Bright Spots:
Chittenden’s BBF Regional Council continues to support our community by offering additional Early MTSS trainings in Module 2 and 3 this winter. The turnout and provider engagement from the EMTSS trainings earlier this fall was overwhelmingly supportive, which speaks to the need and value of this framework. Holding these trainings aligns with our strategy to support the early childhood workforce, who can in turn support each and every child in their setting. We’ve been able to bring partners and school districts to the table as co-sponsors as well, which is really adding momentum and allowing us to stretch our funds further. The EMTSS trainings are building a foundation of shared language and framework amongst cross-sector providers, and is setting the groundwork to help secure future funding to assist with scaling up this model in our region.
Our council sponsored parent training in early November in partnership with Dad Guild and Alyssa Blask Campbell from Seed and Sew. This event was very successful and truly helped build and foster community, while teaching dads tools to help them raise emotionally intelligent children. Keegan Albaugh from Dad Guild shared the following thoughts as feedback, “I was so impressed with the level of engagement, the vulnerability shown time and time again, the willingness to learn, and how fathers responded to one another. All of the dads present really demonstrated that they cared, asked thoughtful questions, took notes, and appeared eager to put their tools to practice. Most people also brought food and drinks to share with one another! It really felt like a fatherhood community. The idea that 30 dads showed up with curries, quinoa salads, and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (including dairy free) to learn about raising emotionally intelligent kids truly warms my heart. But the thought that has made me happiest today is knowing that 40-50 children in Vermont woke up this morning to fathers who were parenting through a fresh emotional development lens. In my opinion, that is a tremendous impact for one evening’s work. “
Area of High Need:
The current and proposed changes to CIS funding continues to be a burden for our region, in regards to serving children in need of early intervention and providing those families with the high quality services and supports they require to thrive. There is concern that future funding decreases will de-stabilize agencies that are currently struggling to meet the service demands and respond timely and effectively to all new referrals. We know that prevention and early identification are key strategies that will turn the curve for children with delays, and can have a significant impact on a child’s ability to overcome challenges and live a healthy life. The CIS system needs more support and increased funding to do this very important work across our region and state.
