In the News!

De-escalation is the reduction in the intensity of a conflict. Unlike escalation, which often occurs rapidly and unintentionally, de-escalation tends to be slow and only happens intentionally through much effort. A variety of approaches are possible: the gradual reciprocal reduction in tension approach (GRIT), cooling off periods, changing communication strategies and patterns, and others. This presentation will introduce ways to bring a child back to a reasonable state. Learning to control yourself, your physical stance, and how to have a helpful discussion, are topics this workshop includes. This information puts adults working with escalated behaviors in supportive positions, presented by Scott Noyes

Held at Middlesex Community College, 33 Kearney Sq., (Lowell Campus),

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Time: 9:30-12:30 

Cost: FREE

The 2021-2022 Indigenous Legislative Agenda includes 5 priorities: Remove Racist Mascots, Honor Indigenous People’s Day, Celebrate and Teach Native American Culture & History, Protect Native American Heritage, and Support the Education and Futures of Native Youth. 

Bill Name: An Act Establishing An Indigenous Peoples Day

Senate Number: S.2027

House Number: H.3191

Event Description:  

DCF - Adoption, Abuse 

Online testimony will be accepted until Wednesday, September 29 at 5:00 PM.
To submit testimony online you need to first create an account for MyLegislature and follow these instructions.
If you already have an account click here.

Online sign up to testify will be available until Friday, September 10 at 5:00 PM.
To sign up to testify you need to first create an account for MyLegislature and follow these instructions.
To sign up to give testimony, click here . 

House Chair Michael Finn - michael.finn@mahouse.gov

Senate Chair Adam Gomez - adam.gomez@masenate.gov

Event Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Start Time: 10:00 AM

Location: Virtual Hearing 

S.301 and H.543

This bill, filed by Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem and Representative Ruth Balser, will make SEL training an explicit requirement of educator and administrator licensure. Current Massachusetts law does not require SEL training as a prerequisite for either initial licensure or license renewal. An Act to Promote Social-Emotional Learning changes that. The bill was recently referred to the MA Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY-17) today reintroduced the Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act, a comprehensive and bicameral bill that will ensure that every family has access to high-quality, affordable child care and early learning opportunities by establishing a network of federally-supported, locally administered child care options.  

The Cliff Effect occurs when a person or family becomes ineligible for public assistance programs like housing and childcare subsidies once their income surpasses the threshold set by the Federal Poverty Guidelines, leaving them financially worse off than they were before the income bump. It causes people to turn down raises and promotions and is a major factor in perpetuating multi-generational poverty.  

Please click below for more information

 Project Bread Legislative Agenda:

• school meals universally free for all students
• improve nutrition standards for school meals
• encourage sourcing from local producers and processors

We live in one of the most innovative and progressive regions in the country—not to mention one of the richest. Yet Massachusetts is also the state with the most expensive childcare in the nation, which is crippling families, mostly working moms. Will we ever figure out how to solve the childcare crisis? 

 While many students wore face masks in school last year, the issue has become incredibly heated and polarized in some regions this year. 

Masking will be a key strategy in returning to school safely amid the continued presence of COVID-19 and its Delta variant, said a pair of Duke University pediatrics professors who also stressed the importance of enforcing and adhering to mask policies. 

New guidance from the federal government set off a cascade of mask rules across the nation Wednesday as cities, states, schools and businesses raced to restore mandates and others pushed back against the guidelines at a time when Americans are exhausted and confused over constantly shifting pandemic measures. 

 Pediatric health care providers and their multidisciplinary care teams are uniquely poised to affect life-long health and well-being by supporting opportunities to prevent development delays, address health-related social needs, and reduce the risk of chronic disease, trauma, and mental health difficulties. If pediatric health care were consistently anti-racist, strengths-based, and delivered in partnership with families and communities, more children would have access to the relationships, resources, and care they need to thrive. 

The U.S. economy is still down millions of jobs compared to the number that were available before the pandemic began. In spite of that, businesses across the country are now grappling with labor shortages. 

Roughly 4 out of 5 child care centers nationwide report they’ve consistently had at least one open position for a month or longer, with about 15% of centers reporting having six to 15 open roles.  

Over a year after daycares, preschools and child-care centers started reopening, U.S. parents and providers are still struggling to find a new normal.  

Senate Democrats are close to finalizing a $3.5 trillion budget plan that would begin the process of enacting an ambitious social agenda that is expected to include historic government investments in child care. This proposal — introduced by President Biden in April as part of his American Families Plan — has faced its share of conservative opposition, as have policymakers’ attempts to tackle child care over the past half-century.