SD ECCS January 2025 Update
Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems: ECCS
Ensuring a strong start for all children can reduce vulnerabilities and prevent ACEs, but it requires collaboration and co-ownership of strategies and solutions. This newsletter provides updates on SD ECCS activities and also provide external learning opportunities, resources and news to increase our shared understanding and ability to ensure a strong start for all South Dakota children.
SD Child Care Taskforce Report
Sustainable Solutions for Transforming Child Care in South Dakota
A new report, released January 10, 2025, takes an in-depth look at the current state of early childhood education and care in South Dakota, providing critical insights into the landscape and challenges that children, families, employers, and educators across the state currently face.
Titled “Sustainable Solutions for Transforming Child Care in South Dakota,” the report compiles data from national and state data sources, including surveys and expert interviews to assess the strengths and gaps in South Dakota’s current early childhood infrastructure. The comprehensive study examines key issues such as access to high-quality child care, affordability, and workforce development, and proposes policy considerations on early childhood initiatives.
SD-ECCS supported the development of this report as its aim aligns with Goal 5 in the ECCS Strategic Plan: Identify strategies that support the funding and sustainability of multi-generational services and systems for all children and families. A copy of the full SD Child Care Taskforce report is available on CPCM’s website.
Investing in children, empowering healthy communities.
Join the Children’s Day activities January 15-16 in the Capitol Rotunda. Organizations bettering the lives of children and families will be available to discuss their work. Cookies and coffee will be available on January 15 in the Rotunda, with an evening reception hosted by SD Afterschool Network at St. Charles Lounge. On January 16 we will offer free lunch and a short program featuring Watertown Early Childhood Investments beginning at 12:00pm in the Rotunda. Find the full agenda at SDCPCM.com/Childrens-Day.
Happy New Year!
We’re excited to kick off 2025 with the launch of our brand-new, one-hour interactive webinar series, Touchpoints! You may remember Bright Lights, our 15-minute spotlight on some of the amazing developments in early childhood education happening across the state. Now, Touchpoints expands on that idea, offering a 60-minute-deep dive into the incredible collaborations, partnerships, and innovations shaping the prenatal-to-three space, both locally and beyond.
Each Touchpoints webinar is designed to provide you with valuable insights and foster engaging discussions. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with speakers in real time, making it a truly dynamic learning experience.
We can’t wait to bring this to you! Check out the upcoming Touchpoints webinars below and be sure to register to join the conversation.
January 15th | 12-1 p.m. CST
Connecting National Prenatal-to-3 Policy Data to South Dakota’s Kids
Speaker: Cynthia Osborne, ED Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center
February 11th | 12-1p.m. CST
Beam-SD: Children’s Mental Health
Speakers: Nikki Eining CSW-PIP QMHP, Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Coordinator and Aimee Deliramich, PhD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Asst. Prof. Of Pediatrics
March 11th | 12-1p.m. CST
Brain Science in Early Child Development
Speaker: Laura Jana, MD, FAAP, Pediatrician, Author, and Connector of Dots, Chief Innovation Officer – PSU Evidence to Impact Collaborative
April 8th | 12-1 p.m. CST
How the Huron community collaborated to bring in a Toy Lending Library.
Speakers: Anelis Coscioni-South Dakota Toy Lending Library, Rhonda Kludt-formerly of Huron United Way, Toy Lending Library Board Member, and Gayle Kludt-Kiwanis Club of Huron
PLEASE SHARE: SD ECCS Family Leaders Bureau Survey
Family engagement and leadership have been key priorities of the ECCS grant, as outlined in Goal 4 of the ECCS Strategic Plan: Increase capacity for meaningful engagement and partnerships with parents. The ECCS Family Leadership Group, composed of 14 individuals with young children, is an important advisory partner in our work, but we acknowledge that this group only captures a small portion of the broader family voice.
This is where we need your help. CPCM is developing a “Family Leaders Bureau,” a database of family leaders who would like to add their expertise and voice to state and community initiatives that serve them. This Family Leaders Bureau of lived experience subject matter experts will be a resource for all who are working to ensure a strong start for South Dakota children but will also include parents of children up to age 18.
To assist us in identifying parenting adults who would like to add their voice and expertise to develop and improve programs and systems that serve them, we ask that you please share this survey within your network through this link: https://southdakota.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Kwy6rYgHhuH54O or by sharing the graphic and QR code below.
