“You are not lucky to be here. The world needs your perspective. They are lucky to have you.”
– Antonio Tijerino, President & CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation
CS3 Updates
The Community Systems Statewide Supports (CS3) team is committed to serving early childhood collaborations and stakeholders who are critical resources and connectors for communities, families, and children across Illinois. In this time of uncertainty and heightened anxiety—especially for our immigrant families—we remain committed to our values as a team. This means we will continue to provide resources and serve as a connector and support.
Below, you will find information and resources to support your collaboration, community, and families.
- Knowing your rights and supporting your communities
- Together for Head Start
- TEMPLATE Safe Space & Visitor Access Policy-Procedure
You can find more information on the PPA website.
Upcoming CS3 Trainings and Events
From Partnership to Leadership: Family Leadership Development Peer Learning & Panel
Date: Tuesday, November 4
Time: 10 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.
Join us and other Illinois early childhood collaborations to explore and understand the concept of family leadership development for collaborations. This training offers opportunities to learn from other collaborations’ family leadership development experiences via small breakout conversations, full group discussions, and a panel featuring two collaborations presenting their recent family leadership development successes.
In this training you’ll hear from Plano Area Alliance Supporting Student SUCCESS (PASSS) about the implementation of the Community Organizing and Family Issues Phase 1 leadership training and from DuPage All Our Kids Network about the launch of their parent leaders’ community of practice.
Participants will:
- Explore and understand the concept of leadership development
- Hear about other collaborations’ experience with family leadership development
- Learn about two existing Illinois community collaboration leadership development efforts
This training will be facilitated by Janet Vargas, Laurel Mateyka, Doris Alegría, Annemarie LeCompte, and Deyanira Cabrera.
This training is eligible for Gateways credits and certificates issued in partnership with The Center: Early Childhood Professional Learning.
Please note, this training will not be recorded.
Collaboration Highlight: Lunch & Learn – IRIS
Date: Thursday, December 11
Time: 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
In this session, you’ll hear from as they share their experiences with the Integrated Referral and Intake System (IRIS), a community referral platform designed to streamline connections and better support families. IRIS keeps efficiency in mind while centering the needs of families, making it easier for communities to access and coordinate local early childhood resources and services.
This session will be facilitated by Jaclyn Vasquez.
Please note, this session will be recorded.
Other Events & Updates
Join We, the Village at our Next Coalition Meeting
Date: Thursday, November 6
Time: 12 – 1 p.m.
Join the We, the Village Coalition’s upcoming virtual meeting to hear the latest updates, trends, and opportunities shaping early childhood care and education in Illinois. This is a great opportunity for providers, advocates, and community members to stay connected, informed, and ready to engage in the policies and initiatives impacting our field.
Save the Date: Fall Into Action
Date: Tuesday, November 11
Time: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
It’s time for Fall Into Action! Please join us on Tuesday, November 11, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. via Zoom to discuss state and federal policies and other timely policy developments with providers, parents, teachers, and advocates. This is a chance to learn about new developments in the early childhood field, ask questions, provide feedback, and hear how you can get involved as an advocate for Illinois children and families!
Early Childhood Professionals: Share Your Feedback with IWERC
The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) at the University of Illinois is seeking feedback on a review of research about the early childhood workforce. IWERC wants to ensure that the review covers the questions that are most urgent to Illinois residents and early childhood professionals. Participants should live in Illinois, and the feedback form will take less than 5 minutes to complete.
Training Opportunities in Collaboration with The Center: Early Childhood Professional Learning
October 20 – Turning in to Build Language in Powerful Interactions
October 27 – Engaging Parents when You Don’t Speak Their Home Language or Understand Their Culture
October 28 – Recognizing Trauma & Its Impact on Young Children: Implications for Early Childhood Teacher Educators
Be sure to visit The Center’s Training Calendar for more opportunities.
weconnect
WeConnect is designed to bring together members who are dedicated to advancing community systems development in the early childhood education and care world.
WeConnect gives you access to:
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Online Communities: Connect with your collaboration, get early childhood and community systems development news, and meet other collaborations members online.
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Discussions: Ask questions and share your knowledge and ideas.
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Resource Libraries: Share and find the resources you need.
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Member Directory: Get in touch with other collaboration members.
Check your spam folder if you have not received a confirmation email.
CS3 Resources
On-Demand Consultation
The Community Systems Statewide Support team provides on-demand consultation for early childhood community collaborations tackling a specific, short-term issue. Consultants are matched with communities based on area of need and will provide up to 20 hours of consultation over the course of the fiscal year.
Learn more and request support today.
Access Printing Support
The CS3 team is continuing to offer support in partnership with American Color Labs for printing services. If your local early childhood collaboration has marketing materials that you’d like to print, please complete this Request for Support form.
Printing support can include flyers, annual reports, marketing collateral, stickers, banners, posters, and more. Please reach out to the CS3 team if you have questions about this support.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a service provided specifically to early childhood education and care (ECEC) collaborations. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate requests for individual programs.