It has been a little over a month since I stepped into the role of Acting Deputy Secretary. As we look forward to the New Year, I want to share three core values to which I am deeply committed in this role:

Please know, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) will continue to foster collaborative relationships that will help drive this work. We are appreciative of every single person who works in the early childhood education field and those who tirelessly advocate on behalf of our providers, young children and families. You are all valued and appreciated, and we could not do this work without all of you!

Thank you and very best wishes as we move into 2023. I am excited about all we will accomplish together.

The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) welcomes Sharon Arabia as Acting Director, Bureau of Certification. Ms. Arabia took the acting position after Shante' Brown moved to OCDEL's Acting Deputy Secretary.

Sharon Arabia’s career beginning was as a Head Start home visitor, where she transitioned to the Allegheny County Children and Youth Services as a family service and adoption caseworker. Her currently 30-year commonwealth career was initially a Certification Representative, advancing into supervisor, followed by regional manager roles. Sharon earned a BA in Sociology from LaRoche College (University), and in 2022, earned the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) Credential. Sharon has been a presenter at Pennsylvania’s Early Childhood Education Summit and the NARA Annual Conference. She is also among the first class of graduates from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services' Leadership Institute. Sharon is committed to high standards through challenging the process, facilitating change, and collaboration to improve care in the early childhood education communities. Sharon is from Western Pennsylvania where she is married, with three adult children and one grandchild. 

The Bureau of Certification Services is responsible for the regulation of all child care centers, group child care homes and family child care homes in Pennsylvania. They oversee all aspects related to operating a licensed child care facility including:

The Bureau of Certification ensures that every licensed child care provider is complying with the applicable Regulations, or Pennsylvania Codes, for operating a licensed child care facility. Those with questions or concerns about the operation of a licensed child care may contact their Regional OCDEL office.

Applications are now open for the Office of Child Development and Early Learning's 2023 Pennsylvania Equity in Early Childhood Education Champion Awards.

The Pennsylvania Equity in Early Childhood Education Champion Awards bring awareness to and highlight the equity work being done within Pennsylvania’s early childhood education and afterschool settings, by child care, evidence-based home visiting and early intervention professionals, and organizations which support Pennsylvania’s Early Childhood Education programs and individuals, as it aligns with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Equity and Inclusion Toolkit, and with the position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education Position Statement.

Visit the Pennsylvania Key website for more information and how to apply.

Pennsylvania family leader's, Sadia Batool, story was highlighted in a recent release of U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Blog. Her passion for Early Childhood systems stems from her personal experience of receiving life changing early intervention services for her daughter with autism. Sadia credits the Penn State National Autism Conference and the State Interagency Coordinating Council as early supports which lead to her role as a family leader.

Sadia is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning Policy Fellowship program and serves as a family and professional representative on a variety of local, state, and national organizations. Sadia is committed to supporting families, parent leadership development, and meaningful family engagement. She currently works for the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) as Early Childhood Family Lead for Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems, and is working to coordinate, implement, and sustain an equitable, comprehensive, system that promotes early developmental health and family well-being.

On Oct. 5, 2022, Governor Wolf signed an Executive Order establishing State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (SAC) and five standing subcommittees: Access to Programs; Professional Development; Physical, Behavioral and Mental Health; Child Care Certification and Quality Rating; and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

SAC and SAC subcommittees have now been established, representing the diversity of Pennsylvania, and to allow for robust stakeholder participation and collaborative conversations and work between OCDEL, advocates, and providers. SAC Chair is Shante' Brown, Acting Deputy Secretary of OCDEL, and SAC Vice Chair is Dr. Leah Spangler, founding president and CEO of The Learning Lamp. Look for additional details in the upcoming months.

For more information and ongoing updates, please visit the Child Care Certification Regulation Rewrite Project page.

Join the PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) during the winter months for a series of four webinars on language and literacy development. These webinars will provide resources to share with families and use in classrooms and centers. These one-hour webinars will be offered for FREE from 1pm to 2pm on the following dates:

PQAS credit hours, Infant Toddler hours, and ACT48 hours available for these webinars. Get additional information on topics, credits, and registration. 

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has available two updated resources, created to help providers of early childhood education (ECE) programs in preventing suspension and expulsion in ECE programs.

Find both of these resources, as well as additional supports, on the Pennsylvania Key website.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) have available informational webinars and regional meetings to learn about the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts (PA PKC) program. Register now for the remaining webinars:

FY 2022-2023 is the last program year for the current five-year grant cycle of the PA PKC program. In the Spring of 2023, PDE will announce a full, competitive rebid. During the rebid, all eligible providers interested in receiving a grant must apply. It is important during the application process that eligible applicants fully understand the program regulations and expectations so that informed decisions can be made regarding whether to apply.

