Progress is not accomplished within a bubble, and the progress being made around quality early learning for Pennsylvania children and their families is no exception. OCDEL relies heavily upon partnerships to make an impact, and the September edition of the PA Early Ed News highlights some of these accomplishments. 

A partnership with PolicyLab has resulted in securing a session at a national conference in January 2020 focusing on a priority of the Wolf administration-- supporting families impacted by opioid use. Register for the conference so you can have a front row seat for this much anticipated session.

The Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRCs) and their Local Leadership Councils (LLC) have formed unique partnerships to make connections within communities to address the necessary skills children and families, prenatal to grade 3, need to improve child outcomes and prevent or close achievement gaps. This partnership encourages an understanding of the early education and school-based educational systems which children and families navigate. It also helps to build relationships among these leaders to create coordinated, aligned, and coherent learning experiences for students and their families.

There's a strong connection between oral health and problems with eating, speaking, playing and learning. The PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (PAAAP) Healthy Teeth Healthy Children (HTHC) and OCDEL have partnered to ensure that 500 families receiving evidence-based home visiting services have access to oral health information via the Oral Health Story Kits, as well as information on how to access services at the Early Learning Resource Centers. 

The PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), in partnership with PolicyLab, is scheduled to present the session, Building Local Infrastructure to Support Families Impacted by Opioid Use, at the 2020 National Home Visiting Summit being held Jan. 29-31, 2020, in Washington, DC. A government-academic partnership between the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning and PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is using a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the implementation of substance use-specific programming in evidence-based home visiting (EBHV) as a promising intervention mechanism to provide supports to families in communities with a high burden of opioid use disorders. This session will highlight diverse practices and unique partnerships that are being tested in the field to engage families who have been affected by the opioid crisis. It will follow the format of a round table discussion open to all stakeholders who are interested in the topic.  Click here to register for the 2020 National Home Visiting Summit.

Applications for Infant Toddler Contracted Slots Program are being accepted through the Sept. 9 deadline. The Infant Toddler Contracted Slots Program builds upon the already established infrastructure of the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts (PA PKC) Program model. PA PKC has been in existence since 2007 and provides high quality pre-kindergarten services to eligible children. Building an infant toddler focused program with established PA PKC programs will allow continued focus on quality programming while building strong transitions from infant-toddler to pre-kindergarten classrooms. Visit the PA Key website for additional information, including application guidance.

Programs funded by the PA Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and community organization that support families with young children are invited to apply to participate with the Be Strong Parent Café Training Institute (PCTI). Through the efforts of the PA Strengthening Families Leadership Team with funding from the OCDEL and facilitated by the Center for Schools and Communities, Pennsylvania has offered the Be Strong PCTI since 2016 and developed over 40 locally based teams. Now four PCTI events are being held to encourage more communities to use the forum for engaging family members/family leaders in learning more about the protective factors that keep their families strong. The PCTI will support partners in growing peer relationships among parents as they examine the Strengthening Families Protective Factors within their own lives. This often results in parents demonstrating stronger leadership skills within their family, the organization and/or community and school.

To learn more, read this announcement. To apply, complete this form and return it no later than September 15, 2019, via email or fax to 717-763-2083. The dates and locations of the Institute are:

Questions about the Be Strong Parent Café model or about participation should be directed to Rijelle Kraft at 717-763-1661 x221 or rkraft@csc.csiu.org. 

With the deadline of September 20, 2019 there is still time remaining to apply for the Building Capacity for Coaching Initiative, a collaboration between t he Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and The Pennsylvania Key. The purpose of this initiative is to leverage coaching supports from Penn State Better Kid Care (BKC) and other professional growth activities in order to develop internal coaches in STAR 3 and STAR 4 facilities. Selected applicants will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of early childhood practices and must have the approval of their administrator or director as this will require a time commitment.

 

What participants will gain:

 

Visit the PA Key website for more information, including expectations, requirements of participation and how to apply.

