Tag Archives: Early Head Start Child Care Partnership

National Center on Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships (NCEHS-CCP) Evaluation

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10/27/2015

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded 275 Early Head Start expansion and Early Head Start-child care partnership grants (EHS-CCP) in 50 states; Washington, DC; Puerto Rico; and the Northern Mariana Islands. These grants will allow new or existing Early Head Start programs to partner with local child care centers and family child care providers to expand high-quality early learning opportunities for infants and toddlers from low-income families.

NCEHS-CCP will support the effective implementation of new EHS-CCP grants by disseminating information through training and technical assistance (T/TA) and resources and materials. NCEHS-CCP is primarily targeted to T/TA providers working directly with the EHS-CCP grantees (including Office of Head Start (OHS) and Office of Child Care (OCC) National Centers, regional training and technical assistance (T/TA) specialists, and implementation planners and fiscal consultants). State and federal agencies (including OHS and OCC federal staff, Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) administrators, Head Start State and National Collaboration directors), as well as EHS-CCP grantees will also find helpful information on partnerships through NCEHS-CCP’s resources.

The NCEHS-CCP at ZERO TO THREE is proposing to conduct a descriptive study of NCEHS-CCP that will provide information that will document the activities and progress of NCEHS-CCP toward its goals and objectives. Findings from the evaluation will be translated into action steps to inform continuous quality improvement of NCEHS-CCP.

The proposed data collection activities for the descriptive study of NCEHS-CCP will include the following components:

Stakeholder survey. Web-based surveys will be conducted in the spring of 2016 and 2018 with key stakeholders (including OHS and OCC federal and national center staff, regional T/TA specialists, CCDF administrators, Head Start state and national collaboration office directors, and implementation planners and fiscal consultants). The stakeholder survey will collect information about the types of support they received from NCEHS-CCP in the past year, their satisfaction with the support, how the T/TA informed their work with EHS CCP grantees, and how support could be improved.

Stakeholder telephone interviews. Semi-structured telephone interviews will be conducted in spring of 2017 and 2019 with a purposively selected subgroup of stakeholders that complete the stakeholder survey. The interviews will explore in more detail the types of T/TA support participants received from NCEHS-CCP, how that support has informed their work with EHS-CCP grantees, their satisfaction with the support, successes and challenges, and suggestions for improvement.

This 60-Day Federal Register Notice covers the data collection activities for NCEHS-CCP and requests clearance for (1) the stakeholder survey, and (2) the stakeholder telephone interviews.

Source: Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 207

Available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-10-27/html/2015-27239.htm

IM 15-03 Policy and Program Guidance for the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCP)

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8/6/2015

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

TO: Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership Grantees and Partners

SUBJECT: Policy and Program Guidance for the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCP)

INFORMATION:This Information Memorandum (IM) reinforces the purpose and vision of the Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCP) and provides policy and program guidance for grantees and their partners.1 This IM specifically addresses various issues and questions raised by grantees during the EHS-CCP orientations and start-up phase of the grants.

The EHS-CCP program will enhance and support early learning settings to provide full-day/full-year, seamless, and comprehensive services that meet the needs of low-income working families and those in school; increase access to high-quality, full-day child care (including family child care); support the development of infants and toddlers through strong relationship-based experiences; and prepare them for the transition into Head Start and preschool. The EHS-CCP is a unique opportunity which brings together the best of Early Head Start and child care through layering of funding to provide comprehensive and continuous services to low-income infants, toddlers, and their families. The EHS-CCP grants will serve as a learning laboratory for the future of high-quality infant/toddler care.

All infants and toddlers attending an EHS-CCP site will benefit from facilities and homes that are licensed and meet safety requirements. All children in classrooms with EHS-CCP-enrolled children will benefit from low teacher-to-child ratios and class sizes, qualified teachers receiving ongoing supervision and coaching to support implementation of curriculum and responsive caregiving, and broad-scale parent engagement activities. While only enrolled EHS-CCP children will be eligible for direct family-specific benefits such as home visits, health tracking and follow-up, and individualized family support services, EHS-CCP programs must operationalize services to ensure there is no segregation or stigmatization of EHS-CCP children due to the additional requirements or services.