After parents complete the survey, CPCM staff will follow up with a few additional questions. All data collected will remain secure and will not be shared outside of CPCM without prior consent, but CPCM will share opportunities for focus groups, surveys, committees and other ways that your programs hope to capture family voices and expertise with the Family Leaders Bureau.
Other Partner Updates and News
Avera Live Webinar: Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) in Pregnancy with the Initiation of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD)
February 12 | 12:00pm to 1:00pm CT
Join Avera Research Institute and the MARCH Center of Excellence for a live webinar from noon to 1 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Rural residents and marginalized groups continue to be disproportionately affected by the opioid use disorder crisis. One unique barrier is OUD in pregnant women. This webinar will discuss OUD in pregnant women and the initiation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in pregnancy. Registration will open for the event soon through their events page.
Doulas in Dakotas
Doulas may now enroll with South Dakota Medicaid, and doula services may be covered, effective January 1, 2025. More information is available in slides from the SD DSS here.
SDPB’s “In the Moment” recently interviewed two South Dakota doulas. Listen to the program “Doulas in the Dakotas: Assisting with life’s transitions” here.
External Resources and Learning Opportunities
The Next 1,000 Days Series
ECCS focuses on the First 1,000 Days of a child’s life because pregnancy and the months leading to a child’s second birthday are a critical time. There’s a large global body of evidence to show that what happens during this period has lifelong effects on a person’s health, growth, and well-being. The Lancet has just launched a series of papers about the “next 1,000 days,” when children are between the ages of two and five. The series emphasizes the importance of accessible, high-quality early childhood care and education, safe and supportive environments, adequate nutrition, developmental screening, and financial support for vulnerable populations. Start reading about the importance of the next 1,000 days at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01389-8/fulltext Learn more about the series and watch the webinar recording to explore the evidence, interventions, and policies essential to shaping children’s futures at https://ecdan.org/video/new-lancet-series-early-childhood-development-and-the-next-1000-days/.
Paid Family and Medical Leave 101
January 28 | 2-3pm CT
Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) is a policy that provides workers with paid time off to address certain family and medical needs. Unlike traditional sick leave, PFML generally extends beyond short-term illness and can cover extended family caregiving or recovery periods.
Join the National Collaborative on Infants and Toddlers to learn from A Better Balance and New America on why Paid Family & Medical Leave policies matter.
Paid Family and Medical Leave State Policy Landscape
Fourteen states, including the District of Columbia, have enacted state paid family and medical leave programs. Benefits are available to families in 10 of those states, and benefits will become available in the remaining four states by 2026. However, no two state’s programs are the same. This webinar will provide a deep dive of the paid family and medical leave state policy landscape. The presenters will cover how states vary on critical policy components, including eligibility, duration of leave, wage replacement benefits, and funding mechanisms.
Featuring: Sarah Ritter, Senior State Policy Analyst, Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center
Moderator: Raquel Bueno-Morales, National Senior Advocacy Consultant, NCIT/Voices for Healthy Kids
From Mandated Reporting to Mandated Supporting: What will it Take?
Beginning January 16th, BUILD Initiative will be hosting “From Mandated Reporting to Mandated Supporting: What will it Take?” from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET. In this webinar and series, the presenters will explore the current landscape impacting families experiencing heightened adversities, and considerations for alternative pathways to engage and support families without a necessitated entry into the child welfare system. Join to learn from the panelists about Los Angeles County’s Mandated Supporting Initiative (MSI), a large reform effort powered by a broad coalition of cross-sector public, private, and community-based change agents who are committed to being a part of the solution. The MSI is charting a new path forward with its Child Care Resource Center (CCRC), a pilot site for the MSI that acts as a wrap-around resource for families through its Family Well-Being programs. Among other services, CCRC provides home visiting to support parents, from prenatal onward, by identifying and connecting them with needed resources. Save-the-dates for the remaining presentations of this series include February 13th, March 13th and April 3rd from 2-3:30, so bookmark these on your calendars as well.
Let’s Connect!
If you would like to learn more about the SD ECCS efforts, provide feedback, or share more about your efforts to ensure a strong start for South Dakota’s youngest children, please email [email protected]. Are you working on some of these goals and strategies–or could they be included in your plans and activities? We’d love to learn more, collaborate, and celebrate your work.
