Pam Johnson, Executive Director of Jefferson-Clarion Head Start, Inc. provided an overview of the program, which serves 79 families living in challenging circumstances each year in the Early Head Start Program. Visiting parent educators help nurture healthy attachments for low-income families parenting infants and toddlers and for pregnant women and their families through intensive comprehensive […]

Fulton County elected offi­cials gathered virtually on March 31 with Fulton County Family Partnership leadership, home visitors and parent participants to discuss how the county’s vol­untary home visiting and parent coaching programs help increase parenting effectiveness, boost young children’s school readi­ness, and can reduce rates of child abuse and neglect. All of these and other […]

President Joe Biden just released his American Families Plan focused on strengthening the country’s social safety net and investing in our children. Surprisingly, the $1.8 trillion plan seems to be missing one essential component: scaling up successful, evidence-based and thus far dreadfully underfunded early childhood interventions for low-income families. In particular, it should include programs that provide regular […]

In October 2020, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), in partnership with PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, released the 2020 Family Support Needs Assessment, which provides a landscape of maternal, young child and family health across Pennsylvania, and assesses the capacity and scope of home visitation services. Read here for more […]

Voluntary, Evidence-Based Home Visiting Services Preserved in Stopgap Budget HARRISBURG, PA (May 29, 2020) – The Childhood Begins at Home campaign released the following statement after passage of the five-month stopgap state budget: “Families need support now more than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic and evidence-based home visiting services for our children and families will […]

As a pediatrician who specializes in evaluating maltreated children in Central Pennsylvania, I have evaluated more than 5,000 cases. Throughout my career in this field, I am often asked how can I do this work. My answer is, “How can I not?” Read More.

2020-21 State budget proposal: modest growth for pre-k; fails to expand critical child care and evidence-based home visiting services HARRISBURG, PA (February 4, 2020) – The principal partners of Early Learning Pennsylvania (ELPA), a statewide coalition of advocates focused on supporting young Pennsylvanians from birth to age five, are calling on the General Assembly to […]

In North Philadelphia, the Maternity Care Coalition is helping lower Philly’s infant mortality rate — one baby at a time. Read more.