ECFE Professional Community Engagement

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

DCYF Events Calendar

Stay connected to upcoming opportunities across Minnesota’s early childhood system through the DCYF Events Calendar. This calendar highlights trainings, meetings, technical assistance sessions, and other events relevant to ECFE professionals, partners, and community members.

Click on the link to find important dates, plan ahead, and stay informed about statewide and local activities that support your work with families.

DCYF Events Calendar | Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families

The Licensed Parent Educator Map is an interactive tool that shows the number of Parent Educators in ECFE programs across Minnesota.

Review your district on the map and let us know if the number of Parent Educators listed needs to be updated.

View the Parent Education Map here:

Workbook: PE Map

Technical Assistance Call Recording and Slides

ECFE: Parent Education Licensure - YouTube

This is the video recording of the Technical Assistance call held on March 4, 2026. The purpose of the call was to share creative ideas and strategies for addressing Parent Education staffing challenges that many districts are experiencing.

You can also view the PowerPoint slides from the session here:

https://minnesotadcyf.us.engagementhq.com/30434/widgets/108529/documents/75110

ECFE Wiki

The purpose of this wiki is to serve as a sharing platform for individuals who work with parents, as well as those preparing to enter the field. Like Wikipedia, the strength and value of a wiki depend on the active participation and quality contributions of its users.

While the information on this site is no longer actively updated, it serves as an archive of important ECFE materials and resources developed over the years.

ECFE professionals can access the archived materials at http://parented.wikidot.com/start