We are sharing this recent email message from the Department of Education's Early Learning listserv, inviting individuals to speak at or attend/view the next Early Learning IPB meeting focusing on health promotion in early learning. Details and contact information is provided in the message.

The next Early Learning Interagency Policy Board (IPB) meeting is scheduled for November 5, 2015 from 9:30am – 11:00am, and will include a public input session for a new HHS/ED policy statement on health promotion in early learning. Previously, ED and HHS have released policy statements on Expulsion and Suspension Policies in Early Childhood Settings and Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs based on public comments received.

Maximizing the health and developmental potential of our Nation’s children is a priority for HHS and ED. Research shows that children in poor health do not do as well in school as their healthier peers. They are more likely to drop out of school, more likely to earn lower wages, and more likely to be in poor health as adults. Effective health promotion and disease prevention is best achieved starting early in life.

As a result, HHS and ED plan to release a joint federal policy statement on Health and Wellness Promotion in Early Childhood Settings. As we develop the policy statement, we would value your input on the following questions:

1. What are the key messages that we should communicate in a federal policy statement on children’s health and wellness promotion? How are these messages similar or different when addressing the health, early childhood, and education communities?
2. What are barriers to implementing effective health and wellness promotion and disease prevention strategies in early childhood programs?
3. What are the most effective child health and wellness promotion and disease prevention strategies that you have implemented at the local or state levels?
4. How can the federal government uniquely support effective health and wellness promotion for expectant families and children, birth through school entry, at the state and local levels?
5. How can we ensure school principals, early childhood program directors, LEA administrators, and other leaders promote and systematically embed health and wellness promotion at the local level? How can we ensure that public health systems and primary health care providers connect to and support early childhood programs at the local level?
6. How can a federal statement on children’s health and wellness be most helpful in supporting the work that you do?

The input session will be led by:

• Libby Doggett, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at ED
• Linda Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development for the Administration for Children and Families at HHS and
• Michael Lu, Associate Administrator, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration

When:
Thursday, November 5, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET

Where:
U.S. Department of Education
LBJ Building Barnard Auditorium
400 Maryland Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20202

Note: This event will air on the EDstream network for those who are outside of the ED Network. To request reasonable accommodations (prior notification of at least three business days is required), please contact Jacquelyn.Borman@ed.gov.

To access the event, go to: http://edstream.ed.gov/webcast/Play/06c6b28b912a4ca0bda7eb64147e34431d

(ED employees may access the program at http://mediasite.ed.gov)

All speakers and attendees

• Please send RSVP by October 29, 2015 by sending an email to: Jacquelyn.Borman@ed.gov
• Include name, title and organization, e-mail and phone contact.
• Indicate if you are requesting to speak at the meeting or only attending.
• Speakers will be ranked in order of RSVP received, as time permits, and will be notified ahead of time if they will be speaking.
• For security purposes, all speakers and attendees are reminded to bring a photo ID and a business card. Please allow ample time to go through security.

The format for the Public Meeting will be as follows:

• Speakers will be given 3 minutes to address the group. Time will be strictly enforced.
• Speakers are to limit their comments to what they would recommend go into a joint health and wellness policy statement, starting with addressing any of the questions listed above.
• In addition, all individuals and organizations are strongly encouraged to submit input in electronic form (including from those speaking) by Friday, November 6, 2015, at 5:00 pm ET to: Jacquelyn.Borman@ed.gov

The IPB brings together senior leaders from ED and HHS, as well as representatives from the White House Domestic Policy Council and Office of Management and Budget, to focus on how best to improve coordination and quality among the major federally funded early learning programs. In addition, other federal agencies have bene engaged in the work of the IPB, including the Bureau of Indian Education, Department of Defense, Department Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Agriculture.

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