News and Insights

By Erica Goldsby and Jessica Strawn, Child Care Health Consultant Nurses, Child Care Aware of Kansas. Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) asked the Biden administration to declare an emergency to support a national response to the alarming surge of

Impactful support requires intentional and authentic family engagement practices. By Dr. Carla Whiteside-Hicks, Director of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Early Childhood Programs, Kansas Department for Children and Families. Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of

By Nichelle Adams, Early Education and Child Care Services Manager, Kansas Department for Children and Families. Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Kansas Child Magazine. To be initially eligible for Child Care Assistance, a family of four can make nearly 70,000 a year. Many

Por Stephanie Boone, supervisora estatal de información y referencias, Kansas Children’s Service League (KCSL). Publicado originalmente en la edición de otoño de Kansas Child Magazine. Un nino cambian tu vida. Yo pienso que todos podemos estar de acuerdo, cuando un nino entra en

By Pam Noble, Subdirectora de los programas de Prevención del Abuso Infantil en Kansas, La Liga de Servicio Infantil de Kansas. Publicado originalmente en la edición de otoño de 2023 de Kansas Child Magazine. Kansas Children’s Service League (KCSL) Kansas Children’s Service

How We Can Build a Better System for Kansas Parents By Jessica Herrera Russell, Senior Communications Manager, Kansas Action for Children. Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Kansas Child Magazine. This past spring, the Kansas Legislature took a significant step toward

By Erica Goldsby and Jessica Strawn, Child Care Health Consultant Nurses, Child Care Aware of Kansas. RSV Prevention in Your Program and How CCHC Can Help While seasonal illnesses are not new, this year there seems to be an unusually high spread of RSV and other diseases. You may have

A statewide resource for parents’ most challenging moments By Stephanie Boone, Statewide Information and Referral Supervisor, Kansas Children’s Service League. Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Kansas Child Magazine. A child changes your life. I think we can all agree on

By Pam Noble, Assistant Director for Prevent Child Abuse Kansas, Kansas Children’s Service League. Originally Published in the Fall 2022 issue of Kansas Child Magazine. Kansas Children’s Service League (KCSL) works to prevent childhood abuse and neglect, offer family support, improve

Stronger Families = Stronger Children: Head Start’s Holistic Approach to Early Education By Jennifer Adhima, MSW, Executive Director, Kansas Head Start Association. Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Kansas Child Magazine. The term “holistic,” according to the Oxford

By Reann Parker, Director, Oak Grove School and Katrina DeClue, Links to Quality Community Consultant, Child Care Aware of Kansas. Originally published in the Fall 2022 issue of Kansas Child Magazine. I recently sat down with Reann Parker, director of Oak Grove School in Manhattan,

By Erica Goldsby and Jessica Strawn, Child Care Health Consultant Nurses, Child Care Aware of Kansas. November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the world. People with epilepsy have

By Erica Goldsby and Jessica Strawn, Child Care Health Consultant Nurses, Child Care Aware of Kansas. November 19th is the Great American Smokeout. Thousands across the country will begin their journey to quit smoking on this day. Tobacco use can come in many forms, including cigarettes,

By: Erica McGinley & Jessica Strawn, Child Care Aware of Kansas, Child Care Nurse Consultants. Nap or rest time should be peaceful for children and their caregivers.  However, it’s not a completely carefree part of the daily schedule.  Sleeping can be a high-risk activity,

Nurturing Your Child’s Brain During Everyday Routines By Kandi Novak, Technical Assistance Specialist, Child Care Aware of America. Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. Science tells us that 90% of the brain has already developed before a child even

Child Care Health Consultant Network The Child Care Health Consultant Network is grounded in the belief that consistent statewide child care health consultation services positively impact the quality of care children receive in early care and education/child care settings.  When early

By Susan Pearson, Early Care and Education Specialist, Child Care Aware of Kansas. Stretch Your Child Care Budget Temporarily As a business owner, you rely on money to keep your expenses covered and your doors open. Ideally, you would always make a profit too. Like other businesses, your

By Jill Ladd, Assistant Director, Child Nutrition & Wellness, Kansas State Department of Education. Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. The Data Did you know that children in child care receive an average 40% of their daily calories while in the

Nancy Rohr, Family Services Manager, Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas, Region 3. Originally published in the Spring 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, headlines about the shortage of child care and the high cost for families have proliferated.

Cherie Sage, State Director, Safe Kids Kansas. Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. What could be better than riding a bicycle on a beautiful, sunny day? Besides being a whole lot of fun, biking is great exercise and reduces stress. Plus, you can do it

By: Erica McGinley & Jessica Strawn, CCHC Nurse Consultants  For children enrolled in fulltime care, the majority of their day is spent with you, their childcare provider. This also means they eat most of their meals and snacks with you. Mealtime creates plenty of wonderful

How to Take Action Against Child Hunger in Kansas By Martha Terhaar, Thriving Advocate, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. Even here in the breadbasket of the world, one in six Kansas kids experience food

David Jordan, President, United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (Health Fund). Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. Using Proven Early Childhood Interventions to Combat ACES It’s true what they say: children don’t come with an instruction manual.

By Andrew Hodgson, Nutrition Coordinator, Child Start, Inc. Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. More than half of medium and large companies operate wellness programs, which can boost morale and productivity, support general health, complement culture,

Top 5 Policies to Promote Children’s Health in Kansas By Heather Braum, Health policy advisor, Kansas Action for Children. Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. Policy choices in Kansas can change the health outcomes of Kansas kids for the better — or

How a Community Council on Child Care Can Help Families Succeed As parents and providers know well, each school year presents new challenges for child care programs. Providers are often forced to make difficult decisions about how to operate their business, care for the children

By Erica McGinley and Jessica Strawn, Child Care Nurse Consultants, Child Care Aware of Kansas. World Health Organization declared Monkeypox to be a Public Health Emergency On July 23rd, the World Health Organization declared Monkeypox to be a Public Health Emergency. Shortly following

Erica McGinley, Child Care Nurse Consultant, Child Care Aware of Kansas. Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. What’s the last thing you did simply because you enjoyed it? If it’s hard to answer this question, you’re not alone. Child care providers

Easy Ways to Improve Safety in Child Care Settings By Kathy Attar, Program Manager, Eco-Healthy Child Care®, Children’s Environmental Health Network. Originally published in the Summer 2022 Issue of Kansas Child Magazine. Unfortunately, our everyday environments, including child care

By Erica McGinley and Jessica Strawn, Child Care Nurse Consultants, Child Care Aware of Kansas. 8 FAQs about Vaccinations in Early Care & Education As a child care provider, you want to keep your business running smoothly and safely. Encouraging parents to keep their child’s

By Ashley Sias, Child Care Health Consultant, Child Care Aware of Kansas. Back-to-School Blues: Preparing for Children to Leave Your Program Transitions are inevitable in early childhood education, but when your program cares for school-age children, you live and breathe transitions.