In the news:

• National Preparedness Month
• Center Spotlight: Region 9
• Board Business: Executive Order 13658

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10/13/2016 - Children’s Environmental Health Day

CONGRATULATIONS to the following centers on their recent NAEYC re-accreditation:

• Uncle Sam's Academy for Tots- Kansas City, KS
• Green Byrne- Philadelphia, PA
• Diplotots Too- Washington DC

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) and the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) have launched a new emergency preparedness listserv for child care providers and operators, Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) staff, emergency preparedness experts, and other interested individuals.

The listserv will provide a forum for child care professionals from across the nation to:

• explore current issues,
• share leading practices,
• request assistance,
• pose questions to the community, and
• share resources and ideas that are relevant to the unique needs of child care emergency preparedness.

Topics may include: creating emergency plans, communicating with families, supporting young children’s emotional needs, protecting child care business records and continuity of operations. There is no cost to sign up for this listserv. For more information visit: http://usa.childcareaware.org/2016/03/ccaoa-and-nafcc-launch-emergency-preparedness-list-serv/

Quote of the Month:

"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children".

-Charles R. Swindoll

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National Preparedness Month

This year’s National Preparedness theme is “Don’t Wait, Communicate.” Please take steps to review your current emergency plan and communicate your plan to stakeholders, including enrolled families. Your plan should address procedures for:

• evacuation
• relocation
• shelter-in-place
• lock-down/ intruder alert
• communication and reunification with families
• continuity of operations
• accommodations of infants and toddlers, children with disabilities and medical conditions
• procedures for staff
• emergency preparedness training and practice drills

Child Care Providers in GSA-controlled space have access to emergency preparedness support from FPS, including Occupant Emergency Plan development and Active Shooter training. Please contact your GSA Child Care Coordinator if you need resources.  See also the Child Care Provider Emergency Preparedness Toolbox on http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/26340

Center Spotlight: Region 9

Ziggurat Child Development Center Playground

The Ziggurat Child Development Center held an Open House and Grand Re-opening on September 29th, to celebrate and share many improvements to the center.  The center staff, teachers, and GSA Field Office have been working hard to spruce up the equipment and facilities, with a new playground shade structure, new equipment, and a new focus on a high quality, home like environment. 

Board Business: Executive Order 13658

All GSA Child Care Center Boards (and providers) need to be aware of Executive Order 13658, “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors”, which requires all workers in Federal buildings to be paid the federal contractor minimum wage, which is currently (until 12/31/16) $10.15 an hour.

Executive Order 13658 was signed on February 12, 2014, and it applies to new contracts, agreements and licenses as of January 1, 2015.  Most of our existing license agreements have been grandfathered in without this clause but any new centers and change of providers will include this clause in the GSA license agreement.

So, as a Board, the first thing you should do is look at the current salary scale in your center to see if any of the staff are currently being paid less than $10.15 an hour.  If there are no salaries in this category, then you just need to make sure it stays that way going forward, and that you keep current with your salaries as the federal contractor minimum wage amount changes.  If there are some salaries in your center that are less than the federal contractor minimum wage, then as long as you have the current Provider under the current license agreement, you are grandfathered.  But going forward, you need to make plans to gradually get all of the salaries in your center up to the current minimum wage rate, in case there is a change in Provider or this order becomes applicable to current agreements as well.

For further information about Executive Order 13658 and how it will affect your particular child care center, you can contact the U.S. Department of Labor at www.dol.gov/whd/govcontracts or at 1-866-4-USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).