Early Childhood professionals whose Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential lapsed or expired can take advantage of a limited time CDA renewal Amnesty program, beginning Jan.1, 2020 - March 31, 2020. This means if an ECE professional completed their CDA anytime after Jan. 1, 2010. and did not submit a renewal to keep the CDA current, they can take advantage of this opportunity to reinstate their CDA credential. The renewal program is eligible for Rising Stars Tuition Assistance (RSTA). To apply for Financial assistance, ECE professionals need to complete their profile in the PD Registry to see the Financial Assistance tab. For more information about RSTA, please visit the PA Key website.

To qualify for the CDA renewal Amnesty program, the following eligibility requirements must be met:

The program will run from Jan. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2020. All applications and payments ($125) must be submitted online by March 31, 2020.  

Over 150 participants came together late August 2019 for the Pennsylvania's Prenatal to Grade 3 (P-3) Governor's Institute (GI), to assist Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRC) and their Local Leadership Councils (LLC) to work in an integrated and collaborative way within the local early learning service community. In turn, the collaboration builds on the enhanced visibility of the ELRC as a hub for early learning resources and connects with a diverse group of community stakeholders. These teams help assemble and strengthen strong, clear, and shared leadership at the local level to move forward an early learning agenda and to make vital connections necessary for student success.

Each team left the P-3 GI with a deeper understanding and commitment to their personal connection and leadership role within the effort, and a greater awareness of the P-3 Model and it's relationship to the LLC's early learning agenda. 

For more information about Pennsylvania's P-3 efforts, visit the PA Key website. For more information about ELRCs, visit www.raiseyourstar.org.

A partnership between the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (PAAAP) Healthy Teeth Healthy Children (HTHC) has resulted in 500 Oral Health Story Kits for evidence-based home visitors to be distributed to families during the summer 2019. Oral health projects in Pennsylvania in recent years have targeted medical, dental, and child care providers to improve family oral health habits and increase access to care. In 2015, the HTHC, a program of PAAAP, developed a community-based health literacy resource – the Oral Health Story Kit for Public Libraries – to raise awareness, provide resources, and encourage positive oral health behavior change in a trusted setting by recruiting librarians as advocates and educators. With the support of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to support oral health workforce activities in Pennsylvania, an Oral Health Story Kits for Home Visitors prototype was developed and piloted between October 2018-May 2019. 

The Oral Health Story Kits for Home Visitors are designed to be self-sustaining educational oral health resources for use with the general public without the assistance of an oral health professional, in order to make them easy to use. They also now contain information about Pennsylvania's Early Learning Resource Centers for families to access additional supports around early learning. For more information about the Oral Health Story Kit project, please contact Healthy Teeth Healthy Children Program Director Kristin Haegele Hill at hthc@paaap.org or 484-446-3059. 

The Early Bird Registration Period has ended, but it’s not too late to register for the 12th Annual Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education Conference to be held in State College from Oct. 21 – 23, 2019. Get all the latest and greatest information on state and national trends in early childhood education. Remember: All staff members at PACCA or PHSA member programs receive a $50 discount on their registration fees. Keynote speakers this year include Francis Wardle (10/22), author of Oh Boy! Strategies for Teaching Boys in Early Childhood , and Bela Mote (10/23), CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Chicago. Questions about Summit? Contact here .

Families in south western and north western Pennsylvania are now able to use the eWIC card instead of a paper check to purchase nutritious food. South central Pennsylvania began rollout of the eWIC card in the counties: Adams, Bedford, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Somerset, Snyder, Union, and York. The program will be rolled out in the western part of the state in the next several months.

The eWIC card allows families quick, easy and convenient shopping for food benefits. Families who receive eWIC cards will no longer receive paper checks, saving them time at the grocery store checkout. They can now buy WIC foods in as many shopping trips as they need throughout the month. Previously, the paper check had to be used in one trip. Participants also will have access to the free WICShopper smart phone app for Android and Apple operating systems, which allows them to scan a product’s bar code to determine if it is a WIC-allowed food. For more information, visit the PA WIC website.

September is National Emergency Preparedness Month. Use this month to help families and providers prepare for an emergency like floods, fires, winter storms and more. 

