Celeste Yager-Kandle, Author at Children's Institute

A Glimpse of How Yoncalla’s Youngest Learners Spend Their Day

by Celeste Yager-Kandle | Jun 4, 2021 | Early Works, News, Preschool

We visited the Early Learning Center at Yoncalla Elementary on a warm, May morning to see how some of Yoncalla’s youngest learners spend their day.

Located about 2.5 hours south of Portland, Yoncalla is a close-knit, rural community in Douglas County that sprawls away from the freeway for miles into the countryside. Yoncalla Elementary hosts grades PreK-6 and is one of two sites in Oregon that is part of the Early Works initiative—a partnership between the Ford Family Foundation, Yoncalla School District, and Children’s Institute.

In the entryway of the preschool, a large chalkboard displaying “Welcome to our Preschool Family!” in bold chalk letters, serves as a warm greeting.

Megan Barber reads the Eric Carle classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar to her preschool class. Just like thousands of children over multiple generations touched by Carle’s words and distinctive illustration, they were rapt!

The Yoncalla Early Learning Center’s outdoor space encourages students (and staff!) to be playful and creative.

Learn more about how our Early Works initiative is helping children and families thrive

Oregon KIDS COUNT Data: The Future for Oregon’s Children is Tied to Today’s Investments

by Celeste Yager-Kandle | May 28, 2021 | News, Oregon Research

In May, Our Children Oregon released the 28th annual Oregon KIDS COUNT data cards with state and county-level data on child well-being across four core areas: Economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.

From Our Children Oregon’s press release:

These data showcase the impact of investments that were made in the response to the Great Recession. It took many years to feel the impact of these investments on outcomes for children. This points to the importance of using data to inform the decision-making taking place now as these choices will be felt in the years and generations to come.

Oregonians have the opportunity to make a commitment to invest in young children, families, and communities, which is a top priority on the Early Childhood Coalition’s (ECC) 2021 legislative agenda. The ECC is urging state lawmakers to commit to continued improvement in early care, education, and supports for all of Oregon’s young children and families, and to center the voices of those most impacted by legislative actions in their decision-making processes.

As a policy advocacy organization, Children’s Institute relies on Oregon KIDS COUNT to access high-quality data about child well-being. As racial equity and economic justice are core values of CI, we also believe that through this information we can better understand community conditions and opportunities to advance equity. When racial equity is at the center of decision-making, early childhood programs and services can mitigate disparities by race/ethnicity, income, geography, disability, language, immigrant and refugee status, houselessness, and foster care.

KIDS COUNT allows us to take a first look at statewide data trends of where children are on key indicators of child health and well-being. Children’s Institute has identified some of these indicators as:

Children in poverty
Preschool aged children (who has access to early learning, who is not in school)
Fourth grade reading proficiency
Low birth weight
Children without health insurance

Marina Merrill, director of research and strategy at Children’s Institute, explains that the high-level snapshots from KIDS COUNT can serve as a good jumping off point for further exploration of county and community levels; and can allow us to dive deeper, disaggregate data, ask questions about who the system seems to be working for, and identify opportunities for improvement.

“These data are just the starting point to formulating deeper questions about the why,” she says. “When paired with the community context and qualitative data, we can make richer meaning of the data to shape policy, informed by and with our community partners.”

Early Child Advocates, Lawmakers, Gather Virtually for Advocacy Days

by Celeste Yager-Kandle | May 12, 2021 | News, Oregon Policy

Last week, Early Childhood Coalition (ECC) partners and advocates from across Oregon gathered virtually for Early Childhood Advocacy days.

To prepare for three days of meetings with legislators, the ECC hosted a kick-off event on May 4th, which included nearly 50 participants. Three guest legislators also joined us — Representative Karin Power, Representative Jack Zika, and Representative Tawna Sanchez.

Representative Sanchez from North and Northeast Portland explained to advocates why it’s important to share their stories with legislators: “What matters to the future generations is right here and right now,” she said. “What it takes is all of us with a voice to stand up and say something, to try to make change and shift around here. Our future generations are depending on us to make something happen.”

