 DEL Director Dr. Bette Hyde
I was invited to present at a First Five Years Fund briefing last month in Washington, D.C. The focus of the briefing was how states are delivering comprehensive services, and how the federal government can partner with states on implementing early learning policy that makes an impact for children. I spoke about Washington's innovative work in building a high-quality early learning system. I was joined on the panel by individuals from Virginia and Texas.
You can watch the full briefing, Encouraging Innovation in Early Learning: Building a Better U.S. From Birth to Age Five.
This state/federal partnership conversation is exciting for Washington. The Obama administration recently issued its budget proposal, a centerpiece of which is a major expansion of high-quality early learning programs. President Obama proposes $75 billion over 10 years in mandatory funding for preschool expansion, $15 billion over 10 years for home visiting and $1.4 billion for Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships for infants and toddlers.
Certainly, it takes considerable time for any proposal to make its way through Congress and become an actual funded initiative. Still, we are excited that the federal government is not only taking notice of our work to build a high-quality early learning system, but considering putting funding in place that will help move this work forward more quickly around the nation. You can read more in President Obama’s proposal.
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 Early Achievers, Washington’s quality rating and improvement system, is a voluntary program that gives participating child care providers training, coaching and scholarships to help them provide high-quality child care. Starting July 1, Early Achievers will complete its statewide roll-out to be available to providers in all Washington counties.
DEL partners with Child Care Aware of Washington to work with child care providers who participate in Early Achievers. This month, we hear about their work in Northwest Washington.
Early Achievers is expanding to the Northwest Region on July 1, 2013. What have you been doing to prepare for implementation?
Our fabulous Child Care Aware of Northwest team has been attending to Early Achievers professional development and enthusiastically preparing themselves and our child care professionals throughout our region since late 2012. We have presented information at local conferences, association meetings, early learning coalitions, facilitated Early Achievers Information Sessions, and supported providers in their journey to become Merit experts! In May, we began scheduling and presenting pre-enrollment orientations and will continue to do so throughout the five counties.
One of our first orders of business this spring was to hire Early Achievers Regional Coordinator Elaine Larson, who joined us on April 1.
She has been busy learning the details of this quality rating and improvement system as well as developing internal systems and procedures for outreach, marketing, tracking and implementation.
Please tell us a little about your Early Achievers team.
Our fearless leader, Early Learning and Family Services Department Manager Wilanne Ollila-Perry, has been an early childhood administrator at the Opportunity Council for 27 years, supporting numerous programs along the way such as Child Care Aware, Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT), Family Child Care Nutrition Program, Homeless Child Care Subsidy, Head Start and ECEAP.
Elaine Larson, our Early Achievers Regional Coordinator’s background includes school age center director, Provider Services Director for Child Care Resources/King County for 13 years, and recently a DEL child care center licensor in Snohomish County for the past 10 years.
Our long time lead staff in the process of transitioning to an Early Achievers focus includes Program Coordinators Nahrin Aziz Parsons and Julie Wasilewski, and Behavior Specialist M. Bracken Marren. Julie, our CLASS expert, and Bracken both have experience as child care providers and o- site coaching. Nahrin, our lead literacy coach, has a master's degree in education.
Our Program Assistant Rebecca Aust joined us in December. In June, we will be hiring three highly qualified Early Achievers Technical Assistance Specialists who will be ready to help providers starting July 1.
What can providers look forward to on July 1st? What types of resources and supports are available?
Come July 1, providers in Island, San Juan, Skagit Snohomish and Whatcom counties will finally be able to register for Early Achievers! Our team will be ready to provide technical assistance, workshops, CLASS and ERS expertise and on-site visits. Orientations will continue to be held, and (as needed) assistance with MERIT. The “next step” after Early Achievers registration— in-person workshops—will begin in the late summer/early autumn. And, we will soon have an office in Snohomish County.
How can providers in your region get more information about Early Achievers?
Providers can e-mail us at childcare@oppco.org
Or call Child Care Aware of Northwest Washington at (360) 743-8396 or 1-888-444-1862 ext. 227
We look forward to hearing from you!
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On July 1, 2012, the Department of Early Learning (DEL) instituted portable background checks, which are valid for three years and are attached to the individual, even if they change employers. All individuals who are required to undergo a background check must have applied for the new portable background check between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013. If you have not yet applied for a portable background check, you must do so before June 30, 2013.
Individuals must first register in MERIT and apply for a STARS ID if they do not already have one. More information about portable background checks is available on DEL’s website.
The first-ever Early Achievers Institute: Supporting High Quality Programs will be held in three locations around the state this year, starting in SeaTac on June 28-30.
Learn about effective, evidence-based strategies to promote learning across all developmental domains while meeting high-quality standards for early learning.
Join colleagues, peers and experts from including the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations of Early Learning, the University of Washington, Child Care Aware and more! Don’t miss this great opportunity to get fresh ideas and materials to support your practice.
Registration is open to Early Achievers child care facilities and their staff.
Find out more information and register.
Child care providers are required to take this free training if they receive child care subsidy payments from the state as a licensed family home child care provider, or a family, friend and neighbor (FFN) child care provider.
You learn about:
- Billing changes, including recent changes to the rules.
- What you can bill for and how to make sure your payments are correct.
Take this training at: www.wachildcaretraining.com. You can:
- Register as a new user.
- Log in if you've taken a previous version of the training.
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Print your certificate from an previous training.
You can also call 1-866-416-4321 ext. 108 to have a copy of the training mailed to you.
Need extra help taking this training online? Use Child Care Aware of Washington's step-by-step guide that can help you navigate from signing in to logging out.
Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge work in Washington state
The Department of Early Learning recently issued a report about the work we've done in the first year of the Race to the Top-Early Learning challenge grant award. Washington was one of nine states that won a grant in December 2011. We won $60 million over four years that we are required to use to build a statewide early learning system. The year one report summarizes the strides we've made in professional development, WaKIDS and Early Achievers. Read it here.
Early Achievers information for families
On July 1, DEL will launch the third and final phase of the statewide rollout of Early Achievers, Washington's quality rating and improvement system. Early Achievers is voluntary for child care providers and offers them free technical assistance, professional development and mentoring while they work to improve the quality of their child care program. For families, knowing that your child care provider is participating in Early Achievers is a sign of the provider's commitment to high-quality child care.
DEL developed videos that explain what Early Achievers means to child care providers and to families. Take a look to learn more!
Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines
The Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines help teachers, child care providers and families learn about healthy child development from birth through age 8. The Guidelines are available in English and Spanish. Read more about how to order the Guidelines.
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