A new report, States' Payment Rates Under the Child Care and Development Fund Program Could Limit Access to Child Care Providers , from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General provides stunning evidence of the extent to which state Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) policies fail to adequately address eligible families’ needs due to low reimbursement rates and other problems including perceived paperwork burdens. The Inspector General obtained information for the study by surveying providers and state agencies. Most providers of full-time infant care, including most providers serving CCDF children, charged higher rates than the state reimbursed. A substantial percentage of providers charged more than 50% above the state reimbursement rate. The report includes state-by-state data for those interested in knowing how their state fares. It also makes recommendations for steps the federal government can take to support improvements by the states.

A recent study, Within-Year Teacher Turnover in Head Start and Children’s School Readiness, released from EdPolicyWorks, found using FACES data reports high rates of within-year teacher turnover in Head Start and finds that this turnover is negatively associated with children’s learning and development. Although inadequate pay is an understood cause of high teacher turnover, past studies have identified lack of supports within early childhood programs as a source of turnover. This study adds another reason for concern that Head Start teachers need to receive strong supports for professional development at induction and subsequently. There are over 42,000 Head Start teachers tasked with educating and supporting some the most at-risk children in the United States.

New work from Child Trends and Trilogy Interactive, Assessment and Mapping of Community Connections in Home Visiting, presents the prototype of a tool to enhance home visiting stakeholders’ understanding of connections between Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs and other community services. To support stakeholder needs, the project presents opportunities to improve the availability and quality of data about community resources and the needs of families served by home visiting programs. It is critical for home visiting stakeholders to understand these connections so they can help families get the support they need. The report shares several reflections on what the team learned through the project activities. 

PA's Promise for Children offers family-friendly information based on the latest research for topics like sleep, parent's mental health, challenging behaviors, toys, transitions and more. Each month, find a new topic with resources and videos in the Learning is Everywhere newsletter, or take a look at the archived articles. September's topic: Transitions with Young Children.

A new resource The Starting Line, a newsletter for early childhood educators from A Running Start – Health, Philadelphia's initiative to improve children's well-being has information, resources and tips to help support children's healthy development. Although it's published specifically for Philadelphia area educators, providers in other communities may find the contents helpful. 

Read the latest Brush Up on Oral Health tip sheet to learn about challenges pregnant women and children in rural areas face in accessing oral health care. Find tips Head Start staff can use to develop a plan to help families find and access oral health care. There’s also a recipe for a red, white, and blue fruit salad that can be made in a Head Start classroom or at home.

Trauma is something our children can carry into adulthood, increasing their risk of cancer, heart disease, depression, and addiction. This award-winning video from Center for Youth Wellness addresses the impact of trauma and toxic stress on children and the impact a caring adult can make.

The August edition of BabyTalk from Camille Catlett has information on sharing stories and encouraging imagination, how too much screen time can hurt toddler's social skills, tips for a child who is picky eater and more. 

School is right around the corner, and it’s the time to maintain or build new relationships with your host school. The document, School Connections, from OCDEL and the PA Key provides information on what are school connections and how they benefit children and families, embracing a village philosophy, building trusting relationships and more. 

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy recently shared a Farm to Early Care publications: a set of seven written Farm to Head Start Case Studies and three Farm to Head Start videos highlighting how the Minnesota Head Start Program partners have adapted the Farm to Early Childhood Education model to fit the needs of their communities. This resource was created to showcase the great work being done, and also to illustrate the diversity of ways to create a successful Farm to Head Start initiative. 

Disasters and emergencies happen all the time. And unfortunately, there may be challenges that a provider faces during a disaster that affects a program, staff, and the children in care. Understanding this, the   Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition   Child Care Section has worked to mitigate one challenge that providers could face – preparing how infants and young children will be fed safely.  Through a collaborative partnership process, the Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition Child Care Section created  Guidelines to Support the Breastfeeding Infant During Emergencies While in Child Care . This checklist was created for child care providers to think through what is needed for the breastfed infant if the emergency occurs while they are in the facility or outside the facility.