Updated September 2, 2025
In February we launched the Caring Communities Tour, a two-year long journey visiting early learning and care partners and leaders across Oregon. In collaboration with Early Learning Hubs and Child Care Resource and Referrals, DELC leadership will visit each region to connect with and learn from local leaders, Tribes, providers, families about the unique needs, experiences, and approaches to early care and education across the state.
We have learned from and connected with each region by observing joyful classrooms and listening to providers express their commitment to early education. New ideas have been sparked from learning about creative approaches to complex problems. Since February, we have visited the following regions,
- Linn, Benton, Lincoln
- Clackamas
- Harney, Grant
- Southern
- Lane
To every single person who helped plan and coordinate each of these visits, thank you. Your investment of time and energy has made these visits an opportunity to learn and connect, to build and strengthen relationships. It is inspiring to be in collaboration with you in this child and family centered work.
During each visit we heard about the challenges posed by the local economy, workforce shortages, geographic landscape, and natural resource limitations bring. Additionally , we were inspired by the creative, community-driven solutions emerging across regions to solve and thrive despite these challenges- strategically braiding funding to improve programming, repurposing a grocery store into early learning spaces, including grand-parents and neighbors into children’s care, providing alternative transportation options, offering business accelerator program for registered family providers, increasing pedestrian safety in collaboration with local transportation districts, strengthening collaborations with supportive backbone agencies, and initiating partnerships with local employment organizations for workforce shortages.
After each visit, we are taking time to reflect on our observations and what was shared with us. We are celebrating your work and thinking ahead to improve our policies, programs, and continue addressing system-level challenges. Moving forward, because we believe we can always do better, we will also strengthen our follow-up response to questions raised during visits by regional partners.
We look forward to the late summer and fall visits and continuing to provide mid-year updates about the Caring Communities Tour. Thank you for collaborating with us to ensure all children, families, early care and education professionals and communities are supported and empowered to thrive.
We look forward to visiting Yamhill before end of summer, and wrapping up the first year of CCT with visits to Eastern and Blue Mountain regions. We continue to coordinate with Hubs and CCR&R’s for 2026, but our tentative schedule as of now includes Washington and Northwest regions for Spring 2026, and Four Rivers and South Coast for fall 2026. While some dates may change due to scheduling availability, host logistics, and weather conditions, we aim to wrap up the tour and visit all regions by Fall 2026. Thank you for collaborating with us to ensure all children, families, early care and education professionals and communities are supported and empowered to thrive.
For questions related to the Caring Communities Tour, please reach out to karina.guzman-ortiz@delc.oregon.gov
