See what’s happening at Children’s Institute
Members of CI staff volunteered at Scott School Elementary for a Día del Niño celebration! The school was full of life and energy with student performances and laughter, as families made crafts and celebrated the occasion together. It was a beautiful day to celebrate childhood and community! #diadelosniños #childhood #community #education
Supporting babies means supporting the people who give birth to them.
May is Maternal Mental Health Month, a time to bring awareness to and prioritize the mental health needs of mothers and birthing parents— a critical first step in early childhood investment.
Get involved in Maternal Mental Health Month!
- Advocate for policies (like the Momnibus!) that will expand perinatal health care! You can still write or email your legislators to ask them to support these policies (check link in bio for more info!).
- Create or reshare social media content to raise awareness about maternal mental health (feel free to reshare this post!).
- Share information about maternal mental health resources (links to resources in bio!).
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We are actively supporting Oregon`s efforts to improve maternal mental health through the Momnibus, because we know that when mamas and birthing parents have emotional, mental, and social support they—and their babies—have better outcomes.
Supporting maternal mental health means:
- Ensuring pregnant people and families with babies have safe and stable housing (SB
690)
- Expanding mental health services and substance use treatment (SB 691)
- Ending child poverty by ensuring families receive direct financial assistance (SB 694)
- Expanding the perinatal workforce so families have culturally-responsive care that
meets their needs (SB 692 & SB 693)
The good news is that at the halfway point in Oregon`s legislative session all of these bills have passed out of their committees and are moving to the next stage of the legislative process.
April 30 is El día de los niños/Children`s Day, an annual tradition in Mexico that honors children, family, and reading. It also promotes reading and literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Every child deserves to grow up in a world that nurtures their learning, celebrates their culture, honors their voice, and values them from the very beginning! Our early literacy library for parents and caregivers has resources to support children birth to grade three. Check out the link in bio!
Grateful to stand@blackfutures_init, @senatorlisareynolds, @zpiliafas, @robertahunte, @jesseremer, and an incredible group of advocates for a maternal health lobby day to support SB 691, 692, and 693! These bills are part of Oregon`s Momnibus—a group of policies that will pave the way for improved maternal health and better outcomes for babies and children. This includes increasing the numbers of doulas, traditional health workers, and lactation consultants, and expanding behavioral health supports.
Legislators heard powerful personal stories throughout the day and the bills received bipartisan support. This legislation is a critical step in ensuring that Oregon moms and birthing parents have the emotional, mental, and social support they need before, during, and after pregnancy. 💜
Join our friends and partners at @campaignforglr tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29 from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. PST for their next #kindergartenmatters session on P-3 leadership! This dynamic webinar will explore why strong, prepared elementary principals are essential to improving outcomes from preschool through 3rd grade. We`re excited to see this in the spotlight! #earlylearning
Has it really been a year since @kaliforchildren was at TEDxPortland talking about why hope and love changes everything for children? Wishing all the speakers the very best this weekend at @tedxportland 2025! #portland #tedxportland
Catch Kali`s TED talk at the link in our bio!
A Year of Transformation
What if Oregon was the BEST place to be a kid? What would that look like? Feel like? Sound like? Children’s institute is on journey to help make this so, one policy, strategy, partnership, and investment at a time. 2022 marked a year of joy, discovery, learning, and evolution for Children’s Institute. It brought a refreshed vision and mission, new organizational values, and a three-year strategic plan building on the past two decades of impact. These critical cornerstones helped us redefine our commitment to children and their well-being, keep us grounded in equity, and ensure that children furthest from opportunity have what they need to thrive.
Last year, we expanded our work with school communities across the state with our Early School Success initiative and our Early Learning Academy. We saw the advocacy efforts of Oregon’s Early Childhood Coalition secure $100 million to strengthen the child care sector. Children’s Institute and our partners helped launch the nation’s first social-emotional health kindergarten readiness metric which will change how Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations support healthy development for children.
A Year of Transformation
What if Oregon was the BEST place to be a kid? What would that look like? Feel like? Sound like? Children’s institute is on journey to help make this so, one policy, strategy, partnership, and investment at a time. 2022 marked a year of joy, discovery, learning, and evolution for Children’s Institute. It brought a refreshed vision and mission, new organizational values, and a three-year strategic plan building on the past two decades of impact. These critical cornerstones helped us redefine our commitment to children and their well-being, keep us grounded in equity, and ensure that children furthest from opportunity have what they need to thrive.
Last year, we expanded our work with school communities across the state with our Early School Success initiative and our Early Learning Academy. We saw the advocacy efforts of Oregon’s Early Childhood Coalition secure $100 million to strengthen the child care sector. Children’s Institute and our partners helped launch the nation’s first social-emotional health kindergarten readiness metric which will change how Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations support healthy development for children.
Making Oregon the best place to be a kid will be an all-hands on deck effort. Everyone has a role to play but we hope to catalyze this change through policy, advocacy, research, and direct work with schools and school districts across the state. The good news is that we’re just getting started, and we’re so excited for what 2023 has in store. For Oregon to succeed, our children must also. Stay tuned and join us!
