Health and Development
Oregon’s Relief Nurseries Support Families and Keep Kids Out of Foster Care
Oregon's nationally recognized Relief Nursery model serves families with children ages 0–5 who are most at-risk for abuse and neglect. In 2019, Children’s Institute is joining a coalition of early childhood advocates to request an additional $5.6 million in funding...
More than ABCs and 123s: Health and Kindergarten Readiness
A work group convened by Children's Institute and the Oregon Health Authority has issued recommendations for health-driven metrics for kindergarten readiness. The goal is to drive system-level changes and improvements to kindergarten readiness, especially for children served by the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid).
Oregon’s Infant-Toddler Care Dilemma: Providing Quality Care at an Affordable Cost
Imagine you’re an Oregonian earning a median-level household income of $78,683 a year. Let’s also imagine you’ve just become a new parent and are researching infant-toddler care options in advance of your planned return to work. Do you choose a child care option...
The Time Is Now for Oregon to Invest in Early Childhood
The Early Years Are Critical Children experience their most profound cognitive, social, and emotional growth in the first eight years of life. Babies are born learners and their brains produce a million neural connections each second. By the time children reach...
Oregon’s Child Care Crisis
To solve its child care crisis, Oregon must build an affordable, high-quality child care system that keeps children safe and supports their brain development.
What We Know About Early Childhood Trauma
Led by the work of Dr. Nadine Burke Harris—pediatrician, founder of the Center for Youth Wellness, and author of The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity—researchers have begun to examine the connections between childhood trauma and...
Learn More About Early Childhood Special Education
The following articles provide information on the long-term impacts of Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) and the experiences of families in Oregon with these services. The Hechinger Report: Almost All Students With Disabilities are...
Oregon Must Invest More in Young Children With Disabilities
While Oregon has prioritized developmental screenings for young children, the state does not invest enough in the Early Intervention (EI) and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) children need once they are diagnosed with disabilities and delays. As a result,...
Getting Ready for 2019: Our Recommendations for Investments in Early Childhood
On August 13, Children’s Institute (CI) brought together parents, advocates, and CI board members to meet with Governor Kate Brown. We shared our 2019 legislative recommendations with her and talked about the importance of investing in early childhood development....
Q&A: A Kindergarten Teacher in Baker City, in Her Own Words
Over the summer, Children’s Institute highlighted the important work of early childhood educators, hearing from teachers across the state about their experiences teaching preschool and kindergarten. We’re wrapping up the series as fall approaches with some...