By Tessa McLean , SFGATE Updated 3:30 pm PDT, Wednesday, September 16, 2020 Mayor London Breed announced today the launch of a new pilot program that will provide a basic income to Black and Pacific Islander women during pregnancy and after giving birth. The 150 women chosen will receive a monthly income supplement of $1,000 for the duration of their pregnancy and for the first six months of their baby’s life, with the goal of eventually providing a supplement for up to two years...

For resources and activities to help kids feel safe and comforted, visit: https://cdn.sesamestreet.org/sites/default/files/media_folders/Images/SupportAfterEmergency_Printable_Fire_FamilyGuide.pdf?_ga=2.91031322.1860374799.1600088181-1279904627.1598558329

New studies show caregivers with young children are stressed, with no signs of relief on the horizon. By Jessica Grose Sept. 9, 2020 Updated 3:24 p.m. ET Paige Posladek is pregnant, and stressed. She has two children , ages 2 and 4, works part time as a copywriter, and has seen a therapist on and off for several years to help her deal with the loneliness and loss of identity that can come with being a new mom. Before the pandemic, Posladek, who lives in Kansas City, Mo., felt she had figured...

Nationally, Black women have the lowest rates of breastfeeding initiation in comparison to any other racial/ethnic groups. Black babies are dying at twice the rate of White babies and according to the CDC, increasing breastfeeding among Black women can decrease infant mortality rates up to 50 percent. In honor of Black Breastfeeding Week (August 25th – 31st), we partnered with the BreastFriends Mommy Group in West Oakland to explore why these rates look different for Black women and...

By Rob Picheta , CNN Updated 4:40 AM ET, Thu August 20, 2020 Black newborn babies in the United States are more likely to survive childbirth if they are cared for by Black doctors, but three times more likely than White Babies to die when looked after by White doctors, a study has found. The mortality rate of Black newborns in hospital shrunk by between 39% and 58% when Black physicians took charge of the birth, according to the research, which laid bare how shocking racial disparities in...

Thank you for your interest in Magical Bridge Kindness Kits! Magical Bridge Foundation knows that when people of all ages, abilities, and disabilities come together and play on the playground something special happens. We want to bring a little of that magic into your home. In partnership with Changing Perspectives , we are thrilled to provide parents and caregivers with free opportunities for teaching kindness and empathy through short and sweet activities that can be done with common...

Suzanne Bouffard Aug 4 If this were a normal summer, Katy Phinney and her colleagues would be organizing their Pre-K classrooms for the new school year, choosing classroom themes and wall décor. Instead, Phinney is worried about what Pre-K will look like if and when students return to classrooms. “My biggest concern is teachers needing to balance the importance of safety procedures with creating a welcoming and loving environment for our students,” says Phinney, the Pre-K program director in...

By Neil Paine and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux For the past few months, Alicia Wertz has barely seen her husband. Since schools closed in their northern Alabama town in March, they’ve been single-mindedly focused on a single goal: making sure that someone was watching their three kids. At first, Wertz tried working from home. But she wasn’t getting anything done, so they tried splitting the hours: Wertz’s husband watches the children in the morning, then a sitter comes to relieve him in the...

By Nadra Nittle, The Chronicle of Social Change, July 1, 2020 Highly trained, well-paid preschool teachers with low-student ratios, clean, safe classrooms with blocks, playdough, art supplies and outdoor spaces where kids can run and play could be key to closing the racial achievement gap, according to a new Rutgers University study. The June policy analysis by the university’s National Institute of Early Education Research concludes that preschools have more influence on the academic...

Jun 6, 2018 By Maria Gehl, Kathy Kinsner, and Rebecca Parlakian The practice of mindfulness has roots in Buddhist traditions spanning more than 2,500 years, and the practice has been adapted frequently to clinical populations for the relief of both physical and psychological symptoms for almost 40 years. Mindfulness “is not a religion,” and instead has “come to be seen as a mode of being.” In this piece, mindfulness is defined as “intending and developing the capacity to come back to center;...

Elizabeth Aguilera CalMatters Jul 12 The baby’s father was the first to get sick. As a cook in Los Angeles, Ramon Lopez never stopped going to the restaurant while other kinds of workers could log in from home. He ran all the family’s errands, buying groceries and putting gas in the car. He developed a fever, dry cough and body pain. When he lost his sense of smell, his wife, Florida Santiago, took him to a hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19, she recounted. A week later,...

Susan Friedman Young Children July 2020 Vol. 75, No. 3 I am drafting this editors’ note in the spring, when much of the country is living under stay-at-home orders in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. Most early learning programs and schools are closed. It’s a frightening and unusual time, with huge impacts on early childhood programs, teachers, children, and families. This cluster of articles was planned well before COVID-19 impacted the early childhood community. Our aim was to...