Voices for Children of San Antonio Community Research Center

Early Care and Education Training Initiative: This program supports non-parental caregivers who spend most waking hours nearly everyday with almost half of all young children: childcare professionals. Minimally educated and compensated, often bringing to their work a high degree of trauma themselves, they are critical in preventing and mitigating childhood trauma and promoting socio-emotional skills that support healthy non-violent behavior as well as school success. Over several years of "action advocacy" to improve childcare, it is apparent that these critical "early observers" of babies and young children could be engaged and empowered as partners in prevention as well, influencing socioemotional as well as cognitive development, and in mitigating the impact of trauma. Voices' Early Care and Education Training Initiative, providing high quality free professional development to childcare educators, has grown since 2012 in numbers reached--in the thousands, estimated to impact ten children each--in scope. Training is now livestreamed, focused on issues that have emerged or worsened with Covid including domestic violence, child abuse, asthma, hunger, as well as healing strategies and safety guidelines for childcare. A new initiative within this program aims to increase identification of and support for struggling parents before a child is harmed, with other "early observers", pediatricians and staff, increasing knowledge of community resources. The Early Care and Education Training Initiative is possible because of remarkable collaboration of over fifty organizations and partners. Pre-pandemic, in-person events served over 700 unduplicated childcare providers and directors from 2013 through January 2020, approximately 10 free all-day events each year. Since April 2020 when the format changed to live streaming, Voices has documented/verified attendance of over 5,500 individuals (not duplicated) through May 1, 2021 at seventeen training/professional development events, with a broader reach in terms of professional disciplines and geography. Attendees, after completing a post-event survey, are awarded professional development hours required for childcare professionals or CEU's for counseling or social work.

Congress on Children: This program is normally offered every year on the last Friday in September as a community service. With community sponsors, registration is $20 per attendee for an all-day event including meals, materials and CEU's as needed, ensuring that this event is accessible to a broad and diverse audience. Congress on Children brings together over 400 local children's advocates, practitioners, researchers, and the general public to hightlight current or emerging issues, research, findings, legislation, and programs, promoting practices that strengthen families and support children's wellbeing. Nationally known and exceptional speakers every year focus on the most pressing community issues that Voices and our many partners will be working on in the coming months and years.During 2021, due to the high infection rate of the Cornavirus, the program was rescheduled to February 26, 2022 and the grants received will be applied to the February date.