National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers

Every baby deserves the chance to thrive ,and every family deserves support, education, and community. 💛

This May, join the movement to raise awareness, amplify resources, and advocate for healthier futures for babies everywhere. From maternal health to infant wellness, these conversations matter more than ever.

Learn how you can get involved, support families, and help create lasting change by visiting the May All Babies Thrive Month page today.

Because thriving shouldn’t be a privilege , it should be the standard. ✨

Visit:

May All Babies Thrive Month - NCIT - The National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers Join NCIT and the early childhood community during the month of May in raising the alarm for needed investments and solutions for the key issues impacting infants and toddlers! If your organization has an event, workshop, or report release during the month of may ensure that it is added to our calen...

For the health of all Washingtonians, working across industries and representing all eight wards, we need Paid Family Leave! This program is a lifeline for new parents, caretakers and anyone needing time to recover from an illness. That’s why we’re calling on the DC Council and Mayor Bowser to support restoring Paid Family Leave to the FY2027 budget!

We applaud the introduction of the Supporting Newborn Parents Act — bipartisan legislation that would provide new parents with a $2,000 refundable tax credit during their baby’s first year.

The timing matters. Families often face rising expenses and reduced income in the months after welcoming a new baby, especially when access to paid leave is limited. This proposal would help provide support when families need it most.

We’re grateful to Reps. David Valadao, Tom Suozzi, Blake Moore, and Debbie Dingell for advancing this important conversation around supporting working families.

Read more:

Baby Steps: A newborn credit relieves pressure on families - Niskanen Center This timely payment would help parents navigate the financial shocks that tend to come in baby’s first year.

From Story to Statue: Bipartisan Strategies for NICU & PICU Paid Leave Advocacy

This session will equip paid leave, early childhood, and parent advocates with practical tips and insights to add NICU/PICU leave to their policies and advocacy efforts. Join us to learn how this emerging policy can bring in new voices and champions, strengthen paid leave campaigns, and build momentum for further paid leave work. We will highlight the unique paid leave needs of NICU families and share how the NICU Parent Network has successfully engaged parents - and legislators - to advocate for policy change.

Co-Hosts:

* Jacy Montoya Price, Senior Director of Advocacy and Issue Campaigns, Alliance for Early Success

* Raquel Bueno-Morales, National Senior Advocacy Consultant, National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers (NCIT)

Featured speakers:

* Gabrielle Wynn, Staff Attorney at A Better Balance

* Keira Sorrels, Founder & Executive Director of the NICU Parent Network

* Jennifer Stout, Early Childhood Education Policy Analyst, Voices for Utah Children
https://heart.zoom.us/meeting/register/yYPJPn0KRVuOTAUiipD4xA #/registration

Doula Integration: Increasing Collaboration to Transform Care
May 19, 2026
01:00pm - 02:00pm CST

Doulas have been shown to reduce cesarean rates, lower preterm birth risk, and improve postpartum outcomes yet integrating them into healthcare settings remains a challenge. In this session, certified doulas Averjill Lacey and Angela Daniel of A&A Doula Consulting draw on over 30 combined years of perinatal health experience to explore what meaningful doula integration looks like in practice.

As founders of the Doula Friendly Initiative, Averjill and Angela bring a unique lens to building systems that truly welcome doulas as part of the care team. Attendees will learn about the full scope of doula care, the latest research on clinical outcomes, and the real-world barriers facing patients, doulas, and healthcare facilities alike.

The session offers practical strategies for building collaborative, equitable care teams, including co-learning opportunities, policy development, and accountability frameworks, so that every birthing person has access to the support they deserve.

https://ncit.org/event/doula-integration-increasing-collaboration-to-transform-care/

Happy Birthday to Head Start 🎉

For more than 60 years, Head Start has helped millions of children and families access early education, meals, healthcare, support services, and opportunities that every family deserves. What started in 1965 as an anti-poverty initiative has become a lifeline for communities across the country.

As we celebrate Head Start, we also recognize the ongoing fight to protect and expand child care access for all families. Movements like “Day Without Child Care” continue to push for affordable universal childcare, thriving wages for providers, and a system built on racial and gender justice — because care work is essential work.

Without childcare, work stops. Families, educators, and entire communities depend on programs like Head Start every single day. Here’s to the educators, caregivers, parents, and advocates fighting for a future where every child has the support they deserve ❤️

Every child deserves the support they need to thrive in school, at home, and in their community. Families of children with special needs shouldn’t have to fight alone for accessible care, education, and resources.

At NCIT we’re committed to advocating for policies that support children with disabilities and the families who care for them every single day. 💙

Because inclusion, accessibility, and support shouldn’t be privileges, they should be guarantees.