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ECEAP is Washington’s pre-kindergarten program that prepares 3- and 4-year-old children furthest from opportunity for success in school and life.
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ELMS Update
Setting Up the 2025-26 School Year in ELMS
- By Aug. 15, set up all contractor, site, and class pages for the new year in ELMS. This automatically sets up the new year in GOLD®. See Starting the New School Year in ELMS and the ELMS News page for details
Removing ELMS Access for Staff Not Returning:
- ELMS Administrators can remove ELMS access from staff who will not return this fall.
- Set ELMS to the 2025-26 school year (not in the school year they worked for you).
- Open the Staff tab, find the person and click “Edit.”
- Then click “Delete” next to the roles they are leaving.
- Open the Admin tab, find the person and click “Inactive” to remove their ELMS access.
ELMS changes 7/3/2025
Child Eligibility Update: You can now complete the prescreen/application process and enroll children in ELMS who turn 3 years old after Aug. 31 but otherwise meets the definition of eligible child in PAO-38(1)(a-f).
Please See ELMS News page for additional updates.
Staff Qualification Education Verification Update
There are exciting changes coming to education verification!
Education verification will no longer require official transcripts! Unofficial transcripts will now be accepted in most cases. We are excited that this will eliminate both a time and cost burden for people submitting their applications. All documents, and any questions about education verification, should be sent to Cultivate Learning at edverification@uw.edu.
Cultivate Learning at the University of Washington will now administer education verification. As recently as June, Centralia College handled this work.
As DCYF completes this transition, it may take longer to process applications. Thank you for your patience as we introduce a new team to this work. We will do everything we can to keep things running smoothly during the transition. If you have any questions, or if an issue arises during this time, reach out to MERIT@dcyf.wa.gov.
Now Available: Updated 2025–2026 Recruitment, Enrollment, and Eligibility Training
The 2025-2026 Recruitment, Enrollment, and Eligibility (REE) online training is now available at dcyftraining.com. Even if you have already completed an online REE class, we encourage you to take the time to watch this new version (approximately 2 hours). It includes updated information from the latest legislative session, new policies, and best practices.
Early Achievers
What’s New in Early Achievers – Finalizations and Timeline Adjustments Coming This Fall!
Exciting updates are coming to Early Achievers! Starting in early fall 2025, two important changes will help Early Achievers participants stay on track:
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Timeline Adjustments: DCYF is making a one-time timeline adjustment for participants impacted by the COVID-19 pause. If your program completed a Program Profile but hasn’t yet finalized the Quality Level, your due date will be updated based on the date your profile was submitted. When this update goes live in MERIT, you’ll be able to view your new due date in the My Timeline section under the Early Achievers tab in your Facility/Site Profile.
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Quality Level Finalization: MERIT will begin automatically finalizing Quality Levels for participants that haven’t finalized by their due date. You can still finalize your Quality Level at any time before your due date. To view your projected Quality Level or to finalize it in MERIT, visit the Quality Recognition Framework tab in your Facility/Site Profile.
Have questions? Please contact QRIS@dcyf.wa.gov — we’re happy to help!
Early Learning Facilities Funding Opens Sept. 1
The Washington State Department of Commerce Early Learning Facilities (ELF) program will open the 2025–2027 grant application at 7 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2025. Applications will be accepted through ZoomGrants and are due by 5 p.m. on Oct. 31, 2025.
ELF grants support ECEAP contractors and Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) providers to expand, remodel, purchase, or construct early learning facilities and classrooms that support increased access to early learning opportunities for families receiving WCCC and/or ECEAP services. Eligible applicants include nonprofits, public entities, tribes, school districts, and for-profit businesses.
These funds support capital projects in various stages of development, including:
- Pre-design
- Pre-development
- Construction, Renovation, and Acquisition
- Maintenance Funding for Health and Safety *
*This option is available for licensed and certified for payment only providers.
Visit Commerce’s ELF website for updates, resources, and to subscribe to receive email alerts.
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In This Issue:
Aug. 15-
- For Working Day services only: Finalize Summer GOLD checkpoint (optional)
- Complete Contractor, Subcontractor, site and class information in ELMS for new school year
- ELMS Child and Family Updates
- ELMS Monthly Report
- Submit A-19
- CNF Monthly Spending Report (if applicable)
Contractors | Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families
Recruitment Eligibility and Enrollment | Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families
This monthly newsletter informs, educates, and inspires child care providers, professionals, and advocates. Read previous issues on the Engagement Efforts Newsletters webpage and subscribe at Early Care and Education Newsletter.
Questions?
Email questions about newsletter topics to eceap@dcyf.wa.gov or your Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Specialist.
For additional information about ECEAP or the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), please visit our Contractor webpages.
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New State Laws Help Open Doors to More Child Care Access
Great news! Recent legislation reduces barriers to early education and child care providers.
Individuals wanting to become licensed child care providers, and community organizations, such as churches, seeking to use existing facilities for child care programs, can benefit from local siting and zoning changes aimed to expand places where child care can be made available.
