PDG Newsletter December 21, 2022 Early Childhood Transitions in Wisconsin – Interest in Project Involvement On January 31 from 1:30-3 p.m., the University of Wisconsin-Madison will host a virtual Zoom meeting for Wisconsin direct service professionals who are involved in helping families identify and receive program supports to increase their young children’s learning, development, health, and well-being. The focus of this conversation will be on what families need and how programs can better support families as they navigate transitions from the prenatal period through their child’s 3rd grade year. We are looking for state and local perspectives, including parents and caregivers, service providers, administrators, and others to help us develop research and resources about what strategies and supports are most effective as children and families move through transitions such as the following: Prenatal to birth Hospital to home Accessing available health care systems and benefits to meet children’s needs Applying learning and connections from parent education, play and learns, cultural activities, and community engagement to meet family goals Enrolling in assistance programs From home into early care and education (ECE) program(s) From Early Head Start to Head Start From infant/toddler care to preschool From one classroom to another within ECE programs From Birth to 3 Early Intervention to Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) ECE to Pre-K or Kindergarten Placement into special education programs in ECE and/or kindergarten Placement into multilingual learner programs in ECE and/or kindergarten Changes for children in out of home care and ECE programs and other early childhood services (e.g., from one caregiver/home/program/service to another) And more! We are seeking individuals who… Directly engage in supporting community collaborations related to early childhood transitions Represent a wide range of early childhood programs and services across the entire state Represent diverse backgrounds and populations Represent innovative program and service design efforts Please submit a brief web form by January 11, 2023 to express your interest in joining this meeting! If you are selected to join the call, a team member from UW-Madison will contact you by January 17 with all of the meeting access details. Thank you! Holiday Greetings from PDG! However you celebrate this season, our team at DCF would like to extend warm wishes to all for a healthy, productive, and peaceful year to come. Even through all the challenges, these past few years have brought much needed attention to the importance of the early childhood field in keeping Wisconsin’s families, communities, and economy running. As we reflect back, we are grateful for all our partners and proud of all the work that we have accomplished together to support Wisconsin’s children and families. There is still much left to do and PDG is committed to expanding and building upon our solid foundation. We look forward to bringing more voices, organizations, and partners to the table to collectively work on opportunities to sustainably advance our shared goals. We wish you and your family some well-deserved downtime and a very happy new year!
