Rural Nebraska faces a child care crisis, prompting communities to adopt the more flexible Family Child Care Home II (FCCHII) model instead of traditional centers. This approach reduces costs, eases staffing challenges, and allows high schoolers to help. Communities like Overton and Friend are successfully implementing FCCHIIs to meet local needs.
A partnership between Nebraska Children and Families Foundation’s Beyond School Bells (BSB), Nebraska Growing Readers (NGR), Unite for Literacy, and Linked to Literacy funds literacy efforts. In March of this year, by offering grants of up to $2,500 for literacy projects connected to summer programming, Beyond School Bells implemented what Education Commisioner Brian Maher described as the Department of Education’s vision of fostering “a culture of proficient and lifelong readers in Nebraska.”
Because it was clear that the cross-community connections were so important, the Rooted team decided to hold their first-ever statewide meeting of coaches and coordinators. As Christen Million describes it, “we wanted to have time when we could share housekeeping information, but we really wanted to make a concerted effort to have everyone collaborate, talk to each other, get to know each other.”
Rosa Alvarado made reading part of Darlita’s routine. At each home visit, she would dedicate story time where Darlita’s mother or father would sit with her and read. She says of the routine she has established, “what we are trying to do here with our Sixpence is to create a culture of literacy.” This built-in routine of shared-reading has paid off. Not only has Darlita begun to engage with books, but she has also created her own safe space for reading, where she can self-regulate her emotions.
Challenging behavior was identified among the top three stressors in early childhood care in a 2023 study by University of Virginia Professor Lieny Jeon. This is consistent with what has been reported from Nebraska’s early childhood professionals and family members. When caregivers are stressed, it can have significant and long-lasting repercussions, including difficulty with children knowing how to experience and regulate their emotions, strained relationships between the parent/caregiver and child, and negative influence on a child’s physical and mental health.
That’s why a recent joint evaluation by Nebraska Children and Families Foundation and the Munroe Meyer Institute has been so encouraging for Circle of Security, an evidence-based program supported by Rooted in Relationships.
Josh Cramer soon returned to his home state of Nebraska where he took on his position at Nebraska Children and where he said to Mike McGuffee of Unite for Literacy, “I would like to see Nebraska lead the nation in family literacy programs.” The two then began discussing a way to make Nebraska Unite’s first statewide literacy effort.