By the end of the kick-off, participants knew how to write an advocacy letter, learned tips for talking to legislators, and practiced giving testimony.

Over the next few days, nearly 50 attendees including child care providers, educators and parents from across the state met with more than 20 lawmakers.

During meetings, advocates shared their own experiences and urged legislators to commit to continued improvement in early care, education, and supports for all of Oregon’s young children and families, and to center the voices of those most impacted by legislative actions in their decision-making.

Staff from Healthy Families Oregon, a voluntary home visiting program that serves families expecting or parenting newborns, described their first-hand experiences working closely with families, and expressed a critical need for home visiting services. They also addressed the ways that low-wages create a barrier to hiring and retaining qualified home visitors. One of the ECC’s 2021 legislative priorities is to expand early childhood investments, which includes expanding funding for Healthy Families Oregon home visiting and providing wage parity for relief nurseries, to reduce turnover and stress among early childhood providers.

Not to mention, disparities in early childhood have only been intensified by the ongoing pandemic which advocates say will have lasting effects. Advocates reminded lawmakers that children born during the COVID-19 pandemic will be entering kindergarten as the state is climbing out of a recession and the decisions made during this session will influence the trajectory of their lives and Oregon’s future.

“We have seen first-hand the impacts of the pandemic on families,” said Robin Nelson with Multnomah County’s Nurse-Family Partnership. “We know that the setbacks are huge and will continue for years.”

Overall, the response from legislators was hopeful. Representative Jason Kropf acknowledged the challenges that many organizations face when they are asked to fill service gaps with limited funding and resources, and voiced his support for front-end investments that will help children, families and providers. As to the prospects for the state budget and investments in early childhood, Senator Dembrow of Portland expressed optimism. “There is a lot of support in the legislature right now for child care programs and early learning,” he said.

We want to thank our ECC partners and advocates who shared their stories with lawmakers, and were early childhood champions during Advocacy Days.

Read through all of the ECC’s 2021 policy priorities

Oregon HB 3073 to Establish Early Learning Authority, Expand Child Care and Early Learning

by Celeste Yager-Kandle | Apr 20, 2021 | Child Care, News, Oregon Policy, COVID-19, Equity

Oregon House Bill 3073 (HB 3073) will streamline Oregon’s child care system by establishing a new state agency: the Early Learning Authority. The agency will be separate from the Oregon Department of Education.

“A new department focused on early learning and care is a necessary next step for Oregon to expand equitable early learning opportunities and unify its child care system,” explained Miriam Calderon, Oregon Early Learning System director.

“With this change, our state’s children, families, communities, providers, and businesses will benefit from greater access, higher quality, and efficient delivery of services. After a pandemic that has focused our state and our country on the importance of child care, and new federal resources, there couldn’t be a better moment to act,” she said.

Currently, the state’s Early Learning Division (ELD) oversees the majority of Oregon’s early care and education programs, which include state preschool, state infant-toddler programs, professional learning and the Quality Improvement System, parenting education, and an early childhood equity fund that targets resources to culturally-specific 0-5 and multigenerational programs.

The Future of Child Care in Oregon

HB 3073 is a critical piece of legislation that addresses Oregon’s child care crisis and will strengthen the child care system statewide.

Children ages 0-5 are the most racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse Oregonians. They are also the most likely to live in poverty. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic only continues to compound the effects of racism and inequality among children in this age group.

“Babies born during the pandemic will be starting kindergarten as we start to recover from a recession,” explained Dana Hepper, director of policy and advocacy at Children’s Institute. “Brain development during this time period creates a foundation for their whole lives, which is why it’s critically important we make progress for them, now.”

HB 3073 will provide every child age 0-5 in Oregon with the opportunity to succeed in school, work, and life by providing high-quality early childhood education programs. It will also allow the state to be more strategic in its use of funds to rebuild the early child care and education sector from the devastating effects of the pandemic; make programs work better for children, families, and providers; and create a critical opportunity to advance equity.

