The Children's Movement of Florida

#DidYouKnow: 1. A two-parent working family, both making minimum wage, is too wealthy for tuition assistance? 2. The annual cost of child care is nearly double the cost of in-state college tuition in Florida? We invite you to visit the link below to learn more about these stats, Florida’s School Readiness program, and to follow along with this year’s legislative updates. ??: bit.ly/2025_session #TheChildrensMovement #EarlyLearning #EarlyChildhood

We’ve put together a legislative briefing explaining why investing in early learning is so important and why this is the year to reset eligibility for School Readiness—Florida’s early learning tuition assistance program for working families. As it stands today, the program is not quite working for working families: a two-parent household, both making minimum wage, is too wealthy to qualify. Visit the link below to learn more about this, how early learning is key to Florida’s economic prosperity, and some of the progress already being made. ??: bit.ly/2025_session #TheChildrensMovement #EarlyLearning #EarlyChildhood

Join us in welcoming Josh Bank to Bosses for Babies! CBRE’s benefits are designed to help employees and their families thrive. Whether?employees are?growing their family through pregnancy or adoption, or preparing for the costs of raising a new child, CBRE is there to support?them.?The company provides?pregnancy and surrogacy support, as well as medical benefits for pregnancy and post-pregnancy. For adopting parents, CBRE provides adoption assistance up to $5,000 for eligible adoption-related expenses. Parents of newborns and newly adopted children are offered paid leave for bonding – 16 weeks for the mother or birthing parent and 12 weeks for the father or supporting parent. On top of this, lactation rooms are available in all CBRE offices. ??: bit.ly/BossesForBabiesFL #TheChildrensMovement #EarlyChildhood #Florida #BossesForBabies

Join us next Tuesday, March 25 for our next Future Call! We’ll hear from Ana Sejeck, Director of the Professional Development Institute at Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe, and Rachel Spector, MSW, Director of Programs at The Children's Trust of Miami-Dade County. They will share a brief demo of ElevatED, a new online learning platform and professional workforce registry, and discuss how it is being implemented to empower early learning educators and strengthen children’s learning. Register at the link below. ??: bit.ly/thefuturecall #TheChildrensMovement #Florida #EarlyChildhood #EarlyLearning

Thank you to Family Central, Inc. of Miami-Dade and the Director of Family Support Services, Diana Palacios, for welcoming us to their new location! It was fascinating to see how all the dots connect between families and the children they serve. Observing the alignment between advocacy, education, and direct family engagement reinforced the importance of collaboration in the early years of a child’s life. One of the standout aspects of Family Central Inc. is the HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) program, which empowers parents as their child’s first teacher by providing home-based early learning experiences. Family Central’s various initiatives, including comprehensive family support services and early learning quality improvement in Miami-Dade and Broward, showcase the organization's deep commitment to fostering strong foundations for children. #EarlyLearning #MiamiDade #Broward #SouthFlorida Tasheba Berry, Varnessa M., Rocio Velazquez

From ABC Action News/WFTS: ‘New Report Says 1/3 of Family Income Spent on Baby's First Year of Life When you put a number on it, it is shocking. I didn’t think it was that much but you kind of know having a baby is expensive and I think that’s a reason why a lot of people choose to not have children nowadays.” Read More: bit.ly/4kApOAs #EarlyLearning #EarlyChildhood #TheChildrensMovement

#ReadingTime: Do your children ages 2 - 6 love animals? Our Manager of Communication, Heidi Travis, recommends The Ice Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds by Arnold Lobel, an amazing book with whimsical illustrations and cheeky poetry. This book will capture your child’s imagination! Let us know in the comments if your little ones enjoyed it. ?? ? #TheChildrensMovement #Florida #EarlyChildhood #EarlyLearning

Join us in welcoming Hector J. Ponte, our 100th Bosses for Babies participant! As Wells Fargo’s South Florida Region Executive, Hector supports a host of benefits aimed at supporting families and their well-being, such as parental leave, encouraging team members to take time to bond with their new infant or child. Wells Fargo’s Critical Caregiving Leave policy provides five days of paid leave to care for a spouse, domestic partner, parent, or child should an emergency occur or the need arises. ? ??: bit.ly/BossesForBabiesFL #TheChildrensMovement #EarlyChildhood #Florida #BossesForBabies

We are proud to announce that our Bosses for Babies initiative has just reached a huge milestone and is celebrating welcoming its 100th boss! Our bosses lead the charge for our youngest Floridians by contributing to community prosperity through family-focused practices. Stay tuned to learn who the 100th boss is! ??: bit.ly/BossesForBabiesFL #TheChildrensMovement #EarlyChildhood #Florida #BossesForBabies

The changes proposed in these two similar bills would expand eligibility to Florida's School Readiness program, changing the income eligibility threshold from below 150% of federal poverty to below 65% of the State Median Income. Priority would still be given to families currently eligible for the program, and new wait list criteria would include family income, so as to better inform future investments needed in the program. Learn more about this bill and more via our Legislative Session page. ??: bit.ly/2025_session #TheChildrensMovement #EarlyLearning #EarlyChildhood