Feeding Florida Fresh Access Bucks is a nutrition incentive program that increases the purchasing power of SNAP recipients to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at farmer’s markets, produce stands, CSAs, mobile markets, and community grocery outlets.

Fresh Access Bucks doubles your purchase and no sign up is required. Want to spend $10 on your SNAP/EBT card? You get an extra $10 for free fresh, Florida produce. This could be very beneficial for families receiving food assistance.

Fresh Access Bucks’ approach to addressing food access, affordability, and nutrition education aims to work with the entire food system: from producer to consumer to build healthy, resilient communities supported by robust local food systems.

To learn more about how Fresh Access Bucks works at our different outlets, click here.

BookSmart is a digital library that offers free access to a wide range of books for children. This library, developed by Worldreader, is designed to foster a love of reading, promote literacy, and provide an enjoyable and educational experience. With BookSmart, children can explore books in English and Spanish, and access them from any device, making reading both accessible and convenient. Worldreader is constantly expanding the collection of books and they are committed to providing a diverse collection of books that caters to every child’s interests and reading level.

A resource to support home reading for children and families, BookSmart is a low data-app, with the ability to download books for offline reading. The unique weekly book section comes with easy-to-use family engagement activities to set your families up for success.

BookSmart offers more than 1,000 books with the goal of supporting Pre-K through 8th-grade students to help ensure they are not left behind academically. BookSmart is the perfect resource for keeping children reading over the summer and throughout the school year.

BookSmart Quick Start Instructions:

• Option 1 – Access the unique Florida URL: https://booksmart.world/facct
• Option 2 – Scan the unique Florida QR code.

Florida’s Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday starts Saturday, May 27. Consumers can purchase qualifying disaster preparedness supplies exempt from state sales tax during the 2023 Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, the sales tax holiday extends through Friday, June 9.

Examples of qualifying items:

• Power items: flashlights, batteries, portable power banks, generators
• Safety items: weather radios, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, tarps
• Home items: trash bags, cleaning supplies, reusable ice
• Pet items: pet food, crates and kennels, many other pet essentials

A second exemption period will begin Saturday, August 26, and extend through Friday, September 8. For information and promotional materials for consumers, businesses, and other interested parties, click here.

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season is almost here. It runs from June 1 to November 30 and covers the areas including the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Hurricanes are dangerous and have the potential to cause a lot of damage, so make sure you are prepared with this helpful information from Child Care Aware of America, click here.

Workforce Wednesday Webinar

 Helping Early Childhood Educators Thrive:
Promoting ECE Staff Mental Health and Well-Being
 Wednesday, May 31, 2023—3:00 to 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time)

Register online now!

Early care and education (ECE) teachers and service providers fill important roles in their communities: facilitating children’s healthy development and early learning; supporting parents and families; and implementing practices that promote quality, health, and safety. During the past several years, the early childhood community experienced unprecedented levels of stress—too often while working long hours and without the pay and support they deserve. Many early childhood educators and providers continue to experience heightened stress, burnout, exhaustion, and even depressive symptoms.

Promoting access to mental health support and wellness for ECE teachers and service providers is critical to a strong early childhood system. During Mental Health Awareness Month, join a webinar to learn how programs and states are leveraging the expertise of infant and early childhood mental health consultants (IECMHC) and other resources to support educators’ and providers’ wellness as well as the wellness of children and families.

January Contreras, Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Khari Garvin, Director of the Office of Head Start, ACF, will provide opening remarks during this webinar. Other speakers will be announced as they are confirmed.

Key Topics

During this webinar, we will do the following:

• Hear directly from early childhood educators and providers about their experiences with IECMHCs and other mental health supports.
• Learn how state and systems leaders have funded these services, supported IECMHCs, and are planning to sustain their strategies.
• Learn about federal resources and policies that could help programs, states, territories, and tribal communities implement similar strategies.

How To Register You can select this Web link to register for the webinar. 

The Early Learning Coalition of Orange County Family Services Department is hosting an event to equip Orange County families with educational toys for the summer. The Sliding into Summer event is Saturday, May 20, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Grand Avenue Neighborhood Center, 800 Grand St in Orlando.

Early Learning Coalition of Orange County on Facebook

Florida students in grades K–5 are encouraged to create an art piece and participate in Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez’s Space Art Contest. Each student can submit original, two-dimensional artwork based on this year’s theme: Time Travel to 2123: Florida’s Future as the Space Capital. 