Establishing the Early Learning Authority will streamline the administration of child care and early learning by housing Oregon’s child care subsidy program, Employment Related Day Care (ERDC), with other early learning and child care programs.

It will also shift ERDC into a child care assistance program that better serves low-income families, and creates more financial stability for child care business owners and educators 一 especially Black, Native, women of color and other women 一 who perform this essential work.

Early Childhood Advocacy

The Child Care for Oregon Coalition (CCFO) is leading advocacy efforts to build a comprehensive child care system in Oregon and HB 3073 is a top priority.

Oregon’s Early Childhood Coalition (ECC) collaborates with and supports CCFO’s leadership and vision to build a universal, publicly-funded child care system in Oregon that is equitable, affordable, culturally-relevant, inclusive, developmentally appropriate, safe and community-led. Both the CCFO and ECC have made a commitment to be guided by the experiences of Black, Native, and families of color; and families and providers historically excluded from policy and budget decisions.

With HB 3073, Oregon is well-positioned to provide a model for how to transform early childhood governance, improve the delivery of services to children and families, and better support child care providers.

Learn about our 2021 Policy Priorities

RAPID-EC Survey Highlights Challenges for Families During COVID-19

by Celeste Yager-Kandle | Apr 9, 2021 | News, National Research, Parents and Families, What We're Reading, COVID-19

New data from the RAPID-EC Project (Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development-Early Childhood) highlights the challenges families with young children face during the COVID-19 pandemic. “How Are Our Children? Updates and Policy Implications from the RAPID-EC Surveys,” explores how financial hardships as a result of the pandemic impact the well-being of caregivers and the emotional health of young children.

RAPID-EC Survey

Launched in April 2020, RAPID-EC is an ongoing, nationally representative survey of households with children ages 0-5. The survey focuses on five key topics including parent emotional well-being, child emotional well-being, material hardship, child care, and issues related to pediatric health care.

Led by Dr. Philip Fisher from the University of Oregon, the survey aims to collect essential information on the needs and well-being of children and their families impacted by the pandemic; and provide ideas about how policymakers and advocates should respond to these issues.

To date, more than 9,000 parents and caregivers have participated in the survey from all 50 states and their responses tell a clear story: families with young children are struggling to meet their most basic needs like housing, food, and utilities.

This is especially true for low-income households and families of color. Disparities based on income, race and ethnicity, and family structure have widened considerably during the pandemic. There are higher levels of hardship and stress in Black, Latinx, and single-parent households and in households where a child has a disability.

A Chain Reaction of Hardship

RAPID-EC reveals compelling data about the experiences of families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic:

42% of households are worried about paying for at least one basic need like food, rent or utilities
52% of children within families with financial hardship are facing emotional distress
47% of parents may not be able to return to work due to lack of child care
60% of Black, Latinx, and single-parent households report difficulty paying for rent, utilities and/or food

Researchers also found that parents who report that they are having difficulties paying for basic needs in a given week also report higher levels of distress in follow-up surveys. This pervasive struggle to meet material needs leads to a sequence of events that the RAPID-EC team describes as a “chain reaction of hardship,” which filters down from caregivers and causes emotional distress among children.

Policy Responses to Support Children and Families

The RAPID-EC team’s overall policy recommendations focus on continued financial support to families, addressing racial inequalities, and supporting a range of child care options for parents and caregivers. These are issues that Oregon’s Early Childhood Coalition (ECC) addresses in its 2021 legislative agenda. Specifically, the coalition advocates for programs that support families and communities, such as investing in strong Early Learning Hubs and affordable housing, and strengthening support networks for families of children with disabilities.

Researchers from the RAPID-EC Project also suggest using data to support equitable policies that target families and communities most impacted by the pandemic, as well as gathering new data to create sustainable resources in the future.

Read the ECC's 2021 Policy Agenda

Making Oregon the best place to be a kid.