Best Starts for Kids

📢 Calling all Home-Based Services providers serving prenatal to five families in King County! Are you familiar with the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO) assessment tool? Best Starts is offering a free 3-day virtual training for home visitors to learn about the PICCOLO tool in September. There will also be an opportunity for home visitors who have already completed the training to participate in a PICCOLO Refresher training in November. Read our blog to learn more and register: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/gpqUJQPh

Are you a grant writer? Does your organization support the well-being of babies, children, and young people in King County? We just published our non-Best Starts funding opportunities list where we highlight grant opportunities from other agencies and organizations. Check out upcoming opportunities with August to October deadlines: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/gv3fXNih

We're excited to announce 9 capital project awardees! Through these partnerships, we will expand access to child care and early learning facilities and increase capacity for multipurpose uses. Read our blog to learn about each project: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/g5QxaQuD Congratulations to the awardees! 🎉 Brightonview Montessori  Huckleberry Nature Connection Foundation   Indian American Community Services Lake Washington Institute of Technology Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) Mercy Housing Northwest Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA) Voices Of Tomorrow White Center Community Development Association

So far in 2025 the Best Starts Child Care Worker Wage Boost Pilot has issued $2.9 million in payments to 850 child care workers in King County! We sat down with Government Technology to talk about how we worked with partners and used tech to support equitable reach of the Pilot. http://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.pbit.ly/4o0KWBz

Best Starts and The Capacity Collective are hosting one-hour long focus groups to understand potential supports and barriers to implementing the Culturally Responsive Measurement Tool - Protective Factors (CRMT-PF) in early learning programs. Community members will be compensated with $100 for their time. Learn more about the tool and sign-up for a focus group on August 18 or September 10: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/d-HxY8hr

We're hiring a Capital Program Manager III! The deadline to apply is August 2, 2025. Join our team to oversee investments related to pre-development, construction, maintenance, renovation and expansion of recreational, early learning, and childcare facilities and housing for youth, young adults, and families in King County.  Learn more and apply: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/gzzDTZyb

📣 Best Starts is offering a free 14-month Certificate Program on Centering Relationships and Social Justice in Early Childhood! The deadline to apply is July 25. Who should apply? Prenatal-to-five early childhood providers in King County What is it? An evidence-based curriculum that covers foundational principles of early childhood within a racial justice frame centering the voices and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color When is it? August 2025 - October 2026 Read our blog to learn more and apply: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/ghJAH2T5

In 2023, child care health advocates and partners convened to develop a strategic vision for the Child Care Health Consultation (CCHC) System in King County. The vision centers on relationship-building between child care providers and CCHCs, deepening connections among the CCHC community, strengthening the CCHC workforce, and implementing supportive systems for monitoring and evaluation. Most recently, in partnership with Cardea Services we published an evaluation guide that provides a planned approach to evaluating our systems-building work. Read our blog to learn more! https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/g6NNGHNV

Want to meet the Best Starts Co-Leads? Brainstorm with other organizations in your community? Get ready for the Best Starts Roadshow 2025 coming this fall in a city near you! We will be hosting events across the region with opportunities to build relationships, provide feedback, and learn what's coming up. Stay tuned for locations and dates: http://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.pbit.ly/4l1Anvr

Grant writers and development leads! We have another round of non-Best Starts funding opportunities. Heads up the first due dates on this list are for July 10! http://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.pbit.ly/3IhbU7C