Despite the relative increase in early care and education (ECE) investment over recent decades, access to infant and toddler care continues to be a hurdle for countless families across the nation. While access is a multifaceted issue, main contributors include a lack of available slots and the high cost of providing care to infants and toddlers.…

As of July 2022, child care employment in the United States was still 8.4% below what it was in February 2020 with nearly 90,000 child care professionals leaving the workforce for higher-paying and less stressful jobs. Although New Jersey's child care employment has been rising, the numbers have not reached pre-pandemic levels. This ongoing child…

Advocates for Children of New Jersey's latest report, "Still No Room for Babies: Child Care Staffing Crisis Impacts Supply of Infant-Toddler Child Care," reveals a widespread shortage of infant and toddler child care. A statewide survey of child care centers serving infants and toddlers found that licensed centers have the capacity to…

To understand the use of early care and education (ECE) programs in New Jersey, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) conducted a representative survey of parents of children under age 5 (not yet in kindergarten) about their use of (non-parental) child care. The survey was conducted between May 25th and June 13rd, 2022, with…

For New Jersey parents, the high cost of child care, coupled with the lack of available space for babies in licensed facilities, has made a challenging task even more difficult. Findings from a recent study by Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) revealed that there is a severe shortage of infant-toddler child care, especially in low-income…

Early childhood educators worldwide all strive to improve the quality of care and education for young children through sustainable pathways. One such pathway is professional development (PD). In the United States, ongoing PD has been recognized as critical to enhancing practitioners' professional competence. Situated within the broader context of…

Most states in the United States operate their public preschool programs in a mixed delivery system that serves children in local education agencies (LEAs) as well as non-LEA settings, such as Head Start agencies, child care centers, private schools, and family child care homes. To inform state preschool administrators and policymakers as they…

To protect the health and well-being of children and clients, workers in schools, childcare centers, and the healthcare industry need regular, state-of-the-art education on bed bug avoidance and control. For some, webinars provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency are a convenient, free source of this education. Bed bug…

Child care providers navigate a challenging and competitive industry, where the substantial cost of providing safe, quality care for children meeting all state standards has to be balanced against families' ability and willingness to pay for care. Operating a business where narrow profit margins can turn into significant deficits from one week to…

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) begins with well-prepared, highly qualified educators. This brief offers practitioners and policymakers an opportunity to learn from promising programs that recruit and prepare racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse cohorts of educators to teach in programs serving children birth…

Many efforts have been made around the globe to advocate for and encourage environmental sustainability education (ESE). As many as 15 fields can serve as "currents" on the greater field of environmental education, including environmental education and education for sustainability. We acknowledge that each is a separate and distinct…

For more than 20 years, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (United Way) has made high-quality early care and education a cornerstone priority of its investment strategy. United Way has also been a longtime champion of school readiness for the youngest children in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 1996, the organization joined…

Superstorm Sandy hit the coast of New Jersey with deadly force causing hundreds of miles of coastline damage, loss of homes, property and road damage, and power outages throughout the region. despite the state's strong disaster response network, most programs and responders have little background in supporting the needs of infants and very young…

Many people assume that schools and childcare centers are environmentally safe places for children to learn. However, adverse health effects from pest allergy related illnesses or pesticide exposure incidents can demonstrate the need for safer and more effective pest management strategies. The goal of this research is to measure the efficacy of…

Children need quality early learning programs. This can be a child care center, a preschool or a Head Start program. Not all early learning programs provide the high quality children need. This paper presents questions that should be considered when looking for an early learning program.