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Early Childhood Advisory Councilsor

State Advisory Councils

Richard Gonzales

ECCS Meeting

August 2, 2010

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Purpose of the Councils

To ensure statewide coordination and collaboration among the wide array of early childhood programs and services in the State

To advance the goal of integrated services to young children and families

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Purpose of the Councils

To make effective use of funds available to facilitate the development or enhancement of high-quality systems of early childhood education and care designed to improve school preparedness, by developing or enhancing programs and activities consistent with the statewide strategic plan

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Who is eligible?

All 50 States the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico the District of Columbia the Territories of:

– Guam, – American Samoa, – the Virgin Islands, – the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and – the Republic of Palau

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Who Must Be the Designated Agency?

– The applicant/recipient for the State Advisory Council funds must be a state government agency (e.g. Governor’s office, Department of Education, etc.) or an office or entity within the government.

– If a non-profit, the government agency/office can then sub-grant the funds to the non-profit to carry out the day-to-day activities for the Council.

– The award is done this way because ultimately it is the State that is held responsible for the funds, the required match, and the work to be done.

– The State, in turn, must hold responsible whatever agency with which it might choose to contract.”

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Who Must Be Members?

A representative of the State agency responsible for child care;

A representative of the State educational agency;

A representative of local educational agencies;

A representative of institutions of higher education in the State;

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Who Must Be Members?

A representative of local providers of early childhood education and development services;

A representative from Head Start agencies located in the State, including migrant and seasonal Head Start programs and Indian Head Start programs;

The State Director of Head Start Collaboration;

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Who Must Be Members?

A representative of the State agency responsible for programs under section 619 or part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Act;

A representative of the State agency responsible for health or mental health care; and

Representatives of other entities determined relevant by the Governor

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Who Might Be Members?

The spirit of the Head Start legislation as it pertains to Council membership is for States to identify a body:– truly representative of the various constituencies

and stakeholders – with a sufficient diversity of voices to allow for true

representation of the entire early care and education community and those who impact their success.

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The Required 70% Match

Any non-Federal resources used to support the grant can be claimed as non-Federal share. These can include state, local or private contributions which benefit the work of the Council

Not previously being used as a match Benefits early childhood development and

education

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Activities of the Council

The State Advisory Council shall, in addition to any responsibilities assigned to the Council by the Governor of the State--

(I) conduct a periodic statewide needs assessment concerning the quality and availability of early childhood education and development programs and services for children from birth to school entry, including an assessment of the availability of high-quality pre-kindergarten services for low-income children in the State;

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Activities of the Council

(II) identify opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration and coordination among Federally-funded and State-funded child development, child care, and early childhood education programs and services, including collaboration and coordination among State agencies responsible for administering such programs;

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Activities of the Council

(III) develop recommendations for increasing the overall participation of children in existing Federal, State, and local child care and early childhood education programs, including outreach to underrepresented and special populations;

(IV) develop recommendations regarding the establishment of a unified data collection system for public early childhood education and development programs and services throughout the State;

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Activities of the Council

(V) develop recommendations regarding statewide professional development and career advancement plans for early childhood educators in the State;

(VII) make recommendations for improvements in State early learning standards and undertake efforts to develop high-quality comprehensive early learning standards, as appropriate;

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Activities of the Council

(VI) assess the capacity and effectiveness of 2- and 4-year public and private institutions of higher education in the State toward supporting the development of early childhood educators, including the extent to which such institutions have in place articulation agreements, professional development and career advancement plans, and practice or internships for students to spend time in a Head Start or pre kindergarten program;

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Activities of the Council

A State shall use funds to facilitate the development or enhancement of high-quality systems of early childhood education and care designed to improve school preparedness through one or more of the following activities--

(i) promoting school preparedness of children from birth through school entry, