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Illinois Early Childhood Advocacy Week, Day 4: Child & Family Health & Well-Being are Essential
#EarlyEdIsEssential
Welcome back! On Day 4 of Illinois Early Childhood Advocacy Week 2021, we’re focusing importance of health and well-being to child and family outcomes.
April 11-17 marks national Black Maternal Health Week. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Black people are three to four times more likely than white people to die while they are pregnant or in the year after pregnancy. Here in Illinois, the rate of pregnancy-related death is six times higher for Black birthing parents than white birthing parents and a state review committee found that most of these deaths are preventable.
We applaud the Illinois health advocates and legislators who recently helped pass HB158, which – when adequately funded -- will expand access to evidence-based home visiting and doula services and pregnant and parenting people across the state.
Check out today’s actions below to learn how you can amplify the message that early care and learning and child and family health and well-being services are essential supports that Illinois must invest in.
How to Take Action
LEARN:
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Learn more about advocacy efforts to address the maternal health crisis and maternal health equity in Illinois in today’s blog from Start Early Policy Manager Kyrsten Emanuel and Everthrive Illinois Maternal & Child Health Manager Kirbi Range.
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To learn more about national Black Maternal Health Week, follow #BMHW21 and @BlkMamasMatter on Twitter. Check out the Black Mamas Matter Alliance toolkit
to learn more about how to advocate for the health and care of Black birthing parents.
WRITE:
Contact your legislators and ask them to make early learning and care a priority in the Illinois state budget.
SHARE: Amplify the message that early learning and child and family health are critically important. Check out the Day 4: Health & well-being are essential section of our Advocacy Week social media toolkit for ready to share images and posts.
DIALOGUE: Is your community group interested in hosting a dialogue with your state legislators about the importance of early learning and care? Contact us at [email protected] to learn more about our legislator dialogue sessions.
Visit Start Early’s Early Childhood Advocacy Week HQ to learn more about how you can tell your legislators that #EarlyEdIsEssential. Follow @EarlyEdIL on Twitter for real-time Illinois policy updates from Start Early.
Did someone forward you this email? Welcome! We’re glad you’re here. Be sure to sign up for Start Early’s Illinois Policy emails to receive updates and action alerts during Early Childhood Advocacy Week and beyond. |
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