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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.
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Message from Suzann Morris, Deputy Secretary
As we kick off fall throughout Pennsylvania, we are excited to share positive information on early care and education in the commonwealth.
Pennsylvania is a recipient of the
HRSA award of $11,704,276 to support Pennsylvania families through the MIECHV program. These funds will allow us to continue to serve some of the most at-risk families through evidence-based home visiting programs, improving material and child health, preventing child abuse and neglect, encouraging positive parenting, and promoting child development and school readiness.
A
new study shows the long-term benefits of Head Start--benefits that last from one generation to the next. These benefits include less teen parenting and criminal activity, as well as greater higher ed attainment.
There are
exciting new changes in the works for the PD Registry. It will mean a more intuitive system that is easier to use, with features that will make it a more robust experience when early learning professionals search for and pursue professional development.
The upcoming
2017 Family Engagement Conference provides opportunities for families and professionals to gain strategies for family engagement through engaging workshops, cafe conversations, and networking. There are two locations for this one-day conference, so please share this info with families in your programs, and encourage them to attend.
Congratulations to the twelve individuals selected to participate as
2017-18 OCDEL Fellows. We look forward to the insight and contributions with this cohort.
We hope to see you at the
Early Childhood Summit in State College. Look for the OCDEL 10th year photo booth to share how OCDEL programs have made an impact in your life and the families you serve.
Finally, as of the release, the Pennsylvania budget is not finalized, but negotiations are set to begin as both the House and Senate are in session.
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Early Education in Pennsylvania
HRSA Awards $11,704,276 to Support Pennsylvania Families Through the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program 
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recently announced $11,704,276 in for FY 17-18 funding to Pennsylvania through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV Program). These funds will allow Pennsylvania to continue to provide voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services to women during pregnancy, and to parents with young children up to kindergarten entry.
"The MIECHV Program helps parents and caregivers connect with services and resources and improve the skills they need to support their families' well-being and provide the best opportunities for their children," said HRSA Associate Administrator for Maternal and Child Health Michael Lu, M.D., M.S., M.P.H. "In these voluntary programs, trained nurses, social workers, early childhood educators, or other trained professionals meet regularly with expectant parents or families with young children in their homes, building strong, positive relationships with families who want and need support."
Administered by HRSA, in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families, the MIECHV Program gives pregnant women and families, particularly those considered at-risk, necessary resources and skills to raise children who are physically, socially, and emotionally healthy and ready to learn. Get more info about Home Visiting programs in Pennsylvania.
House Passes Reauthorization of Early Childhood Home Visiting Program
The federal program uses voluntary home visits to support prenatal health, childhood development, financial independence, and to prevent child abuse and neglect. In addition to reauthorizing MIECHV through 2022 at current spending levels, the bill would require states to document the program's impact on families, prioritize support for high-need communities, and strengthen state, local and private partnerships.
Child Care and Early Education Funding in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) recently released the report, Child Care and Early Education Funding in Pennsylvania, which provides an overview of the economic impacts of state spending on subsidized child care and no-cost pre-kindergarten programs in Pennsylvania. Highlights within the report include:
- It is estimated that state funding on Pre-K Counts and Child Care Works (CCW), combined with federal matching CCDFBG funds and the associated parent copayments yielded $1.2 billion in total economic activity for FY 2015-16. -For FY 2015-16, the state funding generated a total of $474.9 million in spending on PA child care and early education, which included $45.4 million in parent copays.
- The state funding triggered an additional $69.9 million in spending from federal CCDFBG matching funds.
Changes to PD Registry Benefits PA's Early Childhood Professionals
Early childhood professionals, your voices have been heard! In response to feedback and to meet the growing needs of Pennsylvania's early learning workforce, the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) announces the PD Registry will undergo a redesign in the coming months. The goal of the redesign is to build a system that is easy to navigate, seamless, reliable, and intuitive. The PA Key Registry team is excited for the opportunity to ease the burden of course entry and course searches and will be providing support throughout the process.
The new registry will be live early 2018. Watch for announcements in future editions of the PA Early Ed News for scheduled online demonstrations and opportunities for support, such as:
- More intuitive course entry and training event scheduling for instructors.
- Easy payment options for both practitioners and program directors registering staff.
- Google Maps for location of trainings.
- Sorting and filtering capabilities for courses-online, face-to-face, webinar, etc.
- One stop shopping--portal and registry will be combined into one comprehensive system.
2017-18 OCDEL Fellows Selected
With generous support from the Grable Foundation, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has accepted 12 fellows to the second cohort of the OCDEL Policy Fellowship:
- Ilecia Buckner (Capital Area Head Start)
- Jessica Chelik (Lackawanna Susquehanna BHIDEI)
- Kimberly Eckel (Great Lakes Behavioral Research Institute)
- Elizabeth Farwell (Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children)
- Kelly Fisher (Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit)
- Emily Garcia (Jumpstart Philadelphia at Temple University)
- Andrea Heberlein (United Way of Lancaster)
- Cory Johnson (Drexel University - Action for Early Learning)
- Aaron McMahan (PA Partnerships for Children)
- Sherlyn Michie (Pittsburgh Public Schools)
- Kamilah Philpotts (Southeast Regional Key)
- Tiffini Simoneaux (Mayor's Office, City of Pittsburgh)
- Jade Wallace (Mayor's Office, City of Philadelphia).