The long-term outcomes of the program are:

  1. Sustained, mutually respectful, and collaborative EHS-CCP
  2. A more highly educated and fully qualified workforce to provide high-quality infant/toddler care and education
  3. Increased community supply of high-quality early learning environments and infant/toddler care and education
  4. Well-aligned early childhood policies, regulations, resources, and quality improvement support at national, state, and local levels
  5. Improved family and child well-being and progress toward school readiness

The EHS-CCP brings together the strengths of child care and Early Head Start programs. Child care centers and family child care providers respond to the needs of working families by offering flexible and convenient full-day and full-year services. In addition, child care providers have experience providing care that is strongly grounded in the cultural, linguistic, and social needs of the families and their local communities. However, many child care centers and family child care providers lack the resources to provide the comprehensive services needed to support better outcomes for the nation’s most vulnerable children. Early Head Start is a research-based program that emphasizes the importance of responsive and caring relationships to support the optimal development of infants and toddlers. Early Head Start provides comprehensive family centered services that adhere to the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS)2 to support high-quality learning environments. Integrating Early Head Start comprehensive services and resources into the array of traditional child care and family child care settings creates new opportunities to improve outcomes for infants, toddlers, and their families.

Attachment A provides topical policy and program guidance around:

  • Seamless and Comprehensive Full-Day/Full-Year Services
  • Partnership Agreements
  • Layered Funding
  • Child Care Subsidies
  • Citizenship and Immigration Status
  • Child Care Center Ratios and Group Sizes
  • Staffing and Planning Shifts for Staff
  • Staff Qualifications and Credential Requirements
  • Federal Oversight and Monitoring

Please share this IM with your partners and direct any questions to your Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Regional Office.

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of infants and toddlers and their families.

/ Linda K. Smith /
Linda K. Smith
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development
Administration for Children and Families

/ Blanca Enriquez /
Dr. Blanca Enriquez
Director
Office of Head Start

/ Rachel Schumacher /
Rachel Schumacher
Director
Office of Child Care

Source: Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start, and Office of Child Care

Available at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/im/2015/resour_ime_003.html

Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships Baseline Assessment Tools

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6/30/2015

The purpose of the baseline is to understand the grantees and partners’ current capacity. Baseline information will be used to identify technical assistance needs or other supports. This includes additional start-up funding that may be needed to ensure grantees and partners are on track to meet Early Head Start requirements at 18 months. The baseline will gather information from the following areas: environmental health and safety; fiscal management systems; governance; program management systems including eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance (ERSEA); and comprehensive services.

Source: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center, Office of Head Start

Available at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/grants/monitoring/additional-resources.html

New Infant-Toddler Training and Technical Assistance Projects

Posted on by

October 17, 2014

By Linda Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Interdepartmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development; Ann Linehan
, Acting Director, Office of Head Start; and Shannon Rudisill
, Director, Office of Child Care

It seems we learn more and more every day about all that our youngest children can learn. Research shows that a tremendous amount of brain development happens in the very first months of life. By the time children are three years old, the structures of their brains that influence later learning are mostly formed.

Millions of infants and toddlers across the country spend a significant part of their days in early care and education settings, including child care and Early Head Start. At the Offices of Child Care OCC and Head Start OHS, we have a responsibility to ensure that those children, their families, and their teachers get the best support we can offer. We have increased our focus on the youngest children in recent years, and we’re pleased to announce that OCC and OHS are co-administering two new training and technical assistance T/TA projects that focus on infants and toddlers in early care settings.

