June marks milestones for closure and renewal: the conclusion of the second quarter, the end of the school year, the kickoff to summer, and in North Carolina the start of our re-entry into society amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. For Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready), it is an opportunity to review our achievements during the first six months of the year, adapt to changes as needed, and stride towards success for our system-building work.

We are so energized to be on this journey together. Your dedication and enthusiasm mean so much to our organization and more importantly, to the children and families of Guilford County.

• Navigation is now implemented in five OB practices. They are Central Carolina OB/GYN and four Cone Centers for Women’s Healthcare practices. 

• As Navigation expands, Children’s Home Society is hiring a second Navigation Supervisor.

• UNC-Chapel Hill's National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) team completed a literature review of barriers to prenatal care as part of the Navigation Steering Committee's charge to address disparities in prenatal care access. The report is step one of a planning process to develop strategies to increase access to early prenatal care and prenatal Navigation in support of healthy births and equitable outcomes.

• Family Connects nurses have returned to their Family Connects role full time, as the need for vaccine duty has declined. Nurses are conducting a brief survey of families about their interest in an in-person home visit to help inform the approach to returning to pre-Covid practices. An American Heart Association grant has made it possible to provide blood pressure cuffs to patients with risk factors. This will allow them to monitor their health at home.

• HealthySteps has filled a position for a Specialist at Cone Health Family Medicine Center. 

• HealthySteps is working with the NC Pediatric Society to help make connections in Guilford County. Strategies to reach more practices in High Point are being developed, including sharing examples from other High Point practices about the impact Specialists have made for families and children. Specialists are working on strengthening coordination with Care Management for At-Risk Children (CMARC) as part of the work to integrate programs for a seamless experience for families.

• Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) currently has 172 clients in its caseload and has hired a second nurse supervisor. To increase participation of High Point families, NFP is reaching out through various connectors in that city to share information about its services.

• We have created a draft of our CQI Theory of Change with MDRC.

• We have tested data infrastructure needs with the WIC director, by creating a dashboard to meet the organization’s CQI needs. We documented the process in a WIC case study.

• In response to needs CQI Cohort 1 members identified, The Kellin Foundation led a webinar training on Key Components of Trauma-Informed Care. It was attended by 22 CQI Cohort 1 participants and their staff members.

   

• The Salesforce Prenatal Navigation release five went live this month with additional focus on building in reporting. Release six should arrive in mid-June with security/visibility changes, transfer functionality, Navigator assignments, and the capability to auto-populate and email a list of referrals to clients.

• Coastal Cloud is working on the Agency Finder to allow Navigators to send links to program directory listings within referrals in mid-June. 

• IBM has drafted a Data Governance Charter with a proposed Governance Board.

• Working with our Community Alignment team, Coastal Cloud and Navigation is developing a community portal that will allow the sharing of referral information with families.

• RR staff and evaluators are continuing to make progress on the theory of change development for prenatal to 36 months.

• Our Legislative Action Subcommittee continues its advocacy strategy with education members of the North Carolina General Assembly. This effort is in support of HB 215 and SB 217 which were developed with the Greensboro and High Point Chambers of Commerce staff to seek public funding for our Integrated Data System and Early Child Care Workforce legislative requests.

• Our Communications Subcommittee met to discuss moving forward with community presentations in a post-pandemic environment.

Sharing The Basics
Ready Ready staff members Heather Adams, Stormi Covington, and Stephanie Skordas promoted The Basics Guilford at the re-opening of the Greensboro Children’s Museum on May 29, 2021. They talked with parents of infants and toddlers about how to incorporate The Basics into their daily lives, and encouraged museum visitors to sign up for weekly tips and the Ready Ready monthly newsletter to stay involved.

Elevating family voices
Working with the Guilford Parent Leader Network (GPLN), we have developed a new section in our monthly Ready Ready newsletter. Starting in June, we will be sharing news and information from the GPLN. If you missed the June newsletter, you can read it here. 

Ages 3-5 design
From May 10-31, 2021, a community survey gathered information from Guilford County parents, educators, child care providers, and residents about preparing children for kindergarten and success in school. The goal: to understand community beliefs about the needs of young children. Now the data is being evaluated. Additionally, the Design Team is reviewing and refining its strategies to address the needs of children ages 3-5 in Guilford County.

Executive Coordinator
Ready Ready has opened the Executive Coordinator position. The Executive Coordinator serves as the CEO’s primary coordinator and liaison for external relations. The Executive Coordinator manages the CEO’s calendar and activities to ensure maximum efficiency and value, while assisting with administrative, finance, and operational functions. Learn more.

2020 Impact Report available for review

How will the pandemic shape early learning in North Carolina?
A new report by EdNC, “2020/21 Lesson Plan” offers a look at how the pandemic has affected education at all levels. The section on early learning points out that "strengthening the early childhood workforce across settings is at the heart of strengthening the state’s system of early learning, researchers and advocates say." The series includes national, statewide, and local early childhood leaders who were asked how they hope North Carolina’s pandemic experience shapes early learning in the future.

New blog series hopes to eliminate silos
A new blog series from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and the National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers (NCIT) launched at the end of May. The focus of the series is to tell the story that weaves together the constructs of “care” and “education and advance big ideas to break down silos in the birth to five/eight spectrum.  You can read the blog here.

"Keeping the expanded child tax credit would help 65.6 million American kids"
The story from CNBC suggests that 90 percent of all American children would benefit from an expanded tax credit like the one proposed in President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan, according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 

Helping women who left the workforce to become caregivers
An NPR story looks at how the coronavirus pandemic has been especially tough on women who bear the demands of child care, housework, and their careers. A new business coalition wants companies to take the lead to create better options for child care and elder care to alleviate these conditions.

"US child care is a mess, but it’s not what’s holding back the recovery"
In this Quartz article, researchers discuss what is fueling the U.S. labor shortage and if the lack of childcare is contributing to it. There is strong evidence, however, that offering more childcare support would accelerate employment growth -- which can be used to fuel the economic argument for greater PN-3 investment.