After heated floor debates and a failed motion to table, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted in favor of passing a bill that would prevent sex offenders from loitering around schools and child care facilities.  In a voice vote, the House voted “ought to pass” on Senate Bill 460, which would alter the state’s […]

Amid budget concerns and debates over the validity of guidance from the federal government, the New Hampshire Senate voted Thursday to table a bill that would have state officials seek additional clarification about federal funding for the child care workforce grant.  House Bill 1566 would direct the state Department of Health and Human Services to […]

Standing on the newly built deck in her backyard, Asha Clark wipes mucus off the face of the infant she’s holding in one arm, while using her free  arm to keep a toddler from re-entering the house. In the grass, three children ages 1 to 4 are riding small bikes and playing with sticks.  “No, […]

Seven months out from the midterm elections, candidates for New Hampshire’s open U.S. Senate seat are beginning to make their case about how they will tackle rising child care costs and low program availability at the federal level.  Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced her retirement from Congress over a year ago and several candidates are vying […]

The New Hampshire House of Representatives and Senate met Thursday to take up a handful of early education bills, including the business child care tax credit and scholarship eligibility for grandparents. Here’s a look at how they voted. In a consent calendar vote — a group of bills considered noncontroversial and acted upon with a […]

The New Hampshire Technical Institute has found one way to help ease the state’s early care and education workforce problem: an accelerated certification program.  Over the past 10 years, the state’s child care workforce has declined as fewer people enter and remain in the field due to low wages. As a result, between 2017 and […]

The New Hampshire Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration announced to child care providers in the Granite Steps for Quality program that the state will fulfill late or unsubmitted quarterly incentive invoices from last year.  Granite Steps for Quality, or GSQ, is New Hampshire’s quality recognition and improvement system that allows early education […]

Thursday is “crossover day” in the New Hampshire state Legislature, the last day to vote on bills in the originating chamber and the midpoint of the legislative session. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate held floor sessions to vote on the remaining bills, including those on early care and education.  In a consent […]

The intersection between religion and community services is Maggie Monroe-Cassel’s niche.  Monroe-Cassel grew up in upstate New York, where she saw her childhood church fall into disrepair when the community could not find a way to keep the doors open. When The Well Collaborative, a nonprofit that had taken over the First Congregational Church on […]

Ask any child care provider about the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic and you’re likely to hear a variation of one answer: “I can’t believe it’s been six years.”  On March 13, 2020, when former Gov. Chris Sununu declared a state of emergency in New Hampshire because of a new, rapidly spreading disease, early educators […]