Reflections from Cory Woosley
After 21 years with Child Care Aware of Minnesota, and 41 years in the early childhood field, Cory Woosley, our Director of Workforce Development, is retiring in March. Cory took the time to share some reflections with Communications Director Diane Benjamin. Cory: “I would like us to learn from what we’ve done before. Those of…
Recent Posts
Great Start for All Task Force Report Released
The Great Start for All Task Force Report is here! This report was the product of 15 months of work by a diverse working group of early childhood stakeholders, including our Executive Director Ann McCully. This blueprint for comprehensive reform of the child care system focuses on three goals: Creating a system where family costs…
REETAIN’s 20th Anniversary
This year is the 20th anniversary of the REETAIN program! The REETAIN Bonus program (Retaining Early Educators Through Attaining Incentives Now) helps supplement income for early childhood educators as they work to establish a career. The goal of this program is to keep qualified educators in the early childhood field. REETAIN bonuses can be used…
Child Care Aware of Minnesota by the Numbers
As we head into a legislative session this January, we have summarized our activities for the previous fiscal year, July 2021 through June 2022. Here’s a look at Child Care Aware of Minnesota by the numbers: 37,835 parents completed child care searches at ParentAware.org 14,004 students took at least one Eager-to-Learn class 6,267 early educators…
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…
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…