PDE recognizes the need to provide opportunities to learn about the program and to allow time for community needs assessments and regional collaboration, therefore informational webinar sessions will be offered through January 2023, and regional opportunities will occur in February 2023 before the official Request for Applications (RFA) is released. Learn more.

Pennsylvania’s Career Pathway will be enhanced through the development of two distinct competency-based credentials offering an alternative pathway for child care staff to achieve a credential showing competency-equivalence to Career Pathway Level A and Career Pathway Level B.

The Early Childhood Credential Project Team is interested in understanding the ways in which early childhood providers access educational opportunities. This survey is intended to discover how providers access opportunities or, if this is a challenge, what may work better for their busy lives.

The survey will be sent to all licensed child care facilities (center, group, and family child care) across Pennsylvania via email. The survey is voluntary. The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is encouraging all providers to complete the survey. Respond to this survey to be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a $250 Amazon Gift Card.

The survey can be completed by a program director or lead teacher. In addition to the email announcing the survey, which will come from First Start Partnerships, this link can also be used to complete the survey. Survey deadline is Jan. 10, 2023.

Attention Head Start and Early Head Start (HS/EHS) Federal Recipients! HS/EHS Federal recipients are currently exempt from using Pennsylvania’s Professional Development (PD) Registry to apply for and renew their STAR 4 reciprocal designation. However, because non-HS/EHS programs do use the Registry to apply for and renew their Keystone STARS designation, the Keystone STARS/Grant tab will appear as active to HS/EHS federal recipients as well. The Keystone STARS/Grant tab contains the Keystone STARS Designation and Annual Renewal applications.

HS/EHS Federal recipients should follow the guidance outlined in the ELRC Announcement 21-03: Eligibility and Process for Extending Keystone STAR 4 Reciprocity to Head Start and Early Head Start Federal Grant Locations to apply for and maintain their STAR 4 reciprocal designation.

There are steps that HS/EHS federal recipients and each of their locations can complete now in the PD Registry System including:

HS/EHS federal recipients and locations may receive autogenerated system email(s) from the PD Registry. HS/EHS federal recipients and locations can disregard any automated emails that are specific to Keystone STARS Designation and Annual Renewals. An example subject line in PD Registry autogenerated emails may read: ACTION REQUIRED: Time to submit your Keystone STARS Annual Renewal application.

2023

National Influenza Vaccination Week (Dec. 5-9, 2022) is a call to all Americans six months and older to get their annual flu vaccine if they have not already. Flu remains a significant public health concern, and this week will serve to remind people that there is still time to get a flu vaccine—the only vaccine that protects against flu—to prevent flu illness and potentially serious complications.

The flu vaccine is offered statewide throughout flu season at many locations, including doctor's offices, pharmacies, grocery stores with pharmacies and also at numerous Department of Health facilities. Find information on where to get an influenza vaccine.

The Pennsylvania Head Start Association (PHSA) is accepting proposals for the 2023 Annual Spring Conference, Growing to Amazing Heights: One Step at a Time, to be held March 28-30, 2023, in Champion, PA. Each workshop is 90 minutes long. Applicants are welcome to submit double and multiple sessions. Considerations for selection include:

Deadline for Submissions is COB, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. Click here for more info.

The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) invites you to apply for the 2023 Summer Learning Awards. Each year, the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) recognizes programs that provide high quality summer learning opportunities to young people in communities across the nation. Program candidates for the Summer Learning Awards demonstrate excellence in accelerating academic achievement and promoting healthy development for low-income children and youth between pre-kindergarten and twelfth grade.

Think your program has what it takes to be recognized as a national leader? Applications must be submitted by Dec. 16, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. E.T.

Early care and education (ECE) programs that support the well-being of all program staff are better able to provide the high-quality care and nurturing that young children need. Child care health consultants (CCHCs) have an opportunity to promote the physical and mental health of ECE program staff members by helping those programs implement wellness strategies. This National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety (NCHBHS)-sponsored webinar will discuss different program-level strategies to promote wellness by creating an environment that enhances staff members’ physical and mental health. The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Key topics include: Components of a healthy workplace and a culture of wellness; Common stressors, mental health, and staff wellness in programs; The ways in which CCHCs can support personal wellness within programs.

This webinar will benefit:

Register now!

Remember to bring your CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record card when you go for your updated vaccine. Visit cdc.gov/coronavirus or talk to a health care provider.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless, and deadly gas that can cause headaches, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, visual disturbances, and confusion in children and adults, even at low levels. CO can cause serious illness, unconsciousness, and death at high levels. CO can be emitted from defective heaters, furnaces, and appliances that use natural gas, oil, kerosene, propane coal, wood, charcoal, or other products that can produce CO. The Department of Health (DOH) recommends that childcare facilities install an Underwriters Laboratory (UL)-approved CO detector(s) in the hallway near classrooms. CO poisoning is preventable with properly functioning CO detectors. Please visit the Office of the State Fire Commissioner for more information about CO poisoning prevention.