The National Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership T/TA Center

This center will support the effective implementation of new Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) partnership grants that provide comprehensive high-quality services for infants and toddlers. The Center will provide training, resources and materials to federal staff, OHS and OCC T/TA partners, and CCDF Administrators so that all are equipped to meet the needs of new EHS-CC partnership grantees. The Center will work collaboratively with OHS National Centers and the OCC Technical Assistance network to develop and present a series of orientation sessions around the country for the new EHS-CC partnership grantees. This Center will also recruit and train a team of Implementation Planners and Fiscal Consultants who will be able to provide T/TA at the grantee level. The cooperative agreement for the EHS-CC Partnership TA Center is with ZERO TO THREE, in partnership with Child Care Aware of America, FHI360, Training and Technical Assistance Services at Western Kentucky University, and Mathematica Policy Research.

The Career Pathway Portal for Great Infant – Toddler Teachers

The Career Pathway Portal for Great Infant – Toddler Teachers project will create a web-based, one-stop portal of existing federally-funded, public domain, online training programs. This portal will support the child care and Head Start workforce as they progress on an established career pathway.  The work will span child care, Early Head Start, Head Start, Pre-K and early childhood mental health. It will have multiple points of entry from pre-service to master teacher, consultant or coach. The Portal will include research-based resources for higher education, state licensing, and credential agencies. The project will design a mechanism to assess how curricula and educators can better target positive caregiver/child interaction using a framework. The framework will be grounded in learning, reflective feedback, focused observation and planning for improvement. Professional development systems will be able to use a cost estimation tool to plan investments that support the infant/toddler workforce.   The contract for the project is with ICF International, and will be supported by subcontracts to ZERO TO THREE and NAEYC.

Parents and teachers work hard to care for and educate children from birth, and we’re eager to support them. We believe these projects are a key step in improving quality in infant toddler early care and education settings nationwide

Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership Grant Announcement

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6/5/14

The Administration for Children and Families ACF announces the availability of approximately $500 million to be competitively awarded for the purpose of expanding access to high-quality, comprehensive services to low-income infants and toddlers and their families through Early Head Start-Child Care EHS-CC Partnerships, or through the expansion of Early Head Start services. ACF solicits applications from public entities, including states, or private non-profit organizations, including community-based or faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies that meet eligibility for applying as stated in section 645A of the Head Start Act.For more information, interested applicants should visit http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/grants/ehs-ccp.Please note that the funding opportunity number FON has changed to HHS-2015-ACF-OHS-HP-0814.

Source: Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2015-ACF-OHS-HP-0814

Migrant and Seasonal Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships

Posted on by

5/15/14

Estimated Post Date: 5/20/14
Estimated Application Due Date: 8/4/14
Estimated Award Date: 11/4/14
Estimated Start Date: 12/1/14

Estimated Funding: $22,024,688
Estimated Number of Awards: 20
Estimated Award Ceiling: $22,024,688

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces the availability of approximately $22 million to be competitively awarded for the purpose of expanding access to high-quality, comprehensive services to low-income, migrant and seasonal infants and toddlers and their families through Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnerships, or through the expansion of Early Head Start services. ACF solicits applications from public entities, including states, or private non-profit organizations, including community-based or faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies that meet eligibility for applying as stated in section 645A of the Head Start Act.

For more information, interested applicants should visit http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/grants/ehs-ccp.

Please note that the funding opportunity number (FON) has changed to HHS-2015-ACF-OHS-HM-R12-0826.

Source: Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/hhsgrantsforecast/index.cfm?switch=grant.view&gff_grants_forecastInfoID=70262

American Indian/Alaska Native Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Grants

Posted on by

5/15/14

Estimated Post Date: 5/20/14
Estimated Application Due Date: 8/4/14
Estimated Award Date: 11/4/14
Estimated Start Date: 12/1/14

Estimated Funding: $14,683,125
Estimated Number of Awards: 20
Estimated Award Ceiling: $14,683,125

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces the availability of approximately $15 million to be competitively awarded for the purpose of expanding access to high-quality, comprehensive services to low-income infants and toddlers and their families through Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnerships, or through the expansion of Early Head Start services.  ACF solicits applications from public entities or private non-profit organizations, including community-based or faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies that meet eligibility for applying as stated in section 645A of the Head Start Act.

For more information, interested applicants should visit http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/grants/ehs-ccp.