“I am proud to launch the 2nd Annual Lieutenant Governor’s Space Art Contest. Last year, we had a tremendous response, with over 2,500 original art submissions from K–5 students,” said Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez. “Imagining what the space industry in Florida will look like in 100 years through art allows students to explore the seemingly impossible and tap into their creativity. I look forward to seeing what this year’s students dream up.”

Space Florida, as a key sponsor of the Lieutenant Governor’s Space Art Contest, believes supporting STEAM education initiatives is an integral part of its mission.

“Both space and art are about exploration, imagination, and pushing forward to what’s next for humanity,” said Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello. “The future is right here in the minds of our children and expressed through colors and paper. We are proud to work with Lt. Governor Nuñez on this important initiative.”  

About the Florida Space Student Art Contest 
Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez’s Space Art Contest is open to all K–5 grade students in Florida. Each student will submit an original, two-dimensional artwork based on this year’s theme. Submissions will be broken down into two categories: K–2 and 3–5. Six art pieces from each group (12 total) will be selected as finalists. Finalists will win two tickets to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and also have the opportunity to work alongside our featured artist to paint a custom created piece of art imagined and sketched by the artist. Two lucky grand prize winners, one selected from each group, will have their artwork launched into space on an upcoming SpaceX mission!

About the Featured Artist
Romero Britto, founder of the Happy Art Movement, is an internationally renowned artist who has created an iconic visual language of happiness, fun, love, and hope all its own inspiring millions worldwide. Brazilian-born and Miami-made, Romero has made it to the top and is considered one of the most famous and celebrated living visual artists on the globe. His work has been exhibited in the most prestigious galleries and museums in more than 120 countries, including the Carrousel Du Louvre and Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, and he was the first living visual artist to present his work at the Soumaya Museum. 

Forms and Guidelines 
Student contest rules and guidelines can be found online at www.FloridaSpaceArt.com.

Submit artwork to the address below:

Space Florida 
ATTN: Space Art Contest
505 Odyssey Way, Suite 300
Exploration Park, Florida 32953
 
All entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 12, 2023.  

For more information about the contest please visit www.FloridaSpaceArt.com.  

National Child Abuse Prevention Month is an annual observance to raising awareness and preventing child abuse. April has been designated Child Abuse Prevention Month since 1983. President Obama continued the tradition. In 2016, he issued a Presidential proclamation stating: “During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we recommit to giving every child a chance to succeed and to ensuring that every child grows up in a safe, stable, and nurturing environment that is free from abuse and neglect.”

Pinwheels for Prevention is Florida’s statewide coordinated effort to highlight programs and activities that promote healthy child development and prevention of child abuse. The campaign, coordinated by Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) Florida, the Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida and the Florida Department of Children and Families, creates awareness of the proven ideas that child abuse can be prevented.

PCA Florida believes all families deserve to live in communities that have adequate resources to support families and provide, opportunities for healthy growth and developmental experiences for children. Through the use of pinwheel displays, each community, business or organization can demonstrate its commitment to help Florida children live healthy, happy lives. To learn more, click here.

The Florida Department of Children & Families (DCF) website is under construction. Below is information to help you navigate Training and Credentialing:

Go down to (Quick reference links)  4^th bullet, click on Child Care Training System.

Go to Quick Reference Links

• Florida Early Childhood Professional Catalog
• Trauma-Informed Care for Child Care Program Directors (TICD)
• Trauma Endorsement for Director Credential
• Log into the Child Care Training System to view Child Care Training Transcript, register for courses/exams, and take online courses or CEU assessments.  For more information, please contact the Child Care Training Information Center toll free at 1-888-352-2842.

Sample view:

OR you can just skip all of this and go straight to the cap. Once their, click on Florida Early Childhood Professional Development Registry, it will take you to the log in page.

Heart of Florida United Way will be hosting a series of financial education virtual workshops on the following topics:

• March 14: Credit/Credit Scores, 1 to 2 p.m.
• March 21: Maximizing Your Tax Refund & Savings, 4 to 5 p.m.
• March 28: Bank On & Banking, 1 to 2 p.m.
• April 4: Avoiding Online Scams, 4 to 5 p.m.

Please visit this link to register and learn more about how to improve your finances: HFUW Financial Education Workshop Registration Form 2023.