Kids Can’t Wait is a statewide coalition of parents, providers and advocates working to strengthen the Early Intervention and Preschool Special Education systems by eliminating inequities and expanding access to timely and effective services. Drawing on last year’s state legislative wins for children, attendees learned what parents, providers, and government officials can do to ensure […]

Ensure that preschool special education programs, as well as state-approved non-public schools for school-age students with significant disabilities, receive the same increase in payment rates as school districts.

In 2018, Governor Cuomo assembled a Task Force of experts to develop innovative solutions to improve access to quality, affordable child care in NY. This month the Task Force’s recommendations were released: Supporting Families, Employers & New York’s Future Report: An Action Plan for a Strong and Equitable Child Care System. Our guest presenters spotlighted the recommendations to create a child care system that is more affordable, accessible, high-quality, and coordinated.

Stephanie Townsend, PhD features her latest research on WNY’s digital divide and showcases ROC the Future’s “Digital Divide in Rochester: Initial Data & Actions Taken” Report, which Stephanie is the lead author. Following Stephanie’s presentation, participants heard from Jennifer Cathy, Liftoff member and Chief Impact Officer of the United Way of Greater Rochester. Jennifer is […]

‘No Small Matter’ Screening & Discussion No Small Matter is grounded in the idea that early care and education is deeply personal — after all, we’ve all either had a child, known a child, or been a child! But on a broader scale, the return on investment for high quality early learning has ripple effects […]

Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body We know that the foundations of lifelong health are built early. But we don’t often discuss the considerable effects on both short- and long-term outcomes in physical and mental health and learning.  Featured speaker, Dr. Tariq Khan shares why these early moments matter and highlights Harvard […]

Our children deserve every opportunity to succeed. Unified by this belief, early childhood funders across Western New York have joined forces to form Liftoff, which was publicly launched in the summer of 2018 at press conferences in Erie and Chautauqua counties, to work with existing community organizations and networks to ensure that, by the time […]