Spreading the Word as We Strive for Equity
Scroll down to read all Birth to Five Illinois news coverage, or you can click to read the coverage from your Region.
FY2024 Grant Announcement Coverage
Announcing new Birth to Five Illinois Grants! Click in to see our coverage.
Vermilion County First: The Community Connection Podcast - Interview with Tammy Pollitt
Listen to Tammy Pollitt, Region 54 Council Manager, on The Community Connection Podcast!
PRESS RELEASE: Birth to Five Illinois Announces $600,000 in New Local Grants Available
Announcing $600,000 in new local grants for new and/or existing Local Early Childhood Collaborations.
New Initiative Betters Child Care
See what Candace Gardner, Region 45 Council Manager, had to say about the needs of families in Monroe and Randolph Counties in this interview for the Republic-Times!
FACTS FOR FAMILIES: Birth to Five Illinois Program Addresses Early Childhood Needs
Kayli Bontrager, Region 11 Family & Community Engagement Specialist, talks about the work of Birth to Five Illinois in the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier.
WTYE On Demand - Civic Interest Segment
Listen to the interview with Donna Rardin (Region 12 Family & Community Engagement Specialist) on WTYE!
Birth to Five Illinois in Yorkville Joins Grundy County Chamber of Commerce
Birth to Five Illinois: Region 24 joins the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce!
WHPO On Air Interview with Liz Gibson, Tammy Pollitt, & Caitlyn Scarbro
Listen to this WHPO Radio interview with three Birth to Five Illinois Council Managers!
With Federal Funding Ending, Child Care Advocates Warn of Looming Cliff
Watch or read how the findings from the Birth to Five Illinois Early Childhood Regional Needs Assessments were part of this Chicago Tonight: Black Voices discussion on the looming child care cliff.
Birth to Five Illinois Group Hoping to Build a Future of Equity for Parents, Children in Towns Large and Small
Read about the key findings in the Region 1 and Region 40 Early Childhood Regional Needs Assessments, published in My Journal Courier.
WLDS/WEAI Radio Interview with Bridget English & Keppen Clanton
Listen to the WLDS/WEAI What’s On Your Mind interview with Bridget English (Region 1) and Keppen Clanton (Region 40) from Birth to Five Illinois!
Birth to Five Illinois to Share Study Finding with Community
Birth to Five Illinois: Region 12 Council members and team to hold a World Cafe, a structured conversational process where groups of people discuss a topic at several small tables, to gather additional community feedback on their Early Childhood Regional Needs Assessment.
Why Businesses Should Care about Child Care & Early Education
Read about why businesses should care about child care and early education in the Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce September 2023 Chamber Connection issue!
Baby Steps: Here’s What We Can Do to Make Child Care More Available, Affordable
This article in Community Word connects recent federal child care policy to state Smart Start funding to findings in the Early Childhood Regional Needs Assessment for Region 48 (Peoria County) to local families’ needs and recommendations for improving early childhood services.
Crisis in Child Care: How Can We Leave These Kids Behind?
“KJ and Jennifer are two of more than 15,000 families in metro Peoria coping with the two main obstacles for parents with jobs outside the home: affordability and availability of child care.” See how data from the Region 48 Early Childhood Needs Assessment pairs with challenges for local families.
Teachers' Lounge Podcast: The Early Childhood System Could Implode. How Can it Be Improved?
Peter Medlin interviews Cicely Fleming (Director) and Gretchen Sprinkle (Region 16 Council Manager) for this issue of the Teachers’ Lounge Podcast. Listen in!
Region 32 on the Radio!
Listen to four radio interviews with Liz Gibson, Region 32 Council Manager and what her team has hear families need in Iroquois and Kankakee Counties!
Why an Early Childhood Teacher Who Left Head Start is Still a Believer in its Mission
Checkout this workforce data from the Region 17 Birth to Five Illinois Regional Needs Assessment cited in this WGLT article!
Interview on Teacher Talk with ROE47
Watch this interview with Abby Hoskins, Region 47 Council member, and other Early Childhood experts in the ROE47 area.
Birth to Five Illinois Shares Research Findings
The Daily Record reports on the work Birth to Five Illinois is doing to identify the gaps and barriers for children and families in Lawrence County (Region 12).