Every year, the First Five Year Fund publishes a fact sheet for every state. The purpose is to show how state and federal funding supports the Early Learning sector and where there continues to be gaps.  Check out the latest NH report here.

Family child care providers in New Hampshire are invited to complete a 20-minute online survey to share your experiences, including what has supported or made it hard for you to open your programs and keep them running. Your voice is important to better understand challenges providers are facing and opportunities to build stronger support systems for providers like you.

The survey is available in English and Spanish and is open to providers that are currently open serving at least one child and those that have closed in the last two years. Providers that complete the survey will receive a $25 e-gift card as a thank you. All responses will be anonymous. No one outside of the Child Trends team will see your responses, and your responses will not be linked with your name. You and your program will not be identified in any public reports.
You can access the survey here.  If needed, you can start it now and finish it at a later time.

Reach out to Katy at [email protected] with any questions!

This anonymous survey is for licensed, licensed-exempt, and those are not in the state's system. The survey also welcomes individuals who have closed a home-based program in the past 2 years as well.  The timeline for the activities is below.   

Note: This survey is part of a research study being conducted by Child Trends as part of a partnership with Saint Anslem’s College and Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA).

On June 4th, people from across the early childhood system gathered for the launch of New Hampshire’s Early Care and Education Visioning and Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis process. The purpose of the gathering was to launch the first step of a collective effort to create a shared vision for the future of early care and education in New Hampshire. To learn more, check out the project website and check out the slide deck from the launch.  

The Community Engagement Team is lead by the Center for Justice and Equity and consultants Lara Quiroga and Chrissy Trayner.  There will be more information about regional meetings, community discussions, targeted input sessions, interviews, and other opportunities to participate. If you would like to learn more about ways to engage, please complete the engagement form.  You are welcome to stay connected to the work - this is the first step of many!

Written by Liz Fitzgerald, Greater Nashua Smart Start Coalition
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When people think of early childhood and United Way of Greater Nashua, the Community Baby Shower often comes to mind. On April 22, UWGN hosted its 9th Annual Community Baby Shower, welcoming 139 new and expectant parents and grandparents. Thanks to dozens of volunteers, agency partners, sponsors, and an incredible outpouring of new and gently used donations from hundreds of community members, families were surrounded by support as they prepared to welcome new babies into the world. 

Although the day was cold, many hearts were warmed by the celebration of these tiny new community members. Parents learned about infant care, community resources, and parenting skills while building connections with the network of service providers that make up the Smart Start Coalition for Early Childhood Success. 
It would be easy to view the Community Baby Shower as a single day of caring — and it certainly is that. But the event also represents something much larger: an ongoing community commitment to strengthening families early, before challenges become crises. 
Throughout the year, the Smart Start Early Childhood Coalition, under United Way’s fiscal agency, works to build meaningful relationships and trusted connections with families across Greater Nashua. Smart Start is a cross-sector partnership of parents, educators, nonprofit providers, municipalities, businesses, healthcare partners, and state agencies working together to strengthen the systems that support young children and families. 
The coalition’s shared goal is simple but powerful: ensuring all children enter kindergarten healthy and ready to learn. 
To achieve this, coalition partners align efforts around four key outcomes for children birth through age eight and their families: 

• Strong and Healthy Families  

• Positive Early Learning Experiences, including access to affordable, high-quality childcare  

• A Responsive and Resilient Community grounded in authentic family engagement  

• Coordinated and Collaborative Systems that better meet local needs  

At the center of this work is Family Engagement Coordinator Stevie Klein. Stevie, a mother of a two-year-old toddler, works directly with parent leaders to create safe and supportive spaces where families can build skills, form authentic connections, and access resources. Drawing on her professional background with Head Start and Waypoint NH, Stevie helps ensure parents feel seen, heard, and empowered while helping community systems become more trauma-informed and family-centered. 
Last year, Stevie was selected to represent New Hampshire at Strolling Thunder in Washington, where she met with legislators to elevate the voices of families in Greater Nashua and advocate for the kind of community all parents want for their children. 
Family engagement work like the Community Baby Shower is not simply a “nice” thing to do — it is a strategic investment in the long-term health and success of our community. 
Research consistently shows that early family engagement and early childhood supports reduce the need for more costly interventions later in life. Every time a parent feels confident advocating for their child, every time a family connects to support early, and every time trust is built between families and providers, we strengthen the foundation for healthier children, stronger families, and more resilient communities. 
In Greater Nashua, family engagement means: 

