Early Childhood Professionals
“The fact is, we’re essential—we’re linchpins in our communities and economy. The state needs professionals like us to be on the job, day in and day out, without fail—so the rest of Nebraska can get to their own jobs, build stronger families, raise successful children and keep moving forward.”
— Kim Chase | Owner/Operator, Chase’s Childcare Corner
You Are Essential
Early childhood professionals are the backbone of a broad network of programs and services that keeps Nebraska’s communities and state working. Child care operators and staff, family engagement specialists and others all represent a diverse, highly-skilled and essential segment of our statewide workforce.
But Nebraska’s early childhood professionals face a growing array of challenges that make it increasingly difficult to enter, remain and thrive in this crucial field of work. This includes an array of regulatory obstacles and financial challenges that affect the ability of caregivers and educators to keep their doors open and meet the needs of the children, families and communities they serve.
Stand Up For Your Profession
If you are an early childhood professional, your insight is needed to help us create policy solutions that will help develop a more robust and rewarding early childhood system in Nebraska.
- Get connected to others working in your field through organizations like the Nebraska Association for the Education of Young Children (NE AYEC), the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative or the Nebraska Family Child Care Association (NFCCA).
- Enroll in the Nebraska Early Childhood Professional Record System (NECPRS) and Step Up to Quality. These resources give you access to services and resources to advance your professional development, improve your child care program and enable advocates to better understand the needs of early childhood workers throughout the state.
- Create a profile on the Nebraska Child Care Referral Network, a robust website that can connect you more easily with parents seeking child care services, and keep you informed about news and developments affecting early childhood professionals.
Featured Publications
Celebrate We Care for Kids Week with us!
September 26 through October 2 is We Care for Kids Week, a statewide celebration to raise awareness for quality early childhood education and build support for early childhood educators. It’s an opportunity to inform, motivate and engage Nebraskans across the state....
Black Hills Energy strengthens child care programs through its corporate foundation
An accessible, affordable child care system is critical to keeping Nebraska’s families working, businesses growing and communities thriving. Our Investing in Child Care series highlights how Nebraska employers are championing early childhood care and education...
New calculator shows how child care costs affect families
At First Five Nebraska, we are often asked, “What does the average Nebraska family pay for child care?” And as much as we’d like to give a single number, the truth is that the child care market is complex, and the price families pay for child care depends on several...
NAECR selects 2022-23 Policy Fellows
The Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research (NAECR) has selected six faculty members to serve as Policy Fellows for the 2022-23 academic year. The NAECR Policy Fellows Program is designed to educate early childhood researchers on policy processes, impacts and...
Home visiting benefits babies, families
[First Five Nebraska Policy Advisor Sara Howard testified before the Lincoln City Council in support of Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird's proposal to include home visiting in the city's annual budget. This blog is adapted from Howard's written testimony.] Healthy moms and...
Helping children transition to kindergarten successfully
How do we know when children are ready for kindergarten? The ability to identify letters and numbers and have a working vocabulary are often used as benchmarks, yet these don’t tell the whole story.
The Latest on the Blog
Federal MIECHV reauthorization bill is introduced
Extensive research has shown us that children’s earliest experiences build the foundation that affects them for the rest of their lives. Parents are their children’s first and best caregivers and teachers during these early years, but they sometimes struggle with...
Celebrate We Care for Kids Week with us!
September 26 through October 2 is We Care for Kids Week, a statewide celebration to raise awareness for quality early childhood education and build support for early childhood educators. It’s an opportunity to inform, motivate and engage Nebraskans across the...