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This updated policy statement from DHHS and the U.S. Department of Education underscores the urgency in improving services for children with disabilities. It includes the science-based benefits and the legal foundation for inclusion, recommendations for state policies to strengthen inclusion, as well as state examples of promising practices. This resource supports resiliency. This resource supports equity.
This website offers strategies and resources for child care providers to support families and children experiencing homelessness. The resources address topics such as understanding homelessness; eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance (ERSEA) in programs, building responsive relationships with families, health and wellness resources for children, supporting staff as they support homeless families, and connecting with community partners. While this website was designed for Head Start, it has many useful resources for school-age.
These briefs summarize research on changes in licensing requirements and policies in every state for child care centers, family child care homes, and group child care homes. They compare 2020 data to that of 2017. Topics covered include staff and provider qualifications and training requirements, child-staff ratios and group sizes, requirements for the care of children, and health and safety requirements for child care facilities. They also include requirements for training licensing staff.
Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) agencies are required to consider cost information when setting payment rates. Many meet these by doing a narrow cost analysis. This three-part series of issue briefs includes helpful information on: (1) Defining narrow cost analysis; (2) Approaches to narrow cost analysis including cost models and cost surveys; and (3) Using a narrow cost analysis to inform payment rates. These resources can help OST leaders understand how CCDF is moving toward the true cost of quality, equitable staff compensation, and increasing payment rates. This resource addresses equity.
The Provider Cost of Quality Calculator (PCQC) helps providers estimate the annual costs and revenue of operating a center or home-based child care program at different quality levels. The calculator can help evaluate rate changes, sliding fee scales, benefits, and salary scenarios. In addition, there is a user guide to support the estimation process here https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/provider-cost-quality-calculator-user-guide
This webinar discusses creative approaches to expanding health insurance for early childhood professionals. Health insurance is an important strategy for recruitment and retention and for equitable compensation. Included are examples of effective strategies for WA and for D.C. There is a related one-pager, What Do Early Childhood Educators Need to Know About the Marketplace? at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/health-coverage-outreach-toolkit-early-care-and-education-workforce.
This professional development module addresses the benefits of, and strategies for including school-age children in home-based child care (HBCC) settings. It can be accessed via the Individualized Professional Development (iPD) Portfolio section the Early Childhood Knowledge Learning Center (ECKLC) website. Users receive three (3) contact education units (CEUs) for completing the module, knowledge check and evaluation.
This webinar explores partnerships between Tribal nations and other partners to build promising practices. Examples were shared on partnerships to reduce turnover, increase language revitalization, and support workforce efforts with tribal colleges. The Tribal Early Learning Initiative (TELI) which works with partners on system-building efforts was highlighted. This resource supports equity.
This compendium is a review of existing quality measures and indicators to determine how well they measure features of home-based child care (HBCC) quality and their reliability and validity. The compendium measures 31 profiles of quality measures, followed by 46 profiles of QRIS indicators listing their purpose, alignment with a draft conceptual framework, use in HBCC settings, reliability and validity, and strengths and limitations of use in supporting quality. It includes school-age measures like Quality Seal from WA, School-age and Youth PQA, and NAA standards. It provides links to other related reports.
On September 14, 2022, the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment hosted the “Addressing School-Age Needs in Licensing Regulations” webinar to introduce a new NCASE resource, hear state examples, share strategies and discuss promising practices related to licensing for school-age childcare programs.