Child Care Bureau: Laws, Policies, Program Instructions, and Allocations

Quality Expansion Activities

Related Items: FY 2001 CCDF Final Allocations and Earmarks

Guidance: Examples of Quality Expansion Activities

Background:

States are faced with many challenges in making sure families have access to child care that is affordable and of high quality. The new quality earmark under the Child Care and Development Fund provides a real valuable opportunity for States to develop strategies that meet the increasing need for quality child care. This new earmark for FY 2000 of $172 million is above in addition to the CCDF required 4% quality expenditure requirement. In addition, Congress has also continued the earmarks for improving the quality of infant and toddler care and for school-age and child care resource and referral activities.

In order to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency, parents must be able to access safe, reliable child care programs. Coordination and collaboration with other agencies and programs is extremely important to meet the needs of children and families, to maximize resources and avoid duplication. Linking child care programs with the health community, including the Healthy Child Care America grantees, Head Start programs, education and supportive services within the State and community will help build a delivery system that provides high quality child care for all children. An important part of the delivery system also includes activities that support professional development, training, and compensation for child care providers.

Purpose of Guidance:

The purpose of this document is to provide examples of state initiatives activities to enhance the quality of child care services to children and families. This guidance does not contain new rules or policies; rather, it is intended to be as a reference tool to that offers examples of services, supports, and activities quality initiatives that States may wish to consider in addition to activities currently funded. activities. This guidance highlights some does not attempt to identify all possible appropriate uses of the FY 2000 quality earmark funds, but provides a list of State representative illustrative examples of quality improvement activities in the following areas:

Professional Development and Compensation;
Grants to Providers/Local Communities;
Healthy Child Care America and Other Health Activities;
Special Needs/Inclusive Child Care;
Monitoring and On-Site Visits;
Infant and Toddler Programs; and
Quality Activities that Support Cultural Diversity

We encourage States to consult this guidance as they develop similar efforts or other innovative approaches to provide quality initiatives for children and families.

Professional Development and Compensation:

One of the best indicators of quality in early childhood programs is a high level of provider training, education and professional development. of providers. Research also shows that consistent care -- where the child is able to build a relationship with the provider over time -- is key to quality. Investments in professional development and increased compensation help to promote employee retention and reduce turnover. Recruiting new providers, in partnership with resource and referral agencies or other organizations, is also necessary to developing an expanded supply. A variety of approaches have included: the development of professional publications; a director's credential, scholarships for educators; distance learning opportunities, and incentives for providers to attain accreditation through appropriate recognized bodies.

Montana:

Montana's Merit Pay program is a training incentive program available to owners, operators and employees of registered or licensed child care facilities. Providers may choose to participate in either a 60 or 30 hour track of pre-approved training in early childhood education, child development or child related business practices during the year. Once their training plan is completed and verified, they receive either a $400 (60 hours) or $200 (30 hours) Merit Pay award. This popular program has proven to be highly successful in encouraging providers to better their education and skills in the early child care field.
New York:

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services and the State University of New York (SUNY) Early Childhood Education & Training Program offer video conference training for child care providers. These trainings consist of live broadcasts of experts and child care providers and offer opportunities for interaction and activities to apply what participants have learned. The video conferences are free to child care providers and are designed for child care providers in a variety of settings. Through a number of statewide downlink sites approximately 5,000 people participate in each video conference training. The video conference series won the 1998 award for excellence and innovation from the National Association for Training and Professional Development.
The video conference allows the State to reach some 5,000 individuals through each training via the numerous downlink sites across the State.
North Carolina:

North Carolina has developed a pilot program (to go statewide July 1, 1999) which offers health insurance benefits to child care staff through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Health Insurance Program. Drawing on Using CCDF quality improvement funding, the State pays one third of the cost of individual health insurance for child care staff in eligible programs. In order for a center or home to be eligible, either: 1)all teaching and administrative staff must have a two or four year degree in early childhood education or child development, or 2) the center or home must have at least one staff member (depending on the size of the child care facility) participating in the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Associate, Bachelor, or Model/Mentor Teacher Program.
The program allows each center to choose its own health insurance coverage. The center or home must agree to cover one third of the cost of an individual health insurance plan for each eligible employee.
Texas:

The Texas Workforce Commission has committed $250,000 in CCDF funds for the continued publication of the Texas Child Care Quarterly. Since 1977 the journal has been mailed free of charge to all state regulated child care programs and family day homes in the state. Staff in these programs can use it to earn self-study training credit to meet state licensing requirements. Standard features include articles on child growth and development, hands-on activities for children, book and product reviews, regulatory information, and a four-page pullout parenting newsletter. The journal is also available to the general public by subscription.

