescue Plan/LB1014 funding, and as soon as they got their notice of award, got right to work. Read more ››
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Ainsworth, a Group of Moms, and C4K’s Secret Sauce |
"Give a group of moms a problem that impacts their children and they will get it done,” says Karen O'Hare, president of the board for the Ainsworth Child Development Center. The Ainsworth community came together to serve the local need for child care. Read more ››
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More into videos? Check out this video that profiles some of our successes. You can watch it here! ››
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The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in our society—working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. They use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us—especially women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. Check them out! ››
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