Swati Adarkar to Receive Leadership in Education Award

by Melissa Duclos | Jan 15, 2020 | CI in the News

Next month, Concordia University will honor CI President & CEO Swati Adarkar with their Governor Victor Atiyeh Leadership in Education Award. The award, named for former Oregon Governor Victor Atiyeh in recognition of his life-long passion for and leadership in education, is presented each year to a leader who has profoundly changed the odds for our children to succeed in school and life.

Over the past 16 years, Swati Adarkar has overseen the growth of Children’s Institute, bringing it from a staff of two people to 23. During this time, she engaged a bi-partisan group of civic and business leaders and worked with five Oregon governors to make early childhood a state policy priority. In 2007, CI helped nearly double the state budget for Head Start; in 2010, the organization launched Early Works at Earl Boyles Elementary School, a nationally recognized initiative demonstrating Swati’s vision for neighborhood schools that partner with families and community organizations to offer preschool and other family supports. These partnerships mean that CI’s policy work is grounded in community voice, which the organization leveraged in 2019 to successfully advocate for an historic $200 million annual investment in early childhood programs and services. Swati has also led the way on a new initiative, Early School Success, to align preschool and elementary instruction and has expanded CI’s work to connect early health and learning to ensure young children receive the health services they need to be ready for school.

The keynote address at this year’s event will be given by Grammy, Emmy, and Academy Award-winning actor, musician, and author, Common. While he is renowned for his artistic achievements, Common is also an engaged activist, dedicated philanthropist, and education advocate passionate about improving the lives of under-served children. This past fall he opened Art in Motion, a charter school for the arts just blocks from where he grew up on the south side of Chicago. He also started Common Ground Foundation, focused on empowering high school to become future leaders.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Hyatt Regency Portland

5:00-9:00pm

Get tickets

What’s Changed for Kids In Oregon this Year

by Melissa Duclos | Dec 16, 2019 | Successful Students, Early Works, Health and Development, Early School Success

Thanks to the many partners we worked with this year and the contributions of countless supporters like you, we’ve been able to make significant progress toward our goal of ensuring all children in Oregon have access to high-quality early care and education. This year, we are particularly proud of our collective work to:

Pass the Student Success Act, an historic investment in Oregon’s children
Develop incentives that will reward our health system for providing critical services to young children
Implement Universally Offered Home Visiting
Introduce Early School Success, our new initiative to better align the early years and early grades

Click through the slide show below to see what’s changed for young kids in Oregon this year. Scroll down further for a thematic overview of this year’s coverage and to learn about two things you can do today to contribute to this important work!

At Birth: A Welcome Visit

All new families in Oregon will soon have the option to receive home visiting services thanks to state legislators and early childhood advocates who made this voluntary, evidence-based program a priority in 2019.

For Infants & Toddlers: Available, Affordable Care

As we continue to shine a spotlight on the state’s child care crisis, the demand for safe, affordable care grows stronger. In 2020, we’ll work with the Child Care Task Force and others to make this vision a reality.

For Young Kids: Health Sets the Stage

In 2019, we helped demonstrate the connection between health and early learning, working with partners to bolster innovative efforts that support school readiness. We also worked with advocates to secure full funding for early intervention and early childhood special education.

For Ages 3-4: High-Quality Preschool

With the passage of the Student Success Act in 2019, more children in Oregon will have access to high-quality early learning programs. In 2020, we’ll focus on ensuring these public investments are well-spent.

For Kids 5 and Up: Seamless Elementary Transitions

In 2019, we began working with school districts to ensure children have a seamless educational experience from preschool through fifth grade. In 2020, we’ll continue to innovate with school communities to boost high-quality instruction from the ground up.

2019 Year in Review

At Birth: A Welcome Visit

All new families in Oregon will soon have the option to receive home visiting services thanks to state legislators and early childhood advocates who made this voluntary evidence-based program a priority in 2019.

Here’s a sampling of our coverage on this topic:

For Infants & Toddlers: Available, Affordable Child Care

As we continue to shine a spotlight on the state’s child care crisis, demand for safe, affordable care that serves all families grows stronger. In 2020, we’ll work with the Child Care Task Force and others to make this vision a reality.

Here’s a sampling of our coverage on this topic:

For Young Kids, Health Sets the Stage

In 2019, we helped demonstrate the connection between health and early learning, working with partners and other advocates to bolster innovative efforts that support this vital aspect of school readiness. We also worked with advocates to secure full funding for early intervention and early childhood special education.

