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July
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| July 11 |
Membership Meeting*
10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. |
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Aug.
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| Aug. 13 |
Board and Staff Meeting*
3-6 p.m. |
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Aug. 14
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Board and Staff Retreat*
8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. |
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*Members Only
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Subject to Change |
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Save the Date
Leadership
Summit: Oct. 10 & 11
*Don't forget about the Wine Pull and Silent Auction.
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Make sure your staff is in the loop! Click
HERE
to notify us of any staff changes so we can update our email distribution lists.
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Our learning cafe provides an opportunity for real talk about equity, diversity, and inclusion issues. Click
HERE to be notified of upcoming Learning Cafés.
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The ECLC logo got a makeover! Please replace the logo you have on file. You can download the new logo
HERE.
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Millennial Parents and the High Cost of Child Care
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This story map examines how the changing economic environment affects parents' ability to afford child care. Read the story map HERE.
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Shared Source is a one-stop spot for resources & ideas for your CCR&R to use!
Shared Source
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Early Care & Learning Council News
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ECLC hosted its Annual Meeting & Luncheon on Wednesday, June 6th at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia,
NY.
Michael Saccocio, E
xecutive Director of the City Mission of Schenectady, delivered a keynote address on the culture of poverty. We extend our congratulations to our Excellence in Leadership honorees: Honorable Shelley Mayer, NYS Senator District 37, Jennifer Stimson, Commissioner of Human Services for Chemung County, Lorelei A. Vargas, Deputy Commissioner for Child and Family Well-Being, NYC Administration for Children's Services, and Timothy Cook, President of Cook Communications.
Happy Retirement to Janet Walerstein
As of June 30, Janet Walerstein will be retiring as Executive Director of Child Care Council of Suffolk Inc. On June 8, Child Care Council of Suffolk, Inc. held its Annual Meeting and celebrated Janet's many accomplishments. ECLC staff and longtime colleagues attended the meeting to recognize Janet for 33 years of service. Jennifer Marino Rojas, formerly Associate Executive Director, will now lead as Executive Director.
Policy & Community Education
We welcomed a new Community Education Coordinator, Afsha Kasam, who has already revised our Communications Plan. Afsha is excited to join the ECLC family and eager to expand ECLC's presence. During the last quarter the team worked with the Public Policy Committee, Membership Committee and additional ECLC staff to develop a process for CCR&R input into the Child Care Development Fund plan, including sharing back to the group. ECLC and many CCR&Rs participated in CCDF hearings around the state. In addition, Jessica worked with both the Winning Beginning Child Care Issues Group and the Empire State Campaign for Child Care on end of legislative session priorities and coordination of the two groups moving forward. During the summer months, work will continue on the various issues impacting child care in New York State, including the affordability, through work with the ECAC subcommittee on tax credits.
Special Projects
We are pleased to announce that ECLC has obtained a
Healthy Child Care, Healthy Communities grant from Child Care Aware of America. This grant will allow us to research the impact of the Pyramid Model training on expulsion and suspension in NYS in partnership with NYS Council on Children and Families. This past quarter, the Special Projects team continued holding Learning Cafés. In April, ECLC held a webinar with Ronald Patterson entitled "A Native Perspective." Evette Jasper presented on "Washington State, Building an Equitable Early Childhood System" in May. For June's Learning Café, we watched the TED talk, "Why It's Worth Listening to People You Disagree With" by Zachary R. Wood. ECLC is also working on an awareness campaign to educate business leaders and parents on
the expulsion and suspension rates of children of color in NYS. Fannie Glover, Director of Special Projects, presented the Child Care Business Case message to the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council. Furthermore, Fannie also
attended
the PA Early Learning Investment Commission Summit. In August, Fannie will moderate a panel at the NYS Business Council's 2018 Business & Education Forum. Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) was discussed this past quarter with our network and Board of Directors. ECLC is also working with CCR&Rs to create a business leaders ev
ent this fall.
Programs and Services
Planning for the Pyramid Model Training for CCR&R staff is progressing. Based on our survey that went out to the CCR&Rs, we have tentatively scheduled two da
ys of a Family Child Care Module in Buffalo and Syracuse, Infant Toddler Modules 1 & 2 in Buffalo, Preschool Modules 1 & 2 in Syracuse, and we are in negotiation for another set of modules in both Albany and Long Island. Registration will be out by early July.
Management Training for Center Directors is in full swing with training agreements for CCR&R trainers drafted and registrations flowing in. Six workshops have taken place to date and four more are coming up this month. 10
agencies have submitted applications for NY Standards of Excellence and all of the site visits have taken place. Reviews are going smoothly.
ECLC submitted our final draft of the biennial report for the Governor and Legislature to OCFS in the middle of May, as scheduled.
Data
Results from the statewide parent survey are being analyzed and reports for CCR&Rs are in development. All CCR&Rs will receive a report along with a spreadsheet of records for their respective service area.
The data advisory committee has created curriculum for referral counselor roundtables. During the data admin roundtables in 2017, there were many suggestions to hold a similar event for referral counselors. To date two have been scheduled: Rochester on June 19th and Albany on July 19th; each meeting has 15 signed up to attend. We have a request to hold another session on Long Island.
CACFP
ECLC has entered the third year of our CACFP Grant project in partnership with Hunger Solutions NY and NYS Network for Youth Success. "CACFP Provider Information Bags," an initiative that was launched in year two of the grant cycle, has been a positive means of collaboration between ECLC and many of the CCR&Rs. These bags build awareness about CACFP among providers, and increase enrollment in the food program. ECLC created and shared nearly 200 bags with CCR&R CACFP Specialists, who then delivered these bags to child care providers not yet enrolled in the CACFP program. The bags were filled with tips and tools for providers, all designed to educate them about the benefits of CACFP, with an emphasis on gaining the support they need to serve healthy meals and snacks to the children in their care. ECLC will be continuing with the "CACFP Provider Information Bags" effort in year three.