Grants to Providers/Local Communities:

Grants and loan programs offer a variety of educational and quality incentive opportunities for child care, early education and school age staff. Grants also provide funding to expand and improve services to low income families. Some states have provided grants to local communities to reinforce their commitment to quality improvement. The amounts and uses of these grants vary according to the needs of each local community.

Florida:

Through Florida's Caring for Kids Program, a mini-grant and loan program is assisting providers with expenses related to facility start-up and meeting licensing and accreditation standards. Mini-grants of up to $500 are awarded to licensed and registered child care providers and up to $250 to informal providers. Loans range from $1,000 to $10,000.
Kansas:

Kansas offers grant funds to local communities to be used for eight different components: (1) Center-based establishment or expansion; (2) School-Age establishment or expansion; (3) Employer sponsored establishment or support -- $50,000 maximum available with 50% cash match required; (4) Center-based quality enhancement; (5) Family Resource Center establishment or expansion; (6) Provider training, recruitment and/or retention; (7) Head Start wrap around; and (8) Local Child Care Advisory Group Grants.
Maine:

The Office of Child Care and Head Start has developed and awarded two health pilot grants to determine the feasibility of incorporating Head Start Health Performance Standards into child care centers. This program was established to encourage collaboration between local Head Start Programs and child care centers, and to increase access to health screenings in child care centers. The goals of the pilot are: 1) to develop a health assessment, screening and evaluation process; 2) to work with parents to develop a plan to enhance their children's health; 3) to provide information to families about the importance of a medical home and health care resources; 4) to assist families in obtaining health insurance; 5) to connect child care programs with local resources; and 6) to use health information and resources to meet the individual needs of children.
South Carolina:

South Carolina implemented three pilot grants to assess the status of the self-arranged (informal) care in the State's Advocates for Better Care (ABC) Child Care Program and to provide technical assistance to these providers. The purpose of the technical assistance grants is to enhance the quality of child care services by providing a voluntary on-site contact with non regulated providers participating in the ABC Child Care Program. Those Providers serving children from birth to 3 years of age receive top priority for assistance. In addition, the State announced a new cash bonus for caregivers who that complete South Carolina's ABC Child Care Credential. A $200 bonus is awarded to caregivers earning a 60-hour credential and a $100 bonus is awarded to caregivers earning a 30-hour credential.

Healthy Child Care America and Other Health Activities:

To date, 51 States and/Territories have successfully implemented Healthy Child Care Activities at the State and local level targeting activities to improve the health and safety of children in child care. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau provided the initial funding to States and Territories in the amount of $50,000 per year for three years, ending in May 1999. In many States, CCDF Child Care and Development Fund quality dollars are being used to support healthy child care collaborative initiatives. Healthy Child Care America provides an ideal opportunity for child care and health to collaboratively support safe, nurturing child care environments for children; promote access to medical services; and conduct outreach activities to enroll eligible children in Medicaid and other health insurance programs under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Many States make health consultants available to child care programs as a way to ensure health and safety, as well as to support health promotion. The Healthy Child Care America programs have made outstanding progress and include activities such as immunizations, health consultation, injury prevention, health screening, nutrition and safety education. Some specific state initiatives include:

Alabama:

Healthy Child Care Alabama (HCCA) is focusing on decreasing the incidence of injury, illness, and death that occur in child care programs and improving the integration of health in out-of-home child care programs through direct consultation with child care providers. An automated system has been developed to track and analyze child care injury reports submitted to the Department of Human Resources. The automation of the injury reports will allows staff to analyze the data on a statewide or county basis and implement outreach prevention strategies for child care programs. This collaborative initiative is being supported by the Healthy Child Care America grants and the CCDF Child Care and Development Fund.
Iowa:

Healthy Child Care Iowa (HI) links child health and child care programs and services within the context of the family support service system through state systems development activities. Through an Interagency Agreement between the Department of Human Services and the Department of Public Health, CCDF Child Care and Development Funds supports are used to place child care health consultants in each of the State's five (5) resource and referral agencies to provide technical assistance to child care programs. In addition, funds from the Social Security Disability Insurance support a community health consultant to work with the program activities.
Missouri:

