Vaccines, grieving, and legislative updates

A message from Katie Dukes, EdNC's early childhood policy analyst

Early Bird readers, hello again. Newcomers, welcome! If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up here to receive it every two weeks, and join our conversation on issues facing North Carolina’s young children and those who support them. If you’re already a subscriber, please help us reach more people by sharing this with your friends and co-workers interested in early childhood education.

A lot has happened since the last edition of Early Bird (thanks for your patience as I took some much needed time off). There are (finally) vaccines on the way for children from 6 months to 5 years old. The state legislature is in full swing and might wrap up the short session soon (updates below). But as we head into the summer months after a challenging few weeks, I encourage you to spend some time with my colleague Katie Dukes’s toolkit on supporting children through grieving. I didn’t know how much I’d need it, and I hope it helps your families, classrooms, and communities as we get through tough things together. A note from Katie on this guide:

The first thing I did when I accepted my job as a policy analyst for EdNC was pitch a project. It was October 2021 and I had just read a research paper about the estimated number of children who had experienced a COVID-19-associated death of a caregiver. It was a lot. As a former teacher, I knew schools could — and would — play a significant role in supporting these students. 

I spent six months researching how many children in North Carolina may be affected by this specific form of grief, how schools and communities are already supporting grieving students, and strategies that can be effectively implemented affordably on the hyperlocal level. The result is EdNC’s toolkit of best practices for supporting students who have experienced the death of a caregiver. I hope you’ll read and share with folks in your community. 

Below, don’t miss research on how early childhood programs have used stabilization grant funding that will run out next year. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, story ideas, or simply to connect. Take care of yourselves and one another.