This longform piece, written by guest contributor Adriane Blackman, details how Yoncalla Early Works has driven an ecosystem of community and care to support the health and wellbeing of children and families in rural, southern Oregon.
We're sitting across the screen with Dani Boylan, director of early learning at St. Helens Early Learning. This is her second year running Kinder Camp after several years of teaching preschool. Students from three schools (McBride, Columbia City, and Lewis and Clark) gather in the kindergarten classes of the latter’s elementary school, filling the hallways with joyful sounds. Though their program faced significant state budget cuts which limited the scope for 2023, teachers and administrators in St. Helens worked together to reorganize for the year. They made a plan that made the most of the resources available, setting up intentionally small class sizes and offering support for children with varying social emotional needs. I eagerly pull my list of questions in front of me, and we begin our virtual interview.
Oregon's new health metric is a significant step toward ensuring young children are prepared for kindergarten.
For those who missed it on May 26, here is the webinar recording and slide deck for Protecting the Building Blocks of Early Learning: An Urgent Priority. Hosted by The Campaign for Grade Level Reading, this webinar features our own Elena Rivera, senior health...
What's the role of the health system in supporting school readiness? In this explainer video, learn more about Oregon's unique Quality Incentive Program and how it can help support kindergarten readiness. Additional Resources Childrens Institute's Health and...
In this episode of the Early Link Podcast, we speak with Dr. John Kitzhaber, a physician and previous governor of Oregon, about ways to improve our health systems and re-frame the national healthcare debate. Dr. John Kitzhaber is well known in Oregon and across the...
Writing in The Oregonian today, CI's Senior Health Policy & Program Advisor Elena Rivera argues for the importance of programs and services to support early childhood mental health. Research tells us that children who suffer from abuse, neglect or...
Advocates for children’s mental health envision a comprehensive network of supports for children and families that begins with mothers at the prenatal stage and continues throughout an individual’s lifetime. That's reflective of continuing research which...
In the 20 years since the first study into Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), health care professionals, educators, and policy makers have become increasingly aware of the long-term consequences of exposure to adversity on children's health and development. As...
The American Academy of Pediatrics released a new policy statement this month, "The Impact of Racism on Child and Adolescent Health." The statement explores the impact of structural, personally mediated, and internalized racism on children's development and health...