The 17-18 fellows were chosen from a highly-selective application process and will spend the year learning how state government and policy work, while engaging in special projects with mentors from across OCDEL bureaus and partner organizations. For more information on the OCDEL Policy Fellowship, visit
paocdelfellows.net.
Selecting a Program Observation Instrument for CQI and Keystone STARS Designation
The PA Key Program Quality Assessment (PQA) team is working on several resources to support
Keystone STARS Quality Coaches and early learning programs in their continuous quality improvement work. Program Observation Instrument (POI) overview sheets are already available on the
PA Key website. The overviews include links to more specific information, including training offered by the POI author/publisher.
Two new professional development sessions from the PQA Team will debut at the
2017 ECE Summit in State College:
- A First Look at Program Observation Instruments: Participants will receive an introduction to the POI presented in the Keystone STARS Program Manual, have a chance to explore the instruments in small groups, and begin to formulate guiding questions for using POI to inform their planning.
- Introduction to Self-assessment: Explore the key concepts of self-assessment and review best practice in completing an effective self-assessment. Small group activities allow participants to discuss self-assessment practices with their colleagues and reflect on their goals for self-assessment.
An introductory session cross-walking the Environment Rating Scales® (ERS®) and Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS®) is targeted to be available this Fall. This session will explore the focus of the CLASS® and ERS® and the information gathered by the instruments. Participants will have opportunities to review specific aspects of each assessment suite and reflect on how the instruments support their program's CQI goals.
Pennsylvania Head Start Oral Health Champion Award
Deborah Campbell, DMD, M.Ed. has been selected as the premier dental provider from the Lehigh Valley to receive the very first PA Head Start Oral Health Champion Award. The award will be presented at the Head Start Healthy Smiles Task Force Meeting on November 2, 2017, 10 am-3 pm at Community Services for Children in Allentown.
For the past five years, Dr. Campbell has been an excellent proponent to the success of underserved children receiving adequate dental services. Each month, Dr. Campbell travels throughout the area to conduct dental examinations and screenings for the children.
All Early Learning professionals are welcome to attend the PA Head Start Healthy Smiles Task Force Fall 2017 Meeting. Registration is requested. Register online at the PA Head Start Association website. (See Event Calendar for November 2.)
Job Opening: Pennsylvania Head Start Association Associate Director
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Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge
Registration open for the 2017 Family Engagement Conference
This one-day, free Conference is f
ocused on family engagement strategies and innovative practices. It is i
nformed by parents and professionals, for parents and professionals. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in e
ngaging workshops, café conversations, networking and access resources.
The conference will be held at two different locations: November 14 in Harrisburg and November 15 in Scranton and is open to all prenatal through 3rd Grade (P-3) stakeholders including: Family and Community Leaders, Administrators and Educators, Early Intervention staff, Home Visitors and Family Support professionals.
Share this information with the families in your program and encourage them to attend. Scholarships are available to support family participation (reimbursement for mileage, lodging, and childcare).
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
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Of Interest
Advocates for children's health insurance program await action from Congress
A recent article in The Morning Call shares the impact of legislators failing to meet a deadline to pay for the Children's Health Insurance Program, creating uncertainty for a program that draws bipartisan support nationally and in Pennsylvania. The more than 176,000 children enrolled in Pennsylvania won't see any immediate effects from Congress' failure to approve another round of funding by the Sept. 30 deadline. A spokeswoman for Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services (DHS) says Pennsylvania's program has enough money to continue operating until February. PA DHS would notify families at least 30 days before the date the program terminates for lack of funding.
Seventeen of Pennsylvania's 18 U.S. House members signed a letter last week to the chamber's top leaders in support of the program and urging a vote. By Friday afternoon - hours before the deadline - committees in both the House and Senate had said they plan to work on bills next week to renew the program's funding.
October 11-12: Meeting the Challenge: Pennsylvania's Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program
Topics will include McKinney-Vento and the Every Student Succeeds Act, rural poverty, the role of the homeless liaison, early childhood services, higher education supports, human trafficking, Title I, trauma-informed care, unaccompanied youth, attendance strategies, resilience in schools, effective classroom strategies, educational stability for children in foster care, and school climate and connectedness.
This one and one-half day professional development event is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and will be held on October 11-12 in Grantville, PA.
October 21: Autism in Our Community Event
The Autism Society of Northwestern PA will host the 9th Annual Autism in Our Community Event on October 21 at Penn State Erie. This event will feature information about understanding of challenging behaviors precedes effective intervention; managing and preventing anxiety and frustration; and six key components of social skills training. Visit the Autism Society of Northwestern PA website for more info and to register.
The Food Trust Announces Farm to ECE Champion Awards
The Food Trust is excited to announce this year's recipients of the Pennsylvania Farm to Early Care and Education Champion Award. Recognized for their commitment to teaching young children about growing food and connecting them to their agricultural communities, 15 awardees were selected through a competitive proposal process and will receive $500 each to support various programming efforts. Read more about the awardees here.
