CCU-May-2025 – News & Information

Child Care Business Conference Registration Closing Soon!

The FCF Oregon Child Care Business Conference on June 14, 2025, offers training, networking, and resources for child care business owners. Registration closes May 31st.

Child Care Business Conference Registration Closing Soon!

First Children’s Finance Oregon is thrilled to announce the statewide FCF Oregon Child Care Business Conference: Essentials of Excellence, designed for Oregon child care business owners who want to strengthen their operations, finances, and enrollment.

Date: Saturday, June 14, 2025
Time: 8 am – 4 pm
Where: Willamette Heritage Center; 1313 Mill St SE, Salem, OR 97301
Cost: $50
Registration closes May 31^st!

At the conference you will:

Attend trainings (including Spanish training options) and earn professional development credit through the Oregon Registry Online (ORO).
Gain impactful strategies to manage costs, attract staff, maximize enrollment, and sustain your child care business!
Build a network of supportive child care professionals who share your goals and challenges.
Listen to First Children’s Finance President and CEO Heidi Hagel-Braid, who will deliver an actionable keynote to help you lead with confidence.
Hear from a panel of key voices shaping child care in Oregon and participate in the conversation.
Walk away with fresh ideas to tackle the everyday hurdles of running your child care business!

Public Funding Navigation Resource

First Children’s Finance has created a comprehensive resource to help child care businesses navigate Oregon’s public funding programs Building Strong Business Practices: A Public Funding Navigation Resource for Child Care Business Owners in Oregon.

For child care business owners who have already secured public funding, this guide helps them build strong systems to meet funding program compliance requirements, manage finances, and stay on top of program monitoring. Developed with input from funding administrators, child care support organizations, and business owners, it offers practical guidance to help businesses sustain their funding and operations.

Access the guide here: https://www.firstchildrensfinance.org/oregon/

Available in English, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Thank you for your dedication to this vital work! If you need assistance, please reach out to the FCF Oregon State Office at InfoOregon@firstchildrensfinance.org.

Summer EBT is back! Helping children eat healthy during the summer for a strong start to next school year

The Summer EBT program provides grocery benefits to eligible families with children aged 6-18 during summer months.

Summer EBT is back for its second year of helping families buy groceries to keep kids healthy all summer. Most children receive Summer EBT automatically, but some families need to apply. Families with children who attend a school, or a Head Start program that offers free or reduced-price meals should check to see if they need to apply at sebt.oregon.gov.

Summer EBT is a grocery benefit program for school-aged children (ages 6 to 18) to help families buy food during the summer months when school meals are unavailable. Eligible families receive a one-time payment of $120 per child. Benefits are loaded onto Oregon EBT cards and expire 122 days after issuance.

Who’s Eligible?

Children are eligible if, during the 2024–25 school year, they:

Received SNAP, TANF, or Oregon Health Plan with income under 185% of the Federal Poverty Level.
Attended a school offering the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP) and qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Were in foster care, or are enrolled in programs for migrant students, experiencing houselessness, in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or attending a Head Start that participates in NSLP/SBP.

Who Needs to Apply?

Families already receiving SNAP, TANF or Oregon Health Plan benefits do not need to apply—they’ll be enrolled automatically.
Families who applied and were approved in 2024 will also receive benefits automatically in 2025.
Others must apply. Families can apply any time using a paper application. Paper applications are available in 10 languages at sebt.oregon.gov. Starting May 30, families can apply online in English or Spanish at sebt.oregon.gov.

Important dates

May 19, 2025: Oregon Summer EBT Call Center opens.
- Call Center Number: 1-833-ORE-SEBT (1-833-673-7328)
- The Call Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., PDT.
- Call center agents will be able to assist customers in English and Spanish. For other language needs an interpreter service will be provided.
May 22, 2025: Families with children who are automatically eligible will get benefits on their Oregon EBT cards.
May 30, 2025: Online application period opens. Online and paper applications begin processing. Oregon EBT cards will be mailed to qualifying families.

May 2025 Community Newsletter

May 2025 Department of Early Learning and Care Updates.

A Message from the Director

I hope folks are taking care as we head into the Spring season – a time for change and growth. There is a lot going on that I am excited to share with you, so read on for the latest with the Department of Early Learning and Care.

Do you want to receive this update in your email? Sign up for our Community Newsletter and Child Care Updates twice monthly send by subscribing here.

Our May Update

60^th Anniversary of Head Start

This month marks 60 years of Head Start across the country! While the official anniversary is May 18^th, it’s never too early to celebrate the incredible work this program does to serve children and families across Oregon. I feel lucky to be in a state that recognizes the important work of early childhood education, and has supported programs like Head Start through the creation of Oregon Prenatal to Kindergarten, which launched in 1987. Head Start is more than an early learning program – it provides comprehensive services and supports to some of our most vulnerable children and families. Thank you, Head Start for, all that you do!

Provider Appreciation

This month also brings around Provider Appreciation Day! Celebrated on the Friday before Mother’s Day – May 9^th, this year – this is a time for us to pause, recognize, and appreciate the incredible providers that make Oregon work! Stay tuned for some fun ways to celebrate and show the provider in your life how much you appreciate them.

Early Learning Council Membership

I am excited to share that the Early Learning Council welcomed its newest member at their Council meeting last week, Eric Hunter! Eric is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CareOregon. In this role he is able to bring in the health care perspective to the ELC, enhancing the Council’s expertise in the cross-sector work of Oregon’s early childhood system. Check out the special feature to learn more about Eric’s work and the work of the Early Learning Council!

Legislative Session

This session continues to move quickly, with many bills awaiting a public hearing in their respective Ways & Means Subcommittee. Once the May 14^th revenue forecast is released, we anticipate things moving quickly, including DELC’s budget bill, SB 5514. We also anticipate two additional DELC bills passing out of Ways and Means: HB 2811, which formalizes the Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Oregon Program in statute to ensure children can get access to high-quality, age-appropriate books across Oregon. Also in committee is HB 2815, the Tribal Early Learning Plan and Fund, centering the Tribal sovereignty and self-determination to support language and culture revitalization, professional development, to meet Tribal early learning and child care goals. We’re excited that our technical fix bill to algin licensing statute among provider types, HB 2814, passed the House unanimously and is currently in the Senate; the bill received a public hearing in the Senate Early Childhood and Behavioral Health Committee and we’re waiting for the bill to be voted out of committee and on the full Senate floor. Lots going on and more to come!

Caring Communities Tour

This year, we’re kicking off a Caring Communities Tours so that DELC leadership can hear from communities on the ground about what’s working, what’s not, and where DELC can make adjustments to our policies and practices to benefit more children, families, and providers. It’s also a wonderful time to see some of our programs in action and hear from the providers caring for Oregon kids every day. This tour kicked off this Spring and will continue through the end of the year. Thank you to the Early Leaning Hubs and Child Care Resource & Referral agencies around the state for helping us put these incredible visits together. We’ll continue to spotlight these visits throughout the rest of the year in our DELC Newsletter.