OCDEL
The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning supports families and their children from prenatal through school age by using data, research and stakeholder guidance to assure high quality services.
January 2018 Top News
Message from Suzann Morris, Deputy Secretary

Happy 2018! OCDEL's  New Year's wish is for a happy and healthy 2018. We look forward to a year of working with our partners throughout the commonwealth to move forward quality early learning opportunities for all Pennsylvania children and families. 

On Monday, January 1, we kicked off the We Are Pennsylvania Early Care and Education campaign. During this 14-week campaign, you'll get to meet some of the faces of staff who work with families, early learning programs, and community partners to ensure that families have access to safe and supportive early learning environments for their children. Each week, we'll highlight a different aspect of OCDEL. I kicked off the first week--find out what I had to say about OCDEL, then follow our partner PA's Promise for Children on Facebook and Twitter for messages throughout the week.

Did you see Governor Wolf's announcement of a $1.4 million grant that will increase the quality of PA's early learning workforce? These federal funds from PA's Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant translates into improving the higher education opportunities for Pennsylvania professionals. 

Finally, although January 22, 2018 is the solicitation deadline for the evidence-based Home Visiting Expansion RFA, there are opportunities beforehand to receive information and submit questions about the RFA process. Check out the RFA and supporting documents for deadlines, additional information and to see if your agency qualifies. 
Early Education in Pennsylvania

RFAEvidence-based Home Visiting Expansion RFA Released 
Solicitation due date: January 22, 2018 

The Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning is offering funds through a Request for Applications (RFA), subject to the availability of funds, for the implementation or expansion of evidence-based home visiting programs for the period of February 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. 

Pennsylvania's goal is to have a shared commitment to comprehensive family support services, coordinated voluntary statewide home visiting programs, and effective implementation of high-quality evidence-based practices. The home visiting program is designed to: 
  • Improve coordination and integration of services for at-risk communities;
  • Identify and provide comprehensive services to improve outcomes for families who reside in at-risk communities;
  • Work effectively, collaboratively, creatively, and successfully to ensure that all families have access to high-quality programs for their children; and
  • Identify and use key data and research to improve policies and practices.
Please read through the RFA in its entirety to ensure you qualify before applying. Please also review the RFA for important dates and deadlines. The Commonwealth will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule. Questions regarding the RFA should be directed to the RA account (ra-pwpahomevisiting@pa.gov) with the subject titled Home Visiting Expansion RFA Question. Submitted questions cannot and will not be answered until the pre-proposal webinar. Questions answered verbally during the webinar will need to be confirmed in writing. Confirmed answers will be posted to the eMarketplace website.

Increasing Base Payment Rates for STAR 3 and STAR 4 Providers
 
As part of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning's (OCDEL) continuing efforts to support high quality child care, OCDEL will increase the subsidy base rates that are below the Maximum Child Care Allowance (MCCA) for STAR 3 and STAR 4 child care providers. Effective January, 1, 2018, all STAR 3 and STAR 4 child care providers who are being paid less than their published rates can receive a rate increase up to the Maximum Child Care Allowance (MCCA) if the published rate meets or exceeds the MCCA. The MCCA rates are established by OCDEL based on county, care level, provider type, and unit of care (part-time, full-time). In order to implement the base payment rate increase, eligible providers must submit their published rates to their Child Care Information Services (CCIS) agency. 
 
The Announcement has information relating to additional next steps.

Program Self Assessment Checklist to Support Certification Compliance 

OCDEL has released new user-friendly tools, designed to assist Child Care Center, Family and Group Child Care Home Providers in performing periodic reviews of their facility operations to achieve compliance with OCDEL certification regulations. When used regularly, these checklists can help to identify program strengths and gaps in the understanding of and compliance with OCDEL regulations.  These tools are a voluntary option for use if program staff find them helpful to support certification compliance.  View the Self Assessment Checklists and supporting webinar recording.

New Vendor for Digital Fingerprinting and What It Means for You 

The Commonwealth's Department of General Services recently transitioned to a new vendor for digital fingerprinting. The new vendor, IDEMIA, is now accepting registrations and completing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprinting for Pennsylvania agencies. 

You are required to pre-register before you go to your fingerprinting site. Once pre-registered, you may walk in during a location's posted hours of operation or you can schedule an appointment in advance. You do not have to schedule an appointment, however, scheduling an appointment may lead to lesser/no wait times. 

Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge

govwolfgrantGovernor Wolf Announces Grant to Support Quality Early Learning Professionals

Governor Tom Wolf recently announced a $1.4 million grant to increase the quality of Pennsylvania's early childhood learning professional workforce. The Higher Education, Early Child Care, and Community-based Partnership Working to Implement Innovative and Sustained Pathways grant will enable greater access for early childhood education staff to participate in and complete a credit-bearing Child Development Associate (CDA), associate degree, bachelor degree, and/or Pennsylvania PreK-4 teacher certification.

The competitive grant, made available through Pennsylvania's Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant, will support currently employed early childhood educators pursuing higher education. Drexel University, Carlow University, and Shippensburg University were successfully funded to build cross-systems partnership opportunities to identify and reduce barriers to access early childhood education degrees for currently employed early childhood educators. Read more. 

This initiative is in part by Pennsylvania's Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge grant. For more information on other initiatives funded by this grant, visit the  Pennsylvania Department of Education website.
Pennsylvania's PD Registry: Things To Know and Do

Follow the PD Registry on Facebook
 
Get the most up-to-date information about the PD Registry and easy to use tips on the PD Registry's Facebook page.

PQASPQAS Instructors: Close All Past Scheduled Events in the PD Registry
 
All past scheduled events in the PD Registry must be closed by January 15, 2018, so students receive all their proper credit before the February 2018 transition to the new Registry. If you have questions, email  registry@pakeys.org or call 1-800-284-6031.

Save or Print Current PD Plans or Transcripts

Early Learning Directors, did you know you can have your staff save or print off their professional development plans and Professional Development transcripts in the current registry? You can also do it for them and save hard copies. This data will automatically move over to the new system in February, but this is just a way to ensure you have everything saved.

To print or save a copy of your transcript in the current system, follow these steps.
  1. Log onto www.pakeys.org
  2. Enter email and password and click "login"
  3. Click PD Registry from the left menu
  4. Click "My Learning Path" on the left menu of the Registry
  5. Click "My Transcripts"
  6. Click "View as Report"
  7. Click the Transcript Report on the right side of the page.
  8. Save to computer or print.
To print or save a copy of your Professional Development Plan in the current system, follow these steps.
  1. Log onto www.pakeys.org
  2. Enter email and password and click "login"
  3. Click PD Registry from the left menu
  4. Click "My Learning Path" on the left menu of the Registry
  5. Click "My Professional Development Plan"
  6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Printer Friendly View"
  7. Right click on mouse to "Save" document.
  8. Print
Questions? Contact the PD Registry staff at pqas@pakeys.org.

Reminder: Temporary Hiatus on PQAS Applications
  • NEW PQAS Applicants: Applications will resume being accepted starting February 15, 2018.
  • PQAS Renewal Applicants: Renewal applications are accepted throughout the year with no change in acceptance timelines.   
Of Interest

Supervision On Demand Modules Available in Spanish

Looking for Spanish training around supervision? All of the Supervision On Demand modules are now available in Spanish from Better Kids Care! The one hour modules are easy to access. Log into the Better Kids Care system--the menu is on the left, then click on Leciones en Espanol and find all the lesson in Spanish, including the new ones on Supervision.

Supervision: Moving Children
Supervision: Counting Children
Supervision: Positioning, Where do I Stand?
Supervision: Staff: Child Ratios
Supervision: Playground Supervision
Supervision: Teamwork
Supervision: What's Required

Scholarships Open for 9th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference 
Application deadline February 12 

The National Farm to School Network is now accepting applications for scholarships to the 9th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, which will take place in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 25-27, 2018. This event is the top national training and networking event for farm to cafeteria professionals working to improve community health, build economic opportunities for farmers and producers, and ensure long-term sustainability for local food efforts nationwide. To ensure the conference reflects the full diversity of the movement, scholarships are prioritized for areas that include early care and education providers. Learn more and submit your application at farmtocafeteriaconference.org.

Ezra Jack Keats Foundation grant
Deadline: March 31, 2018
The Foundation is offering funding of up to $500 to design and implement a creative program for your school or library. Public schools, libraries, Head Start and preschool programs are encouraged to apply. Get more info.