PENN SACCA Seeking Members for Committees
The Pennsylvania School-Age Child Care Alliance (PENN SACCA) is looking for dedicated members with skills and expertise they would like to share on the following committees:
- Advocacy
- Communications
- Finance
- Governance
- Membership
- Professional Development
This is the perfect opportunity to become an active PENN SACCA member. Choose the committee of most interest to guide, champion, and represent out-of-school-time professionals.
See the flyer for additional details.
Celebrate the 18th annual Lights On Afterschool Oct. 26, 2017
Launched in October 2000, Lights On Afterschool is the only nationwide event celebrating afterschool programs and their important role in the lives of children, families and communities. The effort has become a hallmark of the afterschool movement and generates media coverage across the country each year.
The Afterschool Alliance organizes Lights On Afterschool to draw attention to the many ways afterschool programs support students by offering them opportunities to learn new things-such as science, community service, robotics, Tae Kwon Do and poetry-and discover new skills. The events send a powerful message that millions more kids need quality afterschool programs. Visit the
Afterschool Alliance website for more information and to register your event.
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Trends and Reports
New Study Shows Long-Term Benefits of Head Start
Head Start critics have long pointed to studies showing any academic benefits of participating in the federally funded preschool program for low-income children fade once those students are in elementary school, but a new study, Breaking the Cycle? Intergenerational Effects of an Anti-Poverty Program in Early Childhood, by researchers at Texas A&M University and Notre Dame shows Head Start not only has positive effects on those enrolled in the program during its early years, but that those benefits also extend to their children. The benefits include less teen parenting and criminal activity as well as greater higher educational attainment, and the authors write that, "Indeed, the availability of Head Start, at least during the early years of the program, appears to have been quite successful at breaking the cycle of poor outcomes for disadvantaged families."
PA Highlighted in Report for Designing Family-Friendly Consumer Education on Child Care
A recent brief from the Nation Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance, Designing Family-Friendly Consumer Education on Child Care, highlights Pennsylvania as example of a state meeting the requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to maintain a website that contains information about child care providers in the State or local area, results of providers' monitoring and inspection reports (including health and safety violations), and lists of resources for parents, including financial assistance. Pennsylvania's www.findchildcare.pa.gov meets those requirements in an user-friendly way to help families locate the information they need when searching of child care program or provider. Pennsylvania's website includes several specific special accommodations for parents to select from on the child care search webpage including, for example, adaptive equipment, seizures, and chronic physical illness.
Self-Assessment for Early Childhood Programs Serving Families Experiencing Homelessness
This self-assessment tool from U.S. Department of Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Ounce is designed specifically for welcoming and supporting families and children experiencing homelessness in early childhood programs. Child care and early education practitioners take on an important role in identifying families with young children experiencing homelessness, and connecting them to other community resources. Included are recommendations for responding appropriately to the unique needs of preschoolers and their families experiencing homelessness in five areas: Identification and Support; Removal of Barriers; Responding to Family Needs; Engagement in Strategic Collaboration; and Improving Collection, Reporting and Utilization of Data. Additional resources to support programs are also provided.
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Resources
Learning Outcomes Mobile App from Head Start
Head Start's mobile app: ELOF2GO is a mobile resource for teachers who want to access and learn more about the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF). The application (app) provides on-the-go access to the ELOF goals for children and effective teaching practices in support of those goals. It is designed for teachers, family child care providers, and home visitors. Find the app on Google Play, the Apple App Store, or from the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center.
"Kindness Curriculum" Available for Teachers
As children begin the school year, teachers may wonder how to integrate social and emotional learning in the classroom, along with reading, writing and math. That's one of the concepts behind the new Kindness Curriculum developed for teachers by the UW-Madison Center for Healthy Minds. The curriculum helps preschool teachers encourage children to learn to deal with their emotions, and learn concepts such as kindness and forgiveness. The Kindness Curriculum is a free download to teachers who sign up on the Center for Healthy Minds website. Early findings show that children who participated in the curriculum improved on social and emotional measures, and also performed better on traditional academic measures.
21-Day Challenge with Read Aloud 15 Minutes
Join the Read Aloud 15 Minutes campaign for their 21-day challenge. Beginning October 2, 2017 and continuing throughout the month, this campaign challenges families and caregivers to include 15 minutes of reading aloud in their daily routine for 21 days straight. Families can keep track of their progress on the 21-Day Tracker and use the tips from the 21-Day Content Calendar. Both of these are available in English and Spanish. Other resources available including a Parent Handout, Bookmark and posters.
Pets in the Classroom Grant
Pets in the Classroom is an educational grant that provides financial support to prek-6th grade teachers in both public and private schools to purchase and maintain small animals in the classroom.
U.S. School Garden Grant
November 15 deadline
The Garden Grant program from the Whole Kids Foundation provides a $2,000 monetary grant to support a new or existing edible garden at either a K-12 school; 501(c)(3) Non-profit working in partnership with a K-12 school; or 501(c)(3) non-profit organization .
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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
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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.
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