September is back to school time, but also Child Passenger Safety Month, Baby Safety Month and National Childhood Injury Prevention Week.

The recently updated ECCS website has information about:

Keeping your medications and cannabis in a secure and locked place is crucial to avoid accidental ingestion by children or pets. Thanks to our friends at STEPS, the ECCS has lockable bags for your prescription or recreational drugs. We will be giving them away at our Library Office Hours or can make arrangements for pick-up. 2024-09-17 10.54.23.jpg

Looking ahead to October, come march with the ECCS in the Apple Harvest Festival Parade or see us at Halloween events. Details are in the Events section below.

Share Your Opinion in Two Surveys

RAPID Survey #3 - The CT Project is conducting 8 surveys through December 2025. The third survey, which focuses on financial well-being, launches on Friday, September 27th and remain open until Friday, October 25th. Families in CT with children under the age of 6 can take this survey even if you've already completed any of the previous RAPID surveys. Here’s how it works:

Go to https://tinyurl.com/rapid-eccs1 (Please do not post this link online.)
Answer a couple eligibility questions and sign a form saying you are interested
Take a 10-15-minute survey. Note the ECCS will receive information summarizing all the data from town, but not individual responses.
You will receive a $10 gift card from RAPID via email within two to three weeks
If your data is flagged as spam (i.e., not human or a bot response) or if you have already completed this survey on financial well being, you will not receive compensation

Community Needs Assessment - The South-Central Health District wants to hear from you so they can determine what services they should provide to Southington in the future. Please take their survey at https://schd-ct.org/take-our-survey.

Child Passenger Safety Month

As parents and caregivers, keeping children safe in vehicles is a top priority. Ensuring proper child passenger safety is key, especially when you consider that in 2021, 711 child passengers ages 12 and younger were killed in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S., and in 2020 more than 63,000 were injured, as reported by the CDC. In Connecticut, car seat laws and regulations list age and weight, and the child must meet both requirements.

Infants must remain rear-facing until they are a minimum of 2 years old AND 30 pounds.
Toddlers can ride either rear-facing or forward-facing in a child restraint system equipped with a five-point harness until 5 years old AND 40 pounds.
Children between 5 and 8 years old AND between 40 and 60 pounds can ride a in booster seat secured by a seat safety belt, forward-facing in a child restraint system equipped with a five-point harness, or rear-facing.

By installing car seats correctly and following these age and weight guidelines, you are reducing the risk of injury in case of an accident and providing your child with the best possible protection.

The Southington Police Department will perform a car seat safety check —details are at southingtonpolice.org/car-seat/. Call their non-emergency number at 860-378-1600 for an appointment. Both the Southington Police Department and the ECCS have emergency contact stickers to put on your car seats.

Leaving a young child in the car is not only incredibly dangerous but knowingly leaving a child under the age of 12 unsupervised in a vehicle is illegal in the state of Connecticut. The average number of U.S. child hot car deaths is 38 per year with more than 88% being age 3 and younger. Leaving the windows open and/or parking in the shade are both not shown to have a significant decrease in how quickly the temperature rises or the maximum temperature in the vehicle.

Learn more about Child Passenger Safety and CT Car Seat Laws at www.southingtonearlychildhood.org/car-seats-laws/.

Upcoming Events

ECCS Library Office Hours – September 30 and October 21 from 9 am to noon. Stop by, say hello and pick up a fine motor skills item for your child. We will also have the lockable bags for drugs and emergency contact stickers for car seats.

Apple Harvest Festival Parade – Sunday, October 6th with a raindate of October 13th. Line up by 1:30 and step off at 2 pm. Anyone who wants to participate is welcome to join the ECCS in the parade - you, your family, your staff or the families you serve. Wagons and strollers are welcome. Email Joanne at southingtonearlychildhood@gmail.com or text to (860) 385-1665 and she will send you the details.

Trunk or Treat event at The Barnes Museum - Saturday, October 19th, from 5pm to 7pm. The ECCS will be in the Barn.

To sign up to be a participating Trunk, click the RSVP button at the top right of this page - https://tockify.com/the.barnes.museum/detail/267/1729371600000/

Halloween in the Village of Plantsville - Sunday, October 20th from 5:30 to 7:30. Raindate, October 27th. The streets in Downtown Plantsville will be closed for trick or treating and fun family activities. The ECCS will be there!

Preschool Showcase at the Southington Public Library - Saturday, November 9 from 9:30 to noon. The ECCS, along with many of the nursery schools and preschool centers in town, will have a display. If you have children who will be starting preschool in the next year or two, stop by and visit us; no registration is necessary. Children are welcome to attend, there will be a craft activity for them. The Southington Lions Club will have their free KidSight eye screening at this event for children of all ages.

ECCS Community Café – November 21 at 5:45 with dinner and childcare provided. Save the date for our next Cafe, we will be talking about encouraging a play-based childhood. Registration information will be shared next month.

Ways You Can Support ECCS

1) Follow us on your favorite social media platforms and then like, comment, or share so your friends see our posts too!

2) Forward this email to a friend or colleague.

3) Volunteer your time as a board member or advocate.

4) Help with one-time or periodic donations.

About Us

The Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington is a group of committed educators, parents, grandparents, healthcare and childcare providers, business owners, civic organizations, and members of the community who are deeply invested in the growth, development, and academic success of young children in Southington.

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