ECFE Professional Community Engagement

Looking for opportunities to connect, share ideas, and learn from others across ECFE?

UMN, MNAFEE, and DCYF are working together to make it easier for ECFE educators and future Parent Educators to find opportunities to connect throughout the year.

We've created a shared ECFE Peer Connections Calendar to help you stay informed about upcoming Peer Connections and learning opportunities.

Check out the calendar and save the dates!

View the ECFE Peer Connections Calendar

We hope you'll join us for an upcoming conversation!

ECFE Peer Connections are Here!

https://minnesotadcyf.us.engagementhq.com/30434/widgets/108529/documents/86024

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the ECFE Peer Connections Kick-Off on September 18! (Check back for recording of Kick-Off)

UMN, MNAFEE, and DCYF are working together to create and coordinate opportunities for ECFE educators and students to connect, share experiences, and learn from each other throughout the year.

MNAFEE Peer Connections
Casual, peer-led, open conversations.

First session: September 25 at 1:00 PM
Join MNAFEE Peer Connections on Zoom

MNAFEE Peer Connections Information

DCYF Peer Connections
Topic-guided, peer co-led conversations focused on shared learning.

First session: October 16 at 1:00 PM
Join DCYF Peer Connections on Zoom

Sign up to share a topic and co-lead a DCYF Peer Connection

UMN Connect & Learns
Connect & Learns are for current UMN PFE students, with opportunities for educators in the field to join as guest speakers and share their experiences. Interested in sharing your experience with current students? Contact: Maggie Beaupre DeYoung at beau8945@umn.edu

Welcome Back, ECFE!

A Year of Connecting Across ECFE

Welcome to the 2026–27 school year! We are excited for another year of connecting, sharing, learning, and growing together across ECFE.

Our Welcome Back ECFE: Fall Updates slide deck includes upcoming opportunities, professional learning, resources, and ways to stay connected with DCYF and with ECFE colleagues across Minnesota.

We are so glad you are here and look forward to connecting with you throughout the year!

Your DCYF ECFE Team

Dear ECFE Educators,

As the school year comes to a close, we are happy to share our Spring Updates 2026 slide deck.

The slide deck includes a thank-you message to recognize all you have done for families this year, along with updates, resources, and upcoming opportunities for ECFE educators and coordinators.

Inside, you will find:

• A reminder about the 2025–26 ECFE Community Needs Assessment for Coordinators
• Information about the statewide Early Care and Education Workforce Survey
• Ways to continue collecting ECFE family stories
• Upcoming professional development and networking opportunities
• Resources to stay connected with the DCYF ECFE team and other ECFE professionals
• Marketing tools and free materials to help promote ECFE in your community

We hope these updates and resources are helpful as you wrap up the school year and begin planning for next year.

Thank you for the care, dedication, and heart you bring to children and families across Minnesota. Your work makes a meaningful difference every day.

We wish you a restful and enjoyable summer.

With appreciation,

Darcy, Mike, and Mi

Follow-up from the MN StoryCollective Sense Making Session at MNAFEE

ECFE has committed to working with the MN StoryCollective to collect ECFE stories from families across the state. At the MNAFEE conference this spring, we presented these stories. During the session, teachers and administrators had a chance to read the stories and analyze them for themes. We divided the stories into four areas that connect back to quality ECFE practice:

• Parent Education
• Parent-Parent Support
• Community Resources
• Parent-Child Interactions

Please take a look at the stories, slides and notes that came out of the session and think about how it might relate to the work that you are doing in your own district.

ECFE Story Pack with Notes https://minnesotadcyf.us.engagementhq.com/30434/widgets/108529/documents/80900

ECFE Story Collective Slides MNAFEE Conference 2026 https://minnesotadcyf.us.engagementhq.com/30434/widgets/108529/documents/80901

Help improve DCYF's website: Share your experience

DCYF is working to improve our website, dcyf.mn.gov, so it better serves families and communities across Minnesota.

We’re looking for people to share their feedback on our website in a short research session to help us meet our users' diverse needs.

Your feedback will help us understand what works well, what’s confusing, and what could be improved.

Learn more and sign up to participate.

Don't Forget we have ECFE videos to help you market your program!

Grow Together with ECFE. Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) offers caregivers of young children a space to connect with other families and participate in activities that support both parenting and children's learning and development. View videos available in English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong to learn more.

• English - 90 Sec Grow Together with ECFE (90 seconds)
• English – 60 Sec Grow Together with ECFE (60 seconds)
• English – 30 Sec Grow Together with ECFE (30 seconds)
• English – 15 Sec Grow together with ECFE (15 seconds)
• Spanish – 90 Sec Crezcamos juntos con ECFE (90 segundos)
• Spanish – 60 Sec Crezcamos juntos con ECFE (60 segundos)
• Spanish – 30 Sec Crezcamos juntos con ECFE (30 segundos)
• Spanish – 15 Sec Crezcamos juntos con ECFE (15 segundos)
• Hmong – 90 Sec Loj hlob ua ke nrog ECFE (90 nqi)
• Hmong – 60 Sec Loj hlob ua ke nrog ECFE (60 vib nas this)
• Hmong – 30 Sec Loj hlob ua ke nrog ECFE (30 vib nas this)
• Hmong – 15 Sec Loj hlob ua ke nrog ECFE (15 vib nas this)
• Somali – 90 Sec Si wadajir ah ula kor ECFE (90 ilbiriqsi)
• Somali – 60 Sec Si wadajir ah ula kor ECFE (60 ilbiriqsi)
• Somali – 30 Sec Si wadajir ah ula kor ECFE (30 ilbiriqsi)
• Somali – 15 Sec Si wadajir ah ula kor ECFE (15 ilbiriqsi)

Please share this with your networks! Feel free to use the language and images below when sharing.

Help spread the word about Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) in your community.

Community partners such as childcare providers, libraries, clinics, county agencies and more can now order posters and rack cards to promote ECFE.

These free materials are available in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong.

Learn more and order.

What is Help Me Connect?

Help Me Connect is a resource portal that helps expecting and parenting families of young children—and those working with them—find services and programs across Minnesota.

Learn More

Join monthly technical assistance sessions to learn practical tips and tools for getting the most out of the site. Sessions take place on the second Wednesday of each month from 12–1 p.m. Register online.

This month, Help Me Connect demonstrated how to create an account and use the Save to My Favorites feature, highlighting recent updates.

Visit HelpMeConnectMN.org for more information and training videos.

Watch this video to learn how to navigate the Help Me Connect page.

https://www.zoomgov.com/rec/share/3tfVXzaDzfXrr0qeTM7cCWmFh73q0tkkKsnhJq5rBX8YT0tLjz8p27dI_-NWb6eQ.NZlUKyZDCy3sywep

Passcode: 9FpV$XTQ