August 2014

Welcome Caitlin to the HSSCO!

We invite you to join us in welcoming Caitlin Jensen to the HSSCO! Caitlin Jensen will be our new Head Start State Collaboration Office Director effective October 1st. Caitlin joins us from Montana where she has served in many capacities for Early Learning. Caitlin previously served as the Head Start Collaboration Director for Montana where she partnered closely with Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting, the Child Care Block Grant, QRIS, Child Welfare IV-E Waiver and the Maternal and Child Health Title V Block Grant. She has a plethora of knowledge and experience in early learning systems, programs, policies and funding sources at both state and national levels.

Caitlin grew up in Olympia and graduated with a Masters Degree from the University of Washington in Social Work, Policy Practice with a focus on Maternal and Child Health and we are happy she is coming back to her roots and supporting early learning and Head Start here at DEL!

2014 Tribal Early Care and Education Conference: Strengthening the Circle for Tribal Families and Children

On August 12-14 about 180 Tribal Early Care and Education Staff from all over the state came together at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA to gain information and education on serving our children in Tribal communities. There were topics on S.T.E.M, Curriculum Development, Early Achievers, Licensing, Maternal Home Visiting, Male Involvement, Disaster Preparedness and Self Care and Parent Engagement with the UNI Mobile Lab. DEL hosts this conference every other year for those who work with Tribal families and communities.

Dan "Bones" Gleason from the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis offers an opening blessing and prayer and welcomed all tribes to their wonderful Great Wolf Lodge.

CHiXapkaid (Dr. Michael Pavel) from the University of Oregon College of Education offered the keynote address. "Dear Children, your families and communities love and care about you. They want you to forge an identity as a Native child. It is important to know about your language(s), your culture(s), and your history(ies). As you grow older, you will become confident and realize that your Native language, culture and history are fun things to learn about and will help you throughout your life."

We had 37 presenters from the Department of Early Learning, Child Care Aware, The Office of Child Care, University of Washington, Growing Up Wild, American Indian Health Commission, Foundation for Early Learning and the University of Oregon. (Pictured here is an activity from the "Growing Up Wild" Curriculum Training. Participants were asked to identify others with the same kind of plant they had been given and then talk about how they were similar. )

We had 172 participants from 27 tribes in the state who all work for or are affiliated with a tribal program that offers early learning, family support service, or health and human service programs.

DEL would like to thank the following people on the Conference Planning Committee for all their hard work.

o Cheryl Sample, Kalispel Tribe

o Jacki Haight, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe

o Kandi Kallappa, Makah Tribe

o Laura Waukeshon, Upper Skagit Tribe

o Stephane Jones, Samish Nation

o Tracy Mitchell, Chehalis Confederated Tribes

o Annie Cubberly, Child Care Action Council

o Marge Johnson, Child Care Action Council

o Allison Woody, Child Care Action Council

o Susan Yang, Thrive by Five Washington

o April Messenger, DEL, Head Start Collaboration Office

o Laura Dallison, DEL

o Agda Burchard, Office of Child Care, Region X

o Paul Noski, Office of Child Care, Region X

If you are interested in helping with the next Tribal Conference in 2016, please contact April Messenger. It is our goal to have at least one representative from each tribe on the planning committee.

Changes to the Early Learning Management System

We have recently made some changes to the ELMS system to better suit the needs of Early Achievers Applications in MERIT. There are now two categories for Early Head Start: Home Based and Center Based. If you have Early Head Start please log in to ELMS and update these numbers to reflect accurately your slot counts at the Grantee and Site Level.

These numbers help to determine a site's pathway for participation in Early Achievers. If you have any questions please call April @ 360 725 3517. All updates need to be made in ELMS by September 20th, 2014.

April is also able to update your sites information manually if you email the updated numbers to her at April.Messenger@del.wa.gov

Early Learning Guidelines Available Online

The Department of Early Learning (DEL), in partnership with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Thrive by Five Washington, published the Early Learning and Development Guidelines (guidelines) for children from birth through third grade. The guidelines replace the Early Learning and Development Benchmarks, which were first created in 2005 to outline what children know and are able to do at different stages of their development. The Guidelines are available in English and Spanish. Download an electronic copy here. Hard copies of the Guidelines are free of charge, but people who order are responsible to pay for handling and shipping. Order them at myprint.wa.gov

Contact Us!

We're on the web! www.del.wa.gov/partnerships/head-start

If you have suggestions for future newsletter topics or feedback/questions regarding any of the HSSCO's activities, please contact DEL's HSSCO Project Coordinator April Messenger at (360) 725-3517 or April.Messenger@del.wa.gov

We spotlight programs that are doing special events or initiatives in our newsletters. If you know of a program that deserves a spotlight, please email us!