Preparing students for the next step

Big changes in life can be scary, especially when it comes to transitions in education. Students and families are preparing for new environments, new teachers and a new stage in life. That’s why, our early childhood program Educare Chicago, takes an intentional, individualized approach to making sure parents and their children are ready for the next step.

Take a look at how Educare Chicago students and recent graduates are preparing this summer for the next year.

It only takes a few minutes to make a difference

Share your back-to-school advice

Use our new Ounce Voices selfie video system to make a short, one-minute video sharing your advice for parents as their children head back to school.

Record a video

Learn more about what's happening in early childhood

Expanding early childhood services for incarcerated moms

Cook County Sheriff's Office partners with the Ounce on innovative program

The road to motherhood is an important one, which means every new mom deserves all the resources available to her to raise a healthy family. The need for support becomes especially critical for a mother rebounding from difficult circumstances, such as short-term incarceration. In these cases, young children are considered at risk, and it becomes pivotal to ensure that these mothers are ready to raise healthy families and have the tools they need.

To address the unique needs of this population, the Cook County Sheriff's Office has partnered with the Ounce to launch the Healthy Moms and Babies program, which provides doulas and home visiting services to mothers who have been incarcerated in order to ensure a successful start in life.

Early childhood in the news

Check out these recent stories from around the country

High child care costs hurts more than just families
The New York Times, 7.26.19
America’s child care crisis is an economic crisis

The need for a high-quality workforce
The Hill, 7.11.19
Despite their importance, workers are chronically underpaid and undervalued

Universal Pre-K rising in popularity
The New York Times, 7.9.19
Why universal Pre-K works better in some places than others

We can't ignore the basics

Making WIC work in Illinois

Access to healthy foods, health care, nutrition education and breastfeeding assistance can be a challenge for women and their families. That’s where WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), a federally funded program that is administered at the state level, can help make a difference.

WIC has been proven to impact healthier births and strong outcomes in children but in recent years, participation and retention in the program have declined nationally and in Illinois.

Given the challenges the program has faced in the state, the Ounce and several other nonprofits partnered to help increase accessibility and effectiveness of WIC in Illinois.

Learn more about our work in Illinois and how partnerships can influence change.

Working session at early learning symposium

Ideas spark with this many early childhood minds in the room

A conversation about early learning improvement

Earlier this summer, the Ounce partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to host an early learning convening in Chicago: “Partnering for Pre-K: A Conversation about Strengthening Early Learning Systems.”

Leaders and experts from across the country gathered to share knowledge and generate ideas for improving Pre-K quality and access for low-income children and families.

The Ounce launched the Partnership for Pre-K Improvement (PPI) initiative in 2016 in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, the Alliance for Early Success and the University of Washington. PPI partners with state education leaders to improve Pre-K quality and access for low-income families across three states: Washington, Oregon and Tennessee.

This gathering reinforced a shared commitment to improving early learning systems and environments for our youngest learners.

Click here to learn more about the day.

The Ounce of Prevention Fund gives children in poverty the best chance for success in school and in life by advocating for and providing the highest-quality care and education from birth to age five.

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