The second quarter has brought together a collection of strong trainings for the Infant Toddler Network of Specialists. On April 10, IT Specialist, and Master Cadre Pyramid Trainer, Rose Shufelt, led a 6-hour PIWI (Parents Interacting with Infants) Pyramid Training at Child Care Council in Rochester, NY. The funding for this free training was provided by ECCS. On May 15, the IT Network of Specialists received an all-day training at Child Care Solutions in Syracuse, on the subject of Infant Mental Health. Wendy Bender, Executive Director of NYS Association for Infant Mental Health, led this training which focused on the impact of maternal stress on prenatal development. A focus of the training and discussion included the vulnerability of children exposed to violence even while still in the womb. The portfolio process required to pursue the Infant Mental Health Endorsement in NYS was also explored.
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New Change to the Health and Safety Trainer Approval Process
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The goal of the Health and Safety (H&S) training is to support OCFS' mission to promote and protect the health, safety and development of children in regulated care. A key element of this mission is verifying that prospective and licensed/registered child care providers receive the highest-quality training available. The Professional Development Program (PDP) fulfills this element by training the trainers to provide the OCFS-approved Health and Safety training and ensuring that there are qualified trainers in all areas of the state.
With the addition of the Director H&S training course, the demand for additional trainers has increased in some areas. Due to the content of the course, only current H&S trainers can take the Director H&S Training of Trainers (TOT) course. PDP recognized that not all current H&S trainers meet the qualifications to provide this course, so with OCFS approval, we have modified the requirements to become a H&S trainer by developing an additional certification to become a H&S trainer for DCC/SACC staff rather than for F/GFDC. This will provide for a more qualified pool of candidates to take the Director H&S TOT in the future.
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On May 10, Adirondack Community Action Programs held a Provider Appreciation Dinner. 23 Family, Group Family and After School Providers attended a dinner and training. The hour training presented was an introduction to ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). Each provider received an appreciation certificate, a large candy bar and bath bomb as a thank you.
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On May 11, the Child Care Council of Dutchess and Putnam, Inc. hosted its 15th Annual Champions of Child Care celebration at the Grandview in Poughkeepsie. Nearly 300 people attended the luau-themed event to recognize child care providers in Dutchess and Putnam Counties for their years of service and educational achievements. The providers were honored with special awards.
Many baskets and
items
were raffled
off and a photo booth
added to the
festive evening.
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Family of Woodstock, Inc.
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Two students from Ulster BOCES Career and Tech Early Childhood Education class decided to do their senior project on the need for diapers for families in our county.
The students came to a Family of Woodstock Inc. Board of Directors meeting and gave an outstanding presentation, while gathering a substantial amount of money from the Board and staff members. They also held two diaper drives in the City of Kingston and brought in 1,761 diapers and supplies as well as monetary donations.
One of Ulster County's local High School also donated 1,267 diapers and supplies.
During Community Connect Day, Rondout Savings Bank donated more than 200
items
, including diapers, supplies, clothing and infant food. There were so many
items
that the conference room table broke in half!
Child Care Connections (CCR&R), a program of Family of Woodstock, Inc., will be distributing the supplies and purchasing more with the donated money.
Our program is humbled by the gratitude of our community. The n
ext step for Child Care Connections is to organize and start a National Diaper Bank:
http://nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org/need-diapers-now/
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On April 10, the Orange County Chamber of Commerce held its Business to Business Expo 2018 at Anthony's Pier 9 in New Windsor. Council staff Carole Nolan, Jessica Smith, and Beth Mindes attended. The Times Herald Report covered the event.
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On June 12, Jane Brown was recognized for her extraordinary achievements on behalf of children and families by the Rockland Business Women's Network.
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On June 12, Child Care Resource Network, along with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York, held a free Provider Appreciation Dinner at Templeton Landing. About 200 area providers were treated to a night of great food, cocktails and got to relax in the company of fellow providers. We had eight vendors on site to help pamper the providers, along with a photo booth for them to get their giggles out in!
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Child Care Council of Nassau, Inc.
On May 9, over 30 Family & Group Family child care providers gathered at Nassau BOCES Lupinskie Center for a restorative Evening of Self Care. Providers enjoyed small group yoga classes, ten minute back and neck massages, a choice of smoothies, and dinner. Help Me Grow LI and SAFE Center attended, providing resources and information by request. Micheline Coley, graduate of Parent Leadership Initiative (PLI), provided hot tea service, healthy eating literature and take-home samples to all.
All attendees had the opportunity to win a large gift set from The Divine Olive, a set of inspirational stones, and two gift card packages, which included gift certificates to restaurants and local shops. Flor Villazan of Love Integration Yoga Long Beach facilitated a Power of Positive Thinking workshop. The evening culminated with the gifting of a self care package to all who attended, which included a multi-use canvas bag, journal, healthy snack, an adult coloring book with a colored pencil set, and body butter.
A truly well received evening, one child care provider summed up the evening by sharing her reflections of "feeling relaxed, and good in my mind and my body."
Special thanks to Executive Director Jan Barbieri, Director of Education Program Services Joy Connolly, Early Childhood Sr. Specialist Alissa Repetti, Infant Toddler Manager Dawn Daniello, Early Childhood Support Specialist Sandra Garcia, and Early Childhood Senior Specialist Gillian Kessinger. Council owes Nassau BOCES a sincere thanks for offering their space in kindness.
The council would like to especially acknowledge ALL the child care providers in Nassau County for their dedication to the children in their care and the families who rely on them every working day!
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