Three new laws, that are effective July 27, 2025, were created to ease the burden to do business in Washington state for child care providers, or prospective child care providers. Further, the legislature funded DCYF to provide technical assistance to individuals and organizations that want to become a provider or expand their early learning child care facilities.
To learn more about the new law changes, read the DCYF web article.
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Spread the Word about Free/Low-Cost Child Care
Many families living in Washington state qualify for free or low-cost child care, but they may not know about it. You can help by sharing information with parents, caregivers, and your community.
DCYF has put together a toolkit with ready-to-use materials that make spreading the word easy!
Visit www.dcyf.wa.gov/childcare/toolkit to access printable flyers, sample social media posts, and email templates.
Whether you work directly with families or want to help your community stay informed, these resources make it easy to connect families to the support they need.
Want to know more about the Working Connections Child Care Subsidy Program? Visit www.dcyf.wa.gov/childcare or call 844-626-8687. Help is available by phone in multiple languages.
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ECEAP On-Demand Training in the DCYF LMS
Sign up for training by logging into your MERIT account and select “Find Training.”
- ECEAP No Expulsion: Overview of ECEAP’s no expulsion policy and practice.
- ECEAP 101: Introduction to ECEAP for prospective ECEAP providers.
Navigating Complex ECEAP Eligibility Scenarios – Workshop Aug. 28
Join us from 9-10:30 a.m. on Aug. 28 for an interactive workshop focused on navigating complex ECEAP eligibility and enrollment scenarios. We’ll delve into real-life examples where eligibility is not straightforward and examine strategies for making informed, policy-aligned decisions. This is an excellent opportunity to strengthen your skills and collaborate with peers on tricky cases that don’t always fit neatly into the guidelines.
Join the Navigating Complex ECEAP Eligibility Scenarios Workshop
No ECEAP Coach Check-In This Month – See You in September!
- There will be no ECEAP Coach check-in in August. We’ll see you next month for our first check-in of the 2025-26 program year from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5! Check-ins are on the first Friday of the month from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
- Join at ECEAP Coach Check-In
Mobility Mentoring® Monthly Webinar
Family Support Staff Check-In
Las Platicas De El Puente
This monthly check-in is offered in Spanish only.
Mobility Mentoring® Online Foundations Course
This course is available for all family support staff to access at no charge. It is designed for learners to see Mobility Mentoring® in action, learn about intentional practice, and prepare them to use the coaching approach. The course is broken into four modules that take between 8-10 hours to complete. If you are new to the platform, you must first click the button that says, “sign up.”
Mobility Mentoring® Foundations Monthly Reflection Session
Completion of this session is mandatory to receive STARS credit and to be eligible for Trauma-Informed Care incentives. After successful completion of the Mobility Mentoring® Foundations Course, you will need to attend one reflection session to receive STARS credit.
Health Coordinator Check-In
Join us for the Health Coordinator check-ins as we discuss trends, share resources, and plan for the coming year.
Teaching Strategies ECEAP Office Hours
Register to attend Teaching Strategies ECEAP Office Hours. Register in advance and attend to get answers to your specific questions about any of your Teaching Strategies digital resources.
ReadyRosie for ECEAP - How to Get Started
Join us to learn how to get started with ReadyRosie! This session is for administrators and educators new to ReadyRosie or those needing a refresher. In these sessions, we'll cover: What is ReadyRosie? How to invite families to join, share customized content, communicate with families, and read data.
Meaningful Makeovers Videos
Research shows that small changes to a classroom can make a big impact on a child’s learning. Need some ideas to create a more engaging early learning environment? Meaningful Makeovers is a web series from the University of Washington Cultivate Learning for educators and early learning providers that offers tips, visuals, and inexpensive solutions to transform environments.
We're excited to share that all these episodes are available to watch on YouTube! Start with Season 1, Episode 1, now!
Reflective Practice Groups
The Center for Early Relational Health at Akin is hosting FREE monthly virtual Reflective Practice Groups for King County providers focused on Relational Health in Mental Health settings. Groups are available in Arabic, Spanish, and English. For more information, contact the Center for Early Relational Health at Connect@CERH.org.
Re-Imagining Behavioral Health: Race, Equity & Social Justice Conference
This two-day virtual conference is free to attend. It is designed to empower individuals and teams who want to advance health equity and support diversity and inclusion in behavioral health. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 25, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 26.
The Power of Pretend Play: How you can support young children’s power, identity and agency through play
Join author and early childhood play advocate Mike Huber in this webinar where you will learn practical strategies you can use with young children to support this sense of power in pretend play and in real ways.
Understanding Racism’s Impact on Child Development
In this webinar, our panel of experts, including CARE Co-Director Stephanie Curenton, PhD, discuss the impact of racism on child development and lifelong health. The panelists share strategies for dismantling systemic barriers and working toward solutions that promote healthy child development. Watch the webinar in English here and Spanish here.
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