• Helping parents understand their child’s development and feel confident in their role  

• Connecting families to resources early — before challenges escalate  

• Building trust between families and providers across healthcare, education, and community systems  

These everyday moments lead to lasting community impact: 

• Children arriving at kindergarten ready to succeed  

• Families who know where to turn for help  

• Reduced strain on crisis systems and downstream interventions  

• Stronger community connections and resilience  

Every investment made in the first five years of a child’s life helps shift our community from reacting to challenges to preventing them — together. 
Smart Start’s work is currently supported by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for family engagement initiatives, NH Children’s Health Foundation for Trauma Informed Family Engagement, New Hampshire Children's Trust for the Diaper Pantry Network, and the Community Development Finance Authority Loan Fund for childcare workforce recruitment and sustainability efforts. 
 

Patrice Baker wears many hats and her latest is as a published author! A year in the making, Patrice wrote a children's book to bring ideas behind the Building Blocks of HOPE to life through Patrice's engaging and colorful words and Karina Taylor's delightful illustrations.  You can find it here. 

At the NHPQC Conference, a new data platform was introduced.  This platform is intended to help people find information quickly and "dice and slice" the data to make it accessible and understandable.   Check it out!

The Department of Health and Human services issued its 2025 Annual Maternal Mortality Report.  While there continues to be strong progress in preventing maternal deaths, challenges remain. 

The Alliance is proud to have been identified as a community resource to share the urgent maternal health signs flyer widely with child care programs and schools (pg.18).  The Alliance connected Petrice DiDominic, the Maternal Mortality Review Committee Coordinator/Abstractor, with Early Learning NH to share the poster on a biweekly call with child care directors throughout the state on Feb. 26th. 

Join the Endowment for Health for their 2026 New Hampshire Child Well-Being Data Hub
update on April 24, from 12-1.  Register here.

The New Hampshire Alliance of Early Childhood Coalitions is proud to be featured in a recent TSNE blog highlighting our statewide network of local coalitions. Through cross- sector collaboration and community-driven solutions, we work to ensure young children and families have access to the supports they need to thrive. Explore the full blog here:

At the Council for Thriving Children meeting on Feb 4, the Council shared the website where people can find out information about upcoming meetings and the materials and minutes from previous meetings.  ​https://www.councilforthrivingchildren.nh.gov/

NH's child care system is featured in recent new articles.  Read about the Manchester Child Care Commission, how communities are addressing child care needs and what the legislature is considering for child care bills.

• Manchester Mayor Announces Child Care Commission
• Portsmouth child-care crisis gets council's attention
• Lebanon City Council to vote on effort to build child care center
• When schools charge rent for school-age care, families and communities feel the impact
• House hears two sides to the child care workforce funding argument
• Senate passes bill that would allow retired grandparents to receive NH child care scholarship funds
• University System names new child care provider at Keene State (audio article)

 
Special thanks to MacKenzie Nicholson from MomsRising for the compilation of links.

The goal of this survey, funded by a federal grant to the New Hampshire Insurance Department (NHID), is to assess access and insurance coverage issues for women’s health services New Hampshire. It aims to identify the important areas where there is a lack of access to and coverage for appropriate care for a full range of women’s health issues across the life span. NHID has contracted with Health Management Associates to produce a summary of findings and report with recommendations to the state. Your insights will help inform these recommendations to NHID, payer strategies, and outreach and education efforts.

Your participation in this survey is voluntary and anonymous. Information from this survey will be summarized without any personally identifiable information. It should only take about 5-10 minutes to complete.