Please note that the funding opportunity number (FON) has changed to HHS-2015-ACF-OHS-HI-R11-0825.

Source: Administration of Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/hhsgrantsforecast/index.cfm?switch=grant.view&gff_grants_forecastInfoID=70263

Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships

Posted on by

5/15/14

Estimated Post Date: 5/20/14
Estimated Application Due Date: 8/4/14
Estimated Award Date: 11/4/14
Estimated Start Date: 12/1/14

Estimated Funding: $650,000,000
Estimated Number of Awards: 300
Estimated Award Ceiling: $54,933,590
Estimated Award Floor: $750,000

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces the availability of approximately $500 million to be competitively awarded for the purpose of expanding access to high-quality, comprehensive services to low-income infants and toddlers and their families through Early Head Start-Child Care (EHS-CC) Partnerships, or through the expansion of Early Head Start services. ACF solicits applications from public entities, including states, or private non-profit organizations, including community-based or faith-based organizations, or for-profit agencies that meet eligibility for applying as stated in section 645A of the Head Start Act.

For more information, interested applicants should visit http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/grants/ehs-ccp.

Please note that the funding opportunity number (FON) has changed to HHS-2015-ACF-OHS-HP-0814.

Source: Administration of Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/hhsgrantsforecast/index.cfm?switch=grant.view&gff_grants_forecastInfoID=70264

What State Leaders Should Know About Early Head Start

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4/2014

By Hannah Matthews and Stephanie Schmit

Introduction
What is Early Head Start?

Early Head Start (EHS) is a federally-funded, community-based program that provides comprehensive child and family development services to low-income pregnant women and families with children under the age of 3. The mission of EHS is to support healthy prenatal outcomes and enhance the intellectual, social, and emotional development of infants and toddlers to promote later success in school and life.

All federally-funded EHS programs must comply with federal Head Start Program Performance Standards. These standards address: child health and development, education and early childhood development, child health and safety, child nutrition, child mental health, family partnerships, services to pregnant women, and services for children with disabilities.

Source: CLASP

Available at: http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/publication-1/State-Leaders-EHS-3.pdf

State Child Care Subsidy Policies that Support Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships A Tool for States

Posted on by

4/4/2014

Early Head Start (EHS)-Child Care Partnerships present an opportunity to extend access to high-quality comprehensive services to children eligible for and receiving child care subsidies. To make the most of this, states can review child care subsidy policies to identify opportunities to simplify and align policies in ways that support EHS-Child Care Partnerships by offering greater continuity for families and that make it easier for programs to administer such partnerships.

About this Tool. This tool offers a menu of key subsidy policies that would help children in partnerships get and keep child care assistance and support child care providers in the provision of high- quality infant toddler care. It can be used to identify a state’s current child care subsidy policies and strategize what state child care subsidy policy changes could be made, whether to work toward those changes in the short- or longer-term, and whether those changes need state gubernatorial action, legislative action, or an administrative or regulatory change. As states anticipate changes to the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG, also known as the Child Care and Development Fund or CCDF)1 program—either through new rules promulgated by the federal Office of Child Care (OCC) or through a Congressional reauthorization of CCDBG2–this tool also helps forecast how state policies may be required to change as compared to current law.

This tool is not meant to capture all state child care subsidy policies that improve continuity for infants and toddlers. It is also not intended as a complete guide to the content of the CCDBG reauthorization bill or proposed regulations. Rather, it identifies policies most relevant to supporting partnerships. While some policies are very specific to children in partnerships, others may be implemented to benefit all families receiving subsidies more broadly, including those in partnerships. This tool is divided into two sections. The first addresses helping families get and keep child care subsidies through policies related to enrollment, eligibility determination, and ongoing eligibility. The second section addresses how to support families and providers through payment policies including parent co-payments and provider payment rates and practices.

Assistance in using this tool is available from CLASP. Please contact Hannah Matthews at (202) 906- 8006 or hmatthews@clasp.org.

Source: CLASP

Available at: http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/publication-1/CLASP-ChildCareSubsidyTool.pdf