Here’s a sampling of our coverage on this topic:

For Ages 3-4: High-Quality Preschool

With the passage of the Student Success Act, more young children across the state will have access to high-quality early learning programs. In 2020, we’ll focus on ensuring these public investments are well-spent.

Here’s a sampling of our coverage on what a high-quality classroom experience looks like, as well as more detail on efforts to expand preschool access to all children in Multnomah County.

For Kids 5 and Up: Seamless Elementary Transitions

In 2019, we began working with school districts to ensure children have a seamless educational experience from preschool through fifth grade. In 2020, we’ll continue to innovate with school communities to boost high-quality instruction from the ground up.

Here’s a sampling of coverage on our new initiative, Early School Success, and the transformational power of community leadership and action.

Donate Today to Support This Work

Add Your Voice to Our Early Childhood Map of Supporters

CI’s Dana Hepper Named Early Childhood Advocacy Hero

by Melissa Duclos | Nov 14, 2019 | CI in the News, Oregon Policy

This week, The Ounce of Prevention Fund named Dana Hepper, our director of policy & advocacy, one of their Early Childhood Advocacy Heroes.

In her interview with The Ounce, Hepper describes the long path to passing the Student Success Act, an historic state investment in education that includes $200 million per year for early childhood. She also shares what she is most excited about with the rollout of the Student Success Act:

“When the first draft of the Student Success Act’s early learning investments came out, some of the investments we were advocating for were left out. Legislators understood preschool (including Head Start and Early Childhood Special Education), and they were prioritizing these investments over others that start earlier. I’m most excited that we were able to shift the conversation to acknowledge that learning starts at birth (and before). We won meaningful investments in infants and toddlers, including $20 million to expand Early Head Start.”

Read the Full Interview

Video: Early Works at Earl Boyles: The Power of Partnership

by Melissa Duclos | Nov 14, 2019 | Early Works, Benefits of Preschool, Videos

Kids begin learning before they’re even born. By the time children start kindergarten, their brains are already 90 percent developed. Children’s Institute believes our education system can do more for kids during this critical period of development. Neighborhood schools can serve children long before they enter kindergarten and provide meaningful support to parents and families before and during elementary school.

Our Early Works initiative demonstrates what happens when school districts, community partners, parents, and funders come together with a shared vision to support the early learning and healthy development of young children: Kids arrive at kindergarten ready to learn, parents feel welcome at the school and empowered to support their children’s learning, and the school community flourishes.

Located in the David Douglas School District in Southeast Portland, Oregon, Earl Boyles Elementary School is one of two Early Works sites.

The school serves a culturally and linguistically diverse group of low-income families. Through our comprehensive, community-based Early Works initiative, Earl Boyles now offers high-quality preschool, an Early Kindergarten Transition program, summer literacy programs, infant-toddler play and learn groups, a food pantry, and connections to housing and health care supports.

Since 2010, children at Earl Boyles have improved their kindergarten readiness and parents have become leaders in the community and empowered participants in their children’s learning. Going forward, Early Works aims to increase participation in 0–3 play groups and support children’s learning at home, ensuring all children in the area are ready for preschool and beyond.

Many partners, including the David Douglas School District, Mt. Hood Community College Head Start, and Multnomah Early Childhood Program, have come together to provide high-quality early learning programs and supports starting at birth, parenting education to engage families, and health supports and other social services for families.

Other partners also operate within the school, supporting early learning, engaging families, and offering health supports and other social services:

Children’s Book Bank
Home Forward
Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)
Latino Network
Metropolitan Family Services (MFS)
Mt. Hood Community College Head Start
Multnomah County Library
Multnomah Early Childhood Program (MECP)
Padres Unidos (Parents United)
Reading Results
SMART (Start Making a Reader Today)

As a community-driven initiative, Early Works must continue to be responsive to the needs of a diverse and changing population. Too many children from linguistically diverse backgrounds continue to enter preschool at Earl Boyles with low language skills, and too many families struggle to access the resources they need to support learning at home.

In the next phase of the initiative, we will deepen our work in early health and reduce academic disparities through culturally responsive teaching and learning from preschool through fifth grade.