Healthy Child Care Missouri (HCCMO), a program of the Missouri Department of Health, funded by CCDF, Maternal and Child Health grants, and Health Systems Development grants, contracts with more than 100 local health departments to provide consultation and technical assistance to home and center-based child care providers. In a six-month period, nurse consultants provided approximately 1,000 hours of free child care consultation and training services for 1,560 child care facilities and 4,000 staff who care for approximately 26,000 young children.
Pennsylvania:

Healthy Child Care Pennsylvania (HCCPA), and the Early Childhood Education Linkage System (ECELS), provide health professional consultation, training, and technical assistance to improve early childhood programs in Pennsylvania. These programs include child care centers, Head Start, family child care homes, group homes and nursery schools. Services include linkages between health professionals and child care programs for young children, telephone advice on health and safety issues, a video lending library, a quarterly newsletter Health Link, and health and safety training. CCDF Child Care and Development Funds and other funding sources are used to support the activities. of the Pennsylvania Healthy Child Care activities.

Mental Health:

Child care programs can promote healthy emotional development of young children by informing and guiding child care providers and families in ways that encourage sensitive and age-appropriate care. Training and technical assistance of providers in the area of mental health supports the early identification and intervention with children that have been exposed who reflect the ill effects of exposure to violence, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, or other emotional and behavioral problems. Linkages between child care and mental health can play a key role in linking families to mental health services.

California:

California's Mental Health Consultant Services Project proposal proposal focuses on the promotion of, inclusion of, and elimination of barriers for children with special behavioral and social needs. The Project will work to establish services to meet the identified mental health needs of the children and families served in child care programs by . Their objectives are to developing three mental health service models to address the special needs of children with challenging behaviors in child care settings. They will provide training on managing difficult behaviors, when and how to access mental health services child care providers; and training of mental health providers to work with children zero to five years of age within the child care setting. Strategies will be designed and facilitated to promote communication and collaboration between child care and mental health professionals and families; and assist low-income families to locate and utilize available funding for mental health and social services and promote mental health in child care setting by developing and coordinating services.
Michigan:

Michigan has identified the need to strengthen links between child care settings and mental health services in two areas: 1) Child care consultation and 2) access to mental health direct services. To address these issues, funding through an Interagency agreement between the Michigan Family Independence Agency and the Michigan Department of Community Health, funding has been provided to create a regional child care consultation service. This direct service component will be staffed with a mental Health and a public health consultant. The public health consultant will provide or assure consultation, technical assistance and training for all child care providers, as well as build and maintain linkages between the child care and health communities. The mental health consultant will provide consultation services to child care providers, including appropriate screenings, recognizing behavioral symptoms, discussing child behavior, supporting parents, and training child care providers on how to deal with these symptoms.

Special Needs/Inclusive Child Care:

Access to resources, professional development activities, and technical assistance is key to providing appropriate care for all children, including children with special needs. States are developing several strategies to offer this support to providers. Kansas, for example, is examining the establishment of a one-time grant program to encourage and enable child care providers to care for children with disabilities. Other State initiatives that address the importance of inclusive child care include:

California:

In California, Project Exceptional was developed, produced and disseminated through with CCDF funds. This curriculum is specifically designed to increase the opportunities for children with disabilities to participate in typical child care and development programs. In addition, The Child Care Health Program Healthily has been expanded to include developmental disabilities and behavioral specialists. Through an in-state taller phone line, child care providers and parents receive information on health, safety, developmental, nutritional and behavioral concerns.
Oregon:

The State of Oregon's Child Care Division (CCD) has committed CCDF funds to develop a strategic plan and a pilot project to improve access to child care for children with disabilities. This effort is also taking place between CCD and the local tribal communities. Oregon CCDF funds also support child care resource and referral services across the state to help families locate successful child care placements for children with special needs.

Monitoring and On-Site Visits:

Monitoring, particularly through unannounced inspections, is an effective strategy for ensuring quality care in child care settings. States are using on-site visits not only to enforce standards but to provide technical assistance to providers, as well. The standards that are enforced are also important, for example, state requirements that allow fewer infants and toddlers per provider can be key to improving quality.

