Looking Ahead to Recovery and Rebuilding in 2022
As 2021 comes to a close, we thank you for the critical role your programs play in serving children and families. We have enjoyed getting to know programs through our work together, at conferences, and in conversations. And, we appreciate you reading our blog!2021 was a year of opportunities and challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the importance of child care and also the challenges faced by the industry. The challenges the Head Start community faced in 2021, and will continue to face in 2022, are truly unprecedented.With the hope of new funding on the horizon, economic recovery and rebuilding for child care programs may be close behind. As Head Start/Early Head Start programs are asked to review community data and update recruitment and selection criteria, there is opportunity to reach the growing numbers of families most in need of comprehensive services.We understand that programs have been juggling a lot (an understatement, to say the least!). Entering the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope for more predictability and stability. A systematic and planned approach to the “regular” program activities can bring a renewed focus on continuous program improvement.In our last Talking Points blog post of 2021, we leave you with some of our most popular and timely posts as we head into the New Year.
- Funding Highlights from NHSA Fall Leadership Institute - Learn about possible upcoming opportunities for funding, such as Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership and funding for wages increases.
- FY2022 Monitoring Process Brings Updates to Format and Focus – Explore monitoring protocols and prepare for 2022 monitoring visits to ensure a successful review.
- Risk Mitigation Recap: Continuous Improvement for Head Start Early Head Start - Review opportunities to support continuous program improvement, including community assessment, policies and procedures, ongoing monitoring and data collection, self-assessment, and federal review preparation.
New content and insights will be coming to the blog in 2022. As always, if there are topics you’re interested to learn about we’d love to hear from you.Our team is dedicated to helping agencies provide high-quality services to the most vulnerable children and families. As you think about the year ahead, please feel free to reach out if your program needs consulting support.Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year!Thank you.Thank you for reading our blog. We encourage you to use our blog posts for thought, integration, and sharing. When using or sharing content from blog posts, please attribute the original content to Foundations for Families.