In Lincoln County, Universally Offered Home Visiting Is Already Making an Impact

by Melissa Duclos | Oct 28, 2019 | Home Visiting, Oregon Policy

The Oregon legislature approved funding earlier this year for Universally offered Home Visiting (UoHV), a program designed to support infants and toddlers and their families while promoting healthy development and early learning from the time a child is born. In August 2019, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) selected eight areas of the state in which to roll out the program.

UoHV in Oregon will follow the Family Connects model, developed by Duke University and offered throughout North Carolina. We don’t have to go to North Carolina, though, to see the impact of the program. A look at Lincoln County—which has been offering universal home visits using the Family Connects model since 2017—gives a sense of what’s to come for families with newborns across Oregon.

Every Mother Can Benefit

Unlike other home visiting programs that serve specific populations, like first-time mothers, or children with special health care needs, Family Connects visits are available for any mother who wants them. Dr. Meredith Mann has been an obstetrician in Lincoln County for six years. She refers every patient she sees for voluntary home visiting.

“Regardless of your education level, job, or income, pregnancy can be a scary time,” Dr. Mann explains. Programs that target mothers based on risk factors or household income could leave many women without the beneficial support they need.

Amy Lunstedt, a nurse in Lincoln County who has been conducting home visits for the past six years, agrees. “Even families who are economically secure, or who aren’t dealing with trauma of some kind, have needs that a home visitor can address.”

The Family Connects model is an evidence-based approach that makes it easy for nurses to identify a family’s needs during the visit. During visits, nurses focus on twelve different domains.

These domains provide structure for the visits and are used as a tool for nurses to identify additional support or referrals a family might need. Lundstedt emphasized that home visits are not just about running through a checklist. Instead, nurses have in-depth conversations with mothers about a range of issues that fall under these domains. This includes feeding, crying, tummy time, appropriate infant behaviors, maternal nutrition, postpartum depression, birth control, car seats, household safety concerns, and any financial resources the family might need, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The nurse will also conduct a newborn health assessment. Heidi Harrington, another nurse home visitor we spoke with, says the families she visits are “giddy” to get this support.

“Mothers respond positively because nurses are respectful of people’s boundaries,” says Dr. Mann. The flexibility of the Family Connects approach makes that easy. Families can, for example, meet somewhere like a library if they prefer not to have a nurse in their home. Mothers can also choose when to schedule their home visit.

“It’s concierge medicine,” Dr. Mann says. “When I hear from mothers about the visits, they say ‘my nurse came over.’” These relationships between mothers and nurses last.

“Because we talk about so many different topics, mothers know they can call us with questions,” Harrington says. Nurses respond to follow-up calls by answering questions if they can or referring families to other supports, such as a lactation consultant.

Healthy Families, Healthy Communities

Shelley Paeth, the Maternal Child Health Program Manager for Lincoln County Health and Human Services, first heard about Family Connects in 2015. Though there were already several other home visiting programs in Lincoln County, she felt it was important to bring this universal, evidence-based approach to her community. It took roughly 18 months to strengthen relationships between nurses and doctors and hospitals, train nurses, and work with the Early Learning Hub of Linn, Benton & Lincoln Counties to roll out the program.

Paeth explains her rationale for bringing a program that serves every mother to the county.

“Pregnancy and postpartum are vulnerable times for everyone. And they’re a key time when women and new families are open to learning new information and motivated to make changes in their lives if they need to.”

In addition to providing a framework through which all mothers can receive support, the Family Connects model can help communities improve the services they provide. Following each home visit, nurses track the referrals they made for mothers and the services they need. The data helps reveal gaps in services.

From her experience conducting home visits, Amy knows her patients struggle with housing, transportation, and access to medical care. Children with special health needs must often leave the county for health care, and mental health supports are lacking. This reality can be difficult for nurses, knowing how hard it can be for patients to ask for mental health support. “It’s heartbreaking trying to help a patient who has finally decided to call for an appointment, only to be told there are no spaces available,” Amy reports. The data on referrals collected through home visits will help counties determine which programs and services, like mental health care, are most needed by the community.

Moving Forward Across the State

Now that the state has allocated funding for Universally offered Home Visiting, other counties are following Lincoln’s lead. The eight early adopter communities chosen by the Oregon Health Authority will begin delivering home visiting services in July of 2020.

Families with newborns will benefit from this support and the data from these visits will help the state continue to improve the health supports and other social services available in local communities.

Learn More About Home Visiting

Children’s Institute Policy Brief 2019: Home Visiting