The OCC Systems Building Resource Guide is designed to provide an overview of key system-building issues to support Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) State Administrators (SAs) in pursuing system-building initiatives.
Child Care State Capacity Building Center
The Child Care State Capacity Building Center (SCBC) works with State and Territory leaders and their partners to create innovative early childhood systems and programs that improve results for children and families. SCBC focuses on enhancing the effectiveness of programs implemented under the Child Care and Development Fund, improving the quality and supply of infant-toddler services, and advancing the development of early childhood systems. Guiding principles include the following:
- Effective State-level technical assistance establishes credibility and expertise, builds partnerships, and develops systemic capacity from Child Care and Development Fund Administrators to child care providers.
- Context matters. Effective capacity building requires understanding and respecting each organization's history, values, and vision.
Services are available through the SCBC's Infant/Toddler Specialist Network, Intensive Capacity Building Network, and State Systems Specialist Network.
Highlighted Tools and Resources:
The Infant/Toddler Resource Guide offers a host of materials to support the development and implementation of policies and practices for high-quality care for infants and toddlers.
Building a Comprehensive State Policy Strategy to Prevent Expulsion from Early Learning Settings provides a review of expulsion research, discusses dimensions of expulsion, and provides the Expulsion Policy Strategy Tool—a practical tool designed to support states and territories in designing and implementing a multifaceted policy approach to developing a continuum of supports for programs, families, and children.
Emergency Preparedness plans help ensure child care programs and staff are prepared to react in a manner that protects the safety of children and staff when an emergency occurs. Emergency plans also establish mechanisms to help programs during the recovery phase and get businesses “up and running” as soon as possible, which promotes continuity of care and reduces the risks of clientele and income loss.
Template for Displaying Serious Injuries, Deaths, and Instances of Substantiated Child Abuse in Child Care describes the requirements for posting aggregate data and provides an example of how states and territories can display the aggregate number of serious injuries, deaths, and instances of substantiated abuse in child care on their consumer education websites to meet CCDF regulations.
Designing Websites That Are Accessible For All Families guide offers best practices, strategies, and examples for state and territory staff to consider as they work to ensure their consumer education websites are accessible to people with disabilities.
Best Practices for Consumer Education Websites: Translation guide offers best practices, strategies, and examples for states and territories to consider as they work to provide translated materials on their consumer education websites.
Guide for Increasing Search Engine Optimization introduces search engine optimization (SEO) to CCDF Administrators and other child care professionals who want to ensure that their state and territory consumer education websites effectively serve their communities.
Guide for Measuring Web Traffic and Engagement introduces digital analytics to audiences with limited experience in digital strategy, including CCDF Administrators and other child care professionals who have a stake in ensuring their consumer education website effectively serves their constituency.
Improving Consumer Education Websites with User Research summarizes key methods that are widely applied in user-experience research and design. It also highlights best practices and key considerations in conducting user research to help states and territories enhance their consumer education websites.
Office of Child Care Announcement:
- The Child Care State Capacity Building Center (SCBC) is pleased to announce a series of webinars designed to help states and territories improve their consumer education websites. SCBC will partner with experts from our Website Development and User Experience Team, along with experts from the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment, National Center on Child Care Data and Reporting, National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance, and National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, to offer these webinars. Full session and registration information is available by clicking the link above.
Success Stories:
Michigan Establishes a Statewide Infant/Toddler Consultant Network
In 2014, Michigan recognized a need for an infant/toddler consultant network. In order to best meet the need, the state surveyed its infant/toddler providers to gather their thoughts on what supports would be the most valuable. As a result, in 2016, the statewide system of resource centers established an infant/toddler consultant network that included all 10 of the resource centers. Synergistically, the State Capacity Building Center (SCBC) Infant/Toddler Specialist Network (ITSN) was ready to pilot the Six Essential Practices of Relationship-Based Care training for trainers (TFT) in the fall of that same year. Michigan’s Infant/Toddler Consultants received this training and began to strategize how to incorporate it into their work.
In 2017, the resource centers, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start and Early Childhood Investment Corporation, began to pilot regional learning communities with programs and providers who served infants and toddlers. Building on participation in the state’s quality rating and improvement system, Great Start to Quality, this included:
- Offering monthly group sessions
- Mentoring onsite
- Coaching and consultation on quality improvement
- Providing professional development at focused meetings
- Infusing all of their work with the Six Essential Practices of Relationship-Based Care
Over the following two years, the SCBC Infant/Toddler Specialists provided enhanced professional development opportunities and technical assistance to the Michigan Infant/Toddler Consultants, during which time their capacity to deliver this training, build reflective learning communities, and support responsive caregiving has excelled. Their commitment to continuous quality improvement is obvious in their scaffolded support structure of providers that is tailored to meet the needs of each learning community. In a parallel process, the consultants are part of their own learning community in which they have the opportunity to integrate reflective practice.
In 2018, a detailed transition plan was put into place for the first group of learning communities. Providers were given the opportunity to determine the supports they needed to become self-sustaining and form a support network, enhancing care for infant and toddlers in other programs as well. These providers’ star ratings moved from 1–2 stars to 3–4–5 stars, offering developmentally appropriate experiences and materials to the children in their care, as well as demonstrating relationship-based care practices and decreasing the amount of challenging behaviors. The Michigan Infant/Toddler Consultants continue to move this work forward with recruitment of their second group of regional infant/toddler learning communities and ongoing relationships with the first group. In February 2019, their work was highlighted at the Opening Minds Conference, a national conference for early childhood providers in Chicago, Illinois
Resource Search:
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In January, 2015, CCDF State and Territory Administrators attended a meeting regarding the recent reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss key provisions in the law, effective dates and timelines for implementation, State plan...
In January, 2015, CCDF State and Territory Administrators attended a meeting regarding the recent reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss key provisions in the law, effective dates and timelines for implementation, State plan...
Several factors influence the administration and implementation of Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) services, including the existing programmatic and governance structure of the CCDF Lead Agency and other early childhood services. The following is information about the overall...
The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program is state-operated and county-administered in 12 States: CA, CO, GA, MN, NC, ND, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VA, WI; and the District of Columbia. This table lists the administering agencies for key early care and education functions—child care subsidy,...
Early childhood professionals (such as child care providers, teachers, consultants) receive federal and state funding to provide a variety of services to children in low-income working families. Federal and state funding for early childhood services are available through a complex maze of...
Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agencies are encouraged to coordinate the delivery of child care, early childhood, and school-age services. All CCDF Lead Agencies are required to coordinate with representatives of local government; agencies responsible for...
High-quality prekindergarten programs serve as building blocks for children’s education and help prepare young children for school. In some States, these programs have eligibility restrictions (e.g., income requirements or at-risk factors) to serve the most vulnerable and in-need...
These resources provide state and territory policymakers with information about public-private partnerships for early learning, including why partnerships are consequential to different constituencies.
In States and communities throughout the country, public-private partnerships are flourishing. These partnerships focus on shared goals that bring together the public sector (federal, state, local, and tribal officials or agencies) with the private sector (families, employers, philanthropies,...
Federal, State, and Territory governments have engaged in numerous efforts to create a more cohesive early care and education system for children and families. This has resulted in States and Territories creating different governance structures to meet the unique needs of their populations. This...