Professional Development Opportunities Spring 2018

Now available are professional development opportunities via regional key funded courses available to all regional key regions in Pennsylvania. Check out the opportunities below.
Also available are Early Childhood Professional Development courses via Westmoreland County Community College. For more professional development opportunities, visit the PD Registry at www.pakeys.org.
Trends and Reports

Higher Quality Parenting and Home Environments Predict Young Children's Likelihood of Being in a Higher Functioning Group
New research from Frank Porter Graham's Family Life Project finds that aspects of parenting behavior--as well as home, child care, and neighborhood environments--are associated with the probability of being in a particular academic/socioemotional competence profile at 36 months of age.The study,  Profiles of academic/ socioemotional competence: Associations with parenting, home, child care, and neighborhood, explores factors that contribute to profiles of academic/socioemotional competence, including parenting behavior, and home, child care, and neighborhood environments. Three profiles of academic/socioemotional competence emerged: 1) Non-Compliant Average Achiever, 2) Unengaged Low Achiever, and 3) Engaged High Achiever. These three groups significantly differed on profile indicators and on early parenting behaviors, and home, child care, and neighborhood characteristics.   Study findings have implications for understanding the different profiles of young children's academic/ socioemotional competence, and the need to strengthen the early care and education environments of children in rural communities.

Strengthening Causal Estimates for Links Between Spanking and Children's Externalizing Behavior Problems

Establishing causal links when experiments are not feasible is an important challenge for psychology researchers. The question of whether parents' spanking causes children's externalizing behavior problems poses such a challenge because randomized experiments of spanking are unethical and correlational studies cannot rule out potential selection factors. The study, Strengthening Causal Estimates for Links Between Spanking and Children's Externalizing Behavior Problems, published in
, used propensity score matching based on the lifetime prevalence and recent incidence of spanking in a large and nationally representative sample (N = 12,112) as well as lagged dependent variables to get as close to causal estimates outside an experiment as possible. Whether children were spanked at the age of 5 years predicted increases in externalizing behavior problems by ages 6 and 8, even after the groups based on spanking prevalence or incidence were matched on a range of sociodemographic, family, and cultural characteristics and children's initial behavior problems. These statistically rigorous methods yield the conclusion that spanking predicts a deterioration of children's externalizing behavior over time.

benefitsCumulative Benefits on Investing in ECE Exceed Up-Front Costs

Investing Early: Taking Stock of Outcomes and Economic Returns from Early Childhood Programs follows up RAND's 2005 study on impact and economic returns of
early childhood interventions, exploring a broader range of intervention models and providing an updated synthesis from rigorous evaluation research. The study focuses on evaluations of 115 programs serving children or parents of children from prenatal to age 5 and examining outcomes for more than 3,180 children in 11 domains including behavior and emotion, cognitive achievement, child health, developmental delay, crime, and educational attainment. Across the programs RAND reviewed, 102 of them (89 percent) had a positive effect on at least one child outcome.
Resources

 
This report from RAND discusses the opportunities for supporting social-emotion learning (SEL) under Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the standards of evidence under ESSA, and SEL interventions that meet the standards of evidence and might be eligible for federal funds through ESSA. Federal, state, and district education policymakers can use this report to identify relevant, evidence-based SEL interventions that meet their local needs.

National Radon Action Month Resource 

January is National Radon Action Month (NRAM)! Join outreach efforts by communicating the importance of radon testing in schools and homes during NRAM. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is the #1 leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. See the flyer to share on NRAM that includes links to facts, graphics, customizable PowerPoint presentations and how to obtain test kits.

Guide By Your Side of Pennsylvania

Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side of Pennsylvania (GBYS) is dedicated to directly supporting families and their infants and toddlers who are identified with hearing loss by offering them the opportunity to talk to or meet face-to-face with a Parent Guide. GBYS Parent Guides are parents of children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind who have received special training. Parent Guides are able to bring their direct experience, specialized knowledge, and personal compassion to their role while making the family's needs their primary focus. See the website for more info.
Did you receive this from a friend? 
Click here to subscribe and get the PA Early Ed News directly to your email.
The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) provides families access to high quality services to prepare children for school and life success. 
  
Find more information about Quality Early Learning in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education News is a project of the Pennsylvania Build Initiative and the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Human Services to inform early learning professionals, the early childhood community, policymakers, community leaders and the public on developments in early childhood education and care in Pennsylvania.

Please feel free to forward this email to friends, family, and colleagues.  You may access archived copies at  the PA Key website .
We are where you are.