We would like to introduce you to the newest member of the Collaboration for Early Childhood’s team: Janique McCowan! On May 1, Janique will assume the role of Child Development and Health Partnership Coordinator, overseeing the development and distribution of child development and health resources, materials, and systems to support the successful development of children ages birth to five. Her work will include the Collaboration’s community-wide developmental screening project, as well as support with referral systems.
The Child Development and Health Partnership Coordinator is an evolution of the Health and Development position that Shannon held before transitioning into her current role as Director of Programs and Contracts. Janique joins Michelle Howell, Family Engagement Partnership Coordinator and Mary Quest, Early Learning Partnership Coordinator on the program team. She completes the program team, and we are proud (and relieved) to announce that with her coming on board, the Collaboration for Early Childhood is now fully-staffed and all-systems-go.
Janique brings deep professional experience in early childhood care and education, as well as maternal and child health to the Collaboration. She holds a Masters Degree in Child Development with a specialization in Child Life from Erikson Institute and is working toward her Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education at Concordia University. In her most recent role, she was the site director of the Salvation Army’s Early Head Start Home Visiting Program in Chicago, overseeing the program, which enrolled 18 children. Before that she worked as a supervisor in the Maryville Academy Crisis Nursery, a program that provides free, safe, temporary child care for families in distress and experiencing crisis.
In addition to her supervisory and administrative experience, Janique has also worked as an infant educator and is certified in the Baby Talk curriculum as well as Parents as Teachers, the curriculum that all of the local Home Visiting programs in Oak Park and River Forest use. Please join us in welcoming Janique! We are so glad to have her on board. You can see her in a wonderful conversation about how to grow resilient children below.