Parent Aware Recruitment with Alicia Bauman
Parent Aware has a mission to help families find the quality care and education their children need to succeed in school and life. Parent Aware Recruiters are a crucial part of building the program throughout the state. Alicia Bauman is the Recruiter for northwestern Minnesota, working remotely for Lakes and Prairies Community Action Partnership in…
Recent Posts
New Parent Aware Testimonial Videos
Parent Aware Rated programs have a lot to say about their Parent Aware experience! This summer, we were able to interview three of them: Renee, who operates a family child care program in central Minnesota, Lili, who operates a family child care program in northwest Minnesota, and Leah, who is the director of a child…
Introducing Child Care Wayfinder
Child Care Wayfinder is a one-stop navigation network for starting and growing child care programs. The network is staffed by local navigators at regional Child Care Aware agencies and Minnesota Tribal Resources for Early Childhood Care (MNTRECC). Our local navigators act as resource guides. We accompany new programs through the licensing process, we assess business…
Empower to Educate is Launched
Our Professional Development department’s latest project, Empower to Educate, is launched and open for enrollment! With funding from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Empower to Educate helps current and aspiring early childhood educators advance and sustain their career goals in child care. This workforce development program offers financial support, free training options, job skills…
T.E.A.C.H. Celebrates 20 Years – Part 2
As we begin the 20th anniversary year of the T.E.A.C.H. Minnesota scholarship program, our Communications Director, Diane Benjamin, took time to interview our Director of Financial Supports, Val Peterson, who was there at the beginning of T.E.A.C.H. The T.E.A.C.H. program began in Minnesota in 2002, with support from 14 different funders. These included statewide and…
T.E.A.C.H. Celebrates 20 Years – Part 1
As we begin the 20th anniversary year of the T.E.A.C.H. Minnesota scholarship program, our Communications Director, Diane Benjamin, took time to interview our T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship staff, Erin Young and Nghia Vang. We began our conversation with Erin and Nghia sharing that the most satisfying part of their work is helping early educators complete their degree…
Commitment to Power to the Profession
Child Care Aware of Minnesota is excited to align our work with the national Power to the Profession (P2P) initiative, hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The early childhood education profession is working toward having unified standards and guidelines for our field. We know that high-quality early care and education…
Child Care Aware Institute Recap
For the first time in almost three years, staff and select partners gathered for the Child Care Aware of Minnesota Institute on May 5 and 6 in Minneapolis. The Institute is a biennial training event for Child Care Aware network staff and partners hosted by the Child Care Aware of Minnesota Coordinating Office. This year’s…
2022 Legislative Session Update
As lawmakers return to the Capitol this week from their spring break, their focus will be on the passage of all of the omnibus bills (packages of policy and funding proposals by topic area) and negotiating differences in those proposals through conference committees. The current House and Senate bills are taking very different approaches to…
The History of Inequity in Early Childhood Education
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This famous quote from Spanish philosopher George Santayana is an important reminder for the early childhood education field. As we try to address knotty questions about compensation, professionalism, quality, and racial equity, understanding the history and evolution of child care in the United States can…