GEEARS

By Belva Dorsey-Mott, CEO, Enrichment Services Program, Inc. for the Saporta Report Recently, the federal administration released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) containing major potential revisions to the Head Start Program Performance Standards.

Young children deserve to learn and grow without the threat of preventable infectious diseases. As Georgia responds to new measles cases, this time connected to an early learning setting, we are reminded that protecting the health and safety of young children is a shared responsibility. Vaccination is an important part of that shared responsibility. Babies under 12 months are not yet routinely eligible for the MMR vaccine, making the protection provided by those around them especially important.

By Reinvestment Fund Shawnell Johnson has spent more than two decades inside nearly every part of Georgia’s early learning system. She started as a pre-K teacher, then led a child care center, then spent thirteen years at the state’s Department of Early Care and Learning. For the past four years, she has led the Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive initiative (PAACT), a citywide alliance housed at GEEARS, the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students.

By Kristin Bernhard, GEEARS CEO, for The Saporta Report GEEARS’ belovedAnnual Luncheonhappens a bit earlier than usual this year, on September 17th. It probably won’t feel like fall yet, and we’ll be about six weeks shy of the November election. And yet, I know we’ll all be feeling the excitement, and urgency, of the change on the horizon. For those of us atGEEARS, along with our partners working in Georgia’s early childhood ecosystem, that urgency is a constant.

Yesterday, the federal administration released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) containing major potential revisions to the Head Start Program Performance Standards. As we comb through this complex document, we at GEEARS are laser-focused on assessing the potential impacts onthe children and families who benefit from thisrobust program with over six decades of bipartisan support.

By Greg Barrett, GEEARS’ Senior Manager of Leadership & Learning, for The Saporta Report Here’s the thing about the first years of a child’s life—allthe stakes are high. This is why GEEARS approaches our early childhood advocacy holistically. Babies and young children can’t fully benefit from high-quality early care and learning if they don’t also have nourishing food in their bellies, health insurance to cover their many doctors’ visits, and of course,a safe, stable place to call home.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 11, 2026 Georgia Child and Health Advocacy Organizations Call for Action to Reduce Coverage Losses Among Young Children A new report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Familiesfound that the number of uninsured infants, toddlers, and preschoolers is rising faster than for older children nationwide, with nearly 220,000 additional young children under age 6 uninsured between 2022 and 2024.

On May 12, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) titled Restoring Flexibility to Support Head Start Program Access. An NPRM is the formal process federal agencies use to propose changes to regulations and gather public feedback before issuing a final rule.

Elana Meyers Taylor’s Olympic journey is a story of resilience, reinvention, historic achievement, and a relentless pursuit of gold, nearly two decades in the making. The daughter of a professional football player, Elana Meyers was born in Oceanside, California and raised in Douglasville, Georgia. A naturally gifted athlete, she was only nine when she declared her goal: she would become an Olympian.

Elana Meyers Taylor’s Olympic journey is a story of resilience, reinvention, historic achievement, and a relentless pursuit of gold, nearly two decades in the making. The daughter of a professional football player, Elana Meyers was born in Oceanside, California and raised in Douglasville, Georgia. A naturally gifted athlete, she was only nine when she declared her goal: she would become an Olympian.