Prevent Child Abuse Florida encourages all Floridians to participate in the 2021 National Child Abuse Prevention Month by taking simple actions that can make a big difference in the lives of children and families:

• Follow Prevent Child Abuse Florida on social media, share their posts throughout April, and encourage others to do the same.
• Purchase blue and silver pinwheels from www.preventchildabusefl.org.
• Make a tax-deductible donation and help build a virtual pinwheel garden.

To learn more, visit www.PreventChildAbuseFL.org.

Are you a School Readiness provider looking for techniques to help decrease stress in the classroom?

In recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, the Florida Department of Children and Families is inviting SR providers to take its Trauma-Informed Care for Child Care Professionals (TICC) course to learn how to:

• Identify age-related signs of stress and trauma in children.
• Describe the role caregivers play in promoting connections and buffering the effects of adversity.
• Identify how stress and trauma can negatively impact the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical development of young children.
• Identify resources and strategies to use to provide trauma-informed care.

The five-hour course is being offered for FREE during the month of April. Log into your DCF student account to register!

This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed CS/SB 72, which provides crucial liability protection to individuals, businesses, educational institutions, religious organizations, and health care providers for liability claims related to COVID-19.

“As we move forward in our state’s economic recovery, this good piece of legislation will provide Floridians with greater peace of mind as they go to work, go to school, and go about their daily lives,” said Gov. DeSantis.

Among other measures, CS/SB 72 provides immunity from COVID-19 related claims for individuals, businesses, schools, and houses of worship if a good faith effort was made to comply with health standards and guidance related to COVID-19.

To learn more about CS/SB 72, click here.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has directed states and territories to get all teachers, school personnel, child care program educators, and other child care program staff members their first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination by the end of the month. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a short survey to learn:

• The estimated number of staff in child care programs who have received a COVID-19 vaccination.
• Their reasons for getting vaccinated.
• The vaccination concerns or challenges that people who have not been vaccinated may have.

Use this survey link (i.e., https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/covid19vaxchildcaresurvey) and share it with your networks and encourage child care providers and staff to complete the survey.

• You can complete the survey between now and March 31.
• The survey is completely anonymous; individual responses will not be reported.
• If you receive the link multiple times, please complete the survey just once.

After the data collection period has ended, the CDC will analyze the responses and share a summary of the results with the Administration for Children and Families and other national organizations.

Thank you for supporting this national directive to prioritize our child care workforce for COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Department of Children and Families’ Child Care Program Office offers a tool for child care facilities to advertise available positions.

The Employment Bulletin Board is a tool to help child care directors and professionals find jobs that require either a Staff Credential or Director Credential.

Child care programs can use their license number to post an ad to the website. An individual who has either credential will see the ads through their training portal on the main menu under Job Listing.

Use your facility license number exactly as it appears on your Child Care license to login, click here.

The Florida Office of Early Learning March 2021 CCR&R Resources for Infants & Toddlers document is full of great resources, including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

The resources can greatly assist families, providers, and early learning coalition staff as they support infants, toddlers, and preschoolers’ development and encourage family engagement.

Please share these resources with staff and partners who work with families and providers, click here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a resource for child care providers, Guidance for Operating Child Care Programs during COVID-19. CDC is also releasing new Toolkits for Child Care Programs. These resources provide information to help child care professionals protect children, their families, and staff members; slow the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and keep children healthy. The Guidance for Operating Child Care Programs during COVID-19 resource includes the following information:

• Recommendations for the consistent implementation of a combination of strategies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in child care programs, including staying home when sick, wearing a mask that covers the mouth and nose, practicing physical distancing, avoiding poorly ventilated indoor spaces, frequently washing your hands, and regularly and consistently cleaning and disinfecting facilities
• Updated language regarding vaccinations for child care staff
• Additional guidance on recognizing the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 in children
• Updated considerations to support children with special health care needs and disabilities and people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19
• Updated guidance on food service and the use of outdoor playgrounds and play spaces.

These CDC resources update the existing guidance and align with CDC’s Operational Strategy for K–12 Schools through Phased Mitigation. The guidance and toolkits are intended for all types of child care programs, including child care centers, family child care homes, and other child care programs.

Child Care Aware will host a COVID-19 Vaccines Webinar at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 18. You can learn how COVID-19 vaccines impact the early child care and education field. To register for this free webinar, click here.

The webinar will discuss how the vaccines were developed and tested, and answer common questions about the vaccines including how to access them and what to expect. You will hear from child care providers who will share their experiences with the COVID vaccines, as well as a pediatrician who will share more about how the vaccines work.

If you’d like to submit questions in advance of the webinar or after the webinar, please send them to learnmore@usa.childcareaware.org

The Child Care State Capacity Building Center Infant/Toddler Specialist Network (ITSN) is hosting several webinars this month as part of their Relationship-Based Care Training for Trainers (TFT) three-part pilot series for states, territories, and tribes. The seminar dates are as follows:

• March 18: Relationship-Based Care for Infants and Toddlers: A Training for Trainers Refresh Webinar.
• March 23: Trauma-Responsive Care: A Framework for Strengthening Resilience in Infant/Toddler Care Pilot Orientation Webinar for States and Territories.
• March 24: Trauma-Responsive Care: A Framework for Strengthening Resilience in Infant/Toddler Care Pilot Orientation Webinar for Tribes.

You can also click here to explore video clips of recordings of national webinars offered by ITSN.

Babies learn at an amazing rate and reach important new milestones every month. Baby Navigator is a free online platform that offers resources to families and providers to track and support their children’s early learning and language development.

At Baby Navigator, providers can find information, tools, and charts – customized for all children of all abilities ages birth to 24 months – to track development and growth milestones. Resources include skills look books to track the development of gestures, social communication growth charts to track language development, development charts to track milestones reached and those approaching, autism signs checklists, and hundreds of video clips on how to support children’s learning in everyday moments.

Baby Navigator can help providers enhance learning experiences during this critical time in a child’s life. To learn more, click here.