NEWS: $10 Million Federal Grant for Early Literacy Awarded to Nebraska (August 2026)
Nebraska Children and Families Foundation (NCFF) has been awarded a federal grant of nearly $10 million over five years to study and expand a program that's already putting books into the homes and early childhood programs of Nebraska preschool-age children. The Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant comes from the U.S. Department of Education and will fund a major expansion and evaluation of Nebraska Growing Readers (NGR), a program NCFF built with the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) to strengthen early reading skills.
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Trained professionals visit families where they are, helping parents support their baby's growth through everyday moments.
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High-quality infant and toddler classrooms, run in partnership with local schools and built around proven early learning practices.
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Coaching, training and support for licensed child care homes and centers that care for infants and toddlers in their communities.
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The more we understand about how early experiences affect brain development, long-term health and wellbeing, the clearer it becomes that investments in children in the prenatal to age 3 period are essential and financially sound.
- NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
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