– Kali Thorne Ladd, Chief Executive Officer
Renewed Commitment
As board chair, I had the pleasure of working with a dedicated team of staff and board members at Children’s Institute throughout 2022 to write a new mission, vision, and strategic plan. This reframing has galvanized the commitment to early childhood from partners and investors near and far. As a former Head Start student, this is personal for me. Those early opportunities gave me a foundation for success in school and life that I was fortunate to have. Children’s Institute represents a commitment to building a movement, so every child gets those same opportunities. We know investing in early childhood is good for the economy, good for business, and good for families. But what’s most important is doing what’s best for children. Children’s Institute brings that to life and helps us all drive toward a socially just and equitable future for each child in Oregon.
– Bob Harding, Board Chair
Children’s Institute Strategic Plan 2022-2025
In 2022, Children’s Institute enacted a three-year strategic plan focused on strengthening and transforming the state’s early childhood system. This coincided with a new mission, vision, and values, which guided our strategic planning efforts and resulted in a strategic plan grounded in equity.
Our Values
Honor
We see children as complete people and value their contributions to the world. We honor all children and families by centering their humanity, respecting their dignity and self-determination, and uplifting community wisdom and voice.
Equity
We center and advance equity in all of our work.
Learning
We embrace multiple ways of knowing and pursue growth and learning through research and our connections with each other, the children and families we serve, and the communities in which we operate.
Innovation
We will be bold, think creatively, and take risks to ensure that we are doing all we can to help children thrive.
Connectedness
We believe children develop and grow in connected communities, so we work to build bridges and deepen our relationships with and in families, communities, and systems to support early learning practices.
“Julie Young has been a persistent, tireless advocate for the needs of young children. She is also one of the most gracious, compassionate people that I know. Her combination of grace and grit have proven to be a powerful force in improving the lives of children.” – Nan Waller, former Children’s Institute Board Member
On December 1, 2022, Children’s Institute presented Julie Young with the Alexander Award for her dedication and commitment to ensuring that young children in Oregon have the love, education, and care they need.
Julie is a former social worker, served on Children’s Institute’s Board of Directors from 2008-2022, and has been a tireless early childhood advocate for decades. She has been integral in supporting and advancing early childhood policies in Oregon.
Her endless commitment to children and families has been instrumental in making Oregon the best place to be a kid.
Dick Alexander made a lasting impression on me twenty years ago when he lobbied passionately and successfully for early childhood investments, rightly recognizing this as a nonpartisan issue with statewide social and economic benefits. It was a great and humbling honor to be given an award with Dick’s name on it, and to be recognized by an organization that’s committed to every child having opportunities for success beginning prenatally.
Early School Success and Early Learning Academy
Early School Success (ESS) is transforming learning for children from preschool through fifth grade. By engaging school communities across Oregon, ESS aims to create seamless, equitable, neuroscience-informed and age-appropriate learning experiences for every child.
The Early Learning Academy is a cohort-based learning experience for educators and leaders working to strengthen early learning in their districts.This opportunity is built on 12 years of experience partnering with school districts across Oregon to create and strengthen early learning, fit to local contexts, through our Early Works and Early School Success initiatives.
Early Learning Academy 2022-2023
In 2022, we held our second Early Learning Academy (ELA), which included district teams from Baker City, Centennial, Columbia Gorge Education Service District (ESD), Douglas ESD, Hillsboro, Medford, Ontario, Philomath, Roseburg, South Lane, and Tigard-Tualatin. Each ELA cohort participates in three, 6-hour learning sessions with an additional five team coaching sessions.
ELA Learning Outcomes
Highlights from Yoncalla
It has become clear that Yoncalla Early Works has become a model for other schools and communities in the region, with neighboring districts reaching out to Yoncalla administrators to learn from the program and implement strategies in their own communities. In 2022, Yoncalla continued to strengthen early learning, family engagement, health, and staff wellbeing and support.
2022 Bright Spots:
Advocates secured nearly $100 million in early childhood investments
Although Oregon’s 2022 legislative session lasted only five weeks, Oregon’s Early Childhood Coaliion tirelessly advocated for early childhood investments. Ultimately, the Oregon Legislature passed nearly $100 million dollars to help stabilize the child care sector, support early childhood providers, and ensure more families would have access to early childhood opportunities.
Children’s Institute launched an online policy resource for Oregon lawmakers
In 2022, Children’s Institute established an online resource for legislators. This webpage serves as a hub for resources on the early childhood landscape and policy in Oregon, including policy briefs, articles, and reports.
Policy Brief
Facilities Investments Would Build Capacity for Oregon’s Early Childhood System
The Early Link Podcast
Prioritizing Early Childhood in Oregon: A Discussion with State Rep. Karin Power & Rep. Jack Zika
Op-Ed
Oregon’s Kids Need Bold Leadership Now – The Oregonian
Revenue & Expenses
Ways to Support Children’s Institute
Save the Date!
Join us October 19, 2023 to celebrate 20 years of impact.
We know know you care about young children and families. Turn your caring into action and help us make Oregon the best place to be a kid.