The annual Parent Leadership Conference will be November 15-16, 2019 at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Topeka. This free event will include breakout sessions, speakers, child care and more. Limited child care available. Hotel rooms available for families who live more than 100 miles (round trip) from Topeka. Registration details will be available in September. For questions, please contact Pam Noble at pnoble@kcsl.org.

SAVE THE DATE
2019 Parent Leadership Conference
November 15-16
Capitol Plaza Hotel, Topeka

2019 MCH Home Visiting Fall Regional Training

Training Dates & Locations – All training will be 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

NE – September 4th
Unified Government of Wyandotte Co. Health Dept
619 Ann Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101

NC – September 5th
Salina Area Technical College, Conference Room A131
2562 Centennial Road, Salina, KS 67401

NW – September 17th
Sheridan County EMS Building
1717 Oak Avenue, Hoxie, KS 67740

SW – September 18th
St. Catherine Hospital, Conference Room A
401 E. Spruce Street, Garden City, KS 67846

SC – September 19th
Hutchinson Community College, Parker Blue Dragon Room
1300 N. Plum, Hutchinson, KS 67501

SE – September 20th
1st Christian Church, Fellowship Hall
1500 S. 29th, Parsons, KS 67357

Participants will receive Breastfeeding & Safe Sleep Training

Registration is available on KS-Train Course #1086436 

All MCH Home Visitors are required to attend

WIC Staff & Supervisors are welcome to attend

Register for the Governor’s Symposium on Early Childhood!

Monday, October 7th, 2019
Hyatt Regency
400 W. Waterman St.
Wichita, KS 67202

Check in begins at 7:30 AM
Opening session begins at 8:30 AM

This important full-day event in Wichita, will bring together policy-makers, businesses, parents, professionals and other early childhood stakeholders to hear key findings and themes from the recent statewide needs assessment. The Symposium will feature presentations by national, state, and local leaders on emerging strategies, and multiple opportunities to work collaboratively on developing action plans to inform the statewide strategic plan for early childhood.

There is no cost to attend the Symposium, and all meals (including breakfast, lunch, and dinner) will be provided.

Register today to reserve your spot!

Agency Using Universal Infant Referral Policy Across Kansas

The Kansas Department for Children and Families is implementing a new policy designed to take a proactive approach to connecting Kansas families with important parent skill building programs. The Universal Infant Referral policy mandates child protection workers, when working with a family that has an infant under the age of one, refer the family to community-based infant-toddler and home visitor programs.

“We want to meet a family’s needs before crisis sets in,” Department for Children and Families Secretary Laura Howard said. “Providing families with services and supports early may help prevent future maltreatment.”

The new policy took effect July 1 and is already connecting families with programs like Early Head Start, Parents as Teachers and Healthy Families America.

“We are already seeing positive outcomes from this new initiative,” Crawford County Healthy Families supervisor Lindsay Restivo said. “Recently we have been able to connect 16-year-old parents with much needed support services and education in Crawford County. During weekly home visits with our family support specialist, the parents will learn more about positive parent-child interaction, safe sleep and other important health information like the dangers of sudden infant death syndrome.”

The new policy also requires the child protection worker to assess the infant’s sleep environment using guidance from Safe Sleep Kansas. The worker provides the family information and resources to help support a safe sleep environment for the infant.

“It is important to me that Kansas families know that these services are available to them,” Howard said. “We know these programs can help children and families thrive and we are excited to facilitate these connections.”

For additional information on infant-toddler resources visit: http://ksqualitynetwork.org/resources/child-development/.

Information on safe sleep is available at: http://www.safesleepkansas.org/

Kansas received a federal planning grant to facilitate a collaborative effort to shape our state’s future direction for early childhood. This one-year planning grant authorized by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act will support:

• The development of a comprehensive needs assessment & strategic plan for early childhood in Kansas
• Activities to maximize parental choice and knowledge of early care and education options
• The sharing of best practices among early childhood providers
• Improvement of the overall quality of early childhood services

There are many ways you can getting involved, including:

Community Sensemaking Workshops
These sessions will help Kansas create a strategic plan for early childhood. Haga clic aquí para ver la página en Español.

Kansas Early Childhood Systems-Building Webinars
Webinars occur every other Wednesday at 12PM to inform and connect early childhood stakeholders across the state to this effort.  Participants are asked to register in advance (name and email) to ensure appropriate follow-up and that we are engaging voices from all across Kansas.

Share Your Experiences Through SenseMaker
By sharing stories of the challenges and bright spots families experience with a tool called SenseMaker, you help contribute to a richer understanding of what family resilience looks like in our state.

To learn more, visit Early Childhood Initiatives in Kansas 2019.

Click here to register