Providers are encouraged to take DOH’s Choose Safe Places survey to learn more about best practices to ensure staff and children under their care are protected from CO poisoning and other potential environmental hazards. Providers can receive a certificate of acknowledgment to display at their business for taking the survey.

The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) recently released the brief, Assessing Uninsured Rates in Early Care and Education Workers, which highlights available evidence suggesting that early care and education workers serving children ages 0-5 (including child care, Head Start, and preschool teachers) are far more likely to lack health insurance than other educators.

In 2019, 15.7 percent of ECE center-based workers were uninsured. In comparison, 4.2 percent of all teachers (430,000 out of 10.2 million) were uninsured, and the national uninsured rate for the adult population ages 18-64 was 10 percent. A lack of health insurance leaves ECE workers less likely to receive preventive care and access health care services and at financial risk for unexpected health care costs. This risk is particularly concerning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as early care educators continue to work with unvaccinated children (especially given the lack of an approved vaccine for children under 5).

Early childhood providers may now be eligible for more affordable health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace due to expanded tax credits. Early childhood providers have played a crucial role for children, families, and communities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has expanded more affordable health coverage to early childhood providers due to the Inflation Reduction Act.

This two-page document, What Do Early Educators Need to Know About the Marketplace?, from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides critical information about how to access more affordable health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Caregivers of young Black children who lacked adequate access to economic and health-promoting resources during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to report their children being fussier or more defiant, and more anxious or fearful, according to a recent study, Examining the relationship between discrimination, access to material resources, and black children's behavioral functioning during COVID-19. Researchers also found a link between caregivers’ concern for children’s experiences of discrimination and children's externalizing behaviors. 

The brief, Rethinking Outdoor Space for High-Quality Early Learning, from New America provides concrete actions that child care providers can take to enhance their outdoor learning environments by featuring six exemplary programs that prove that outdoor learning is possible for everyone, including diverse communities, large or small spaces, urban or rural populations, warm or cold climates, and more.

Adults who grew up in cities with lead-contaminated water had lower cognitive functioning at age 72 than those who did not, researchers at the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reported in Science Advances. The researchers noted recent evidence showing “more than 40% of schools in the United States have higher than EPA-recommended levels of lead in their school tap water.” They contended their results point to the importance of regulation to prevent future childhood lead exposure.

In Pennsylvania, the Lead-Free Promise Project provides resources, including a Lead Poisoning Parent Resource Toolkit, a county-by-county interactive guide to care for a child who has been poisoned by lead based paint.

With the holiday season, families and friends may be looking for the perfect gift for a child. Did you know the perfect gift is at your fingertips?   

Click here to print the list in English or Spanish, and share with families or post in your classroom.

Do you or someone you know have a child that qualifies for special education, but doesn't know where to start? This new PaTTAN publication bundle includes several different publications that provide essential, comprehendible information to families who are new to special education! Click here to order or download.

Do you love toddlers? Do you wonder what their behaviors mean or how you can better support their foundational skills? The podcast series, Parallel Play, from the Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center is all about toddlers, development in toddlerhood, and how best to support children between the ages of 1 and 3. Listen as hosts discuss practical teaching strategies, developmental progressions, and the joys of toddlerhood. Designed with educators in mind, this series provides multiple opportunities to reflect on ways to support toddlers. 

Vroom has developed a guide to help have conversations with young children on topics like racism, discrimination and stereotyping. The Talking About Race with Young Children guide is a deep dive into the science of identity development. The guide focuses on positive ways to talk to your child about tough topics. Topics like racism, stereotyping and discrimination. These are important chats for every family and great opportunities for brain-building!

Sesame Street in Communities added new resources to their Staying Healthy topic page to help all families build healthy habits as a foundation for lifelong well-being.

These K-12 lessons, activities, and resources from the World Wildlife Fund are designed to help teach the planetary impact of what we eat and what we throw away. Lessons and activities are divided by grade band and include free slideshows, student activities, teaching guides, and discussion questions.

Pennsylvania Harvest of the Month (PA HOM) is a program developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Project PA (Penn State University) to promote a local agricultural product each month through schools, child and adult care centers /child care homes, and summer feeding sites. The program aims to provide participants with local, healthy products while supporting Pennsylvania farmers and producers. Check out the PA HOM website for more information about the program including the PA HOM calendar, downloadable items such as posters, other signage, fact sheets, family newsletter, stickers, and recipes featuring PA HOM items.

The November resources from Camille Catlett are now available. In the November release of Baby Talk, get details on A 5-Minute Daily Routine That Can Improve Listening Skills, How a Baby Learns Language in the Womb, and more. The November release of Natural Resources contains information about Two Mathematical Heads Are Better Than One: The Benefit of Peer-Based Learning in Preschool, Six Tips for Supporting Positive Peer Relations, and more.