Illinois:

Illinois hired 75 additional licensing staff, . This representing a 40% increase in total licensers. This and will allow the state to meet the requirement of one annual inspection visit per facility. In addition, at the end of three years, all licensers hired from outside the state government must have early childhood education or relevant experience. Within the Department of Social Services, if an individual wants to transfer internally from the Department of Social Services to the licensing unit, he/she must have 18 hours of training in early education.
Maryland:

In Maryland, full day training workshops were provided for all monitoring staff on topics of infant/toddler development and behavior management to enhance their ability to provide technical assistance to family child care providers and center staff.
Nebraska:

Beginning May 1, 1998, the State of Nebraska's Child Care Licensing Program began requiring annual/semi-annual unannounced inspection visits to all licensed child care programs. Centers and preschools licensed for 30 or more children receive two unannounced visits per year. Family child care homes, including those licensed through a self certification process, centers and preschools licensed for fewer than 30 children receive one unannounced visit each year. Aggregate information is available regarding the frequency of non-compliances noted at visits. Such data enables organizations delivering training to address actual deficiencies cited seen in child care settings. Conducting more frequent and unannounced visits to all child care programs provides a more accurate picture of the compliance history of programs and enables the specialists to provide more consultation and technical assistance to assist programs in meeting and exceeding licensing regulations.

Infant and Toddler Programs:

Recent brain research studies tells us reveal that warm, responsive child care is critical to the development of young children. We know that the quality of young children's experiences in the first three years of life has a decisive, long lasting impact on their well-being and ability to learn. In response to this information and with the additional funding available to States to increase the supply of quality care for infants and toddlers, States have targeted specific activities for infants and toddlers. Activities include: training of child care providers, program linkages with Head Start and Early Head Start Programs, utilizing health consultants in child care programs, providing start-up grants to providers for equipment and supplies, and hiring infant- toddler specialists who are outstationed in the child care resource and referral agencies to help parents make informed choices of care. State examples include:

Wisconsin:

The Wisconsin Office of Child Care, Department of Workforce Development has contracted with the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association to be the fiscal agent and coordinate a new Infant Toddler Initiative (ITI). The purpose of ITI is to develop and sustain an infant toddler teacher training, scholarship and enhanced compensation system. Funded with CCDF Infant /Toddler Quality Supply Building funds, it is designed to fit into or be the first stage of a larger initiative for all Wisconsin teachers and providers. The Wisconsin Head Start Association will be involved in the development of the ITI to ensure linkages with Early Head Start. It includes the development of an Infant-Toddler Credential which will be awarded upon completion of a required number of academic credits in infant toddler teacher core knowledge areas from a college or university in Wisconsin.
Washington:

The State Department of Social and Health Services developed an interagency agreement with the Department of Health (DOH) to administer conduct outreach on infant and toddles activities through local public health jurisdiction pilot sites. DOH-sponsored will provide training and technical assistance will enable to the local jurisdictions that will to provide observation, consultation and technical assistance to local infant/toddler caregivers. This project will begin with 9 pilot sites, and will expand by at least 9 more sites in Fall 1999.

Quality Activities That Support Cultural Diversity:

The changing demographics of communities has led to a heightened awareness and commitment by on the part of states to ensure culturally competent child care systems. A culturally diverse child care setting enriches the quality and educational experience for all children enrolled.

Minnesota:

The Minnesota Department of Children, Families & and Learning, were have solicited Requests for Proposals to improve the affordability and availability of a high quality and culturally responsive child care system in the State. Proposals may address provider recruitment in specific cultural communities; staff training in the area of cultural differences and anti-bias approaches; multicultural curriculum development; purchase of multicultural materials; outreach to specific cultural communities; technical assistance; parental outreach in cultural communities; training of trainers in the area of cultural competence; and mentoring programs.
Washington:

The King County Diversity Inclusion Project was developed to improve the access to childhood services for families traditionally underserved. families. Two major accomplishments of the project have been to improve access of underserved families to child care services, and improve the cultural relevancy of child care programs. The project is administered through the child care resource and referral agency. An expanded database provides information on subsidy programs, Head Start, special needs, and related family services. Translation service is available to families where English is not the primary language. Training (197 hours) of training is provided to child care programs serving geographically and culturally diverse families. Special services, including mental health consultation and physical therapy services are provided on site. Materials are purchased to help programs in their delivery of care with respect to anti-bias, culturally relevant or multicultural programs and environments. The project is administered through the child care resource and referral agency.

Related Items: FY 2001 CCDF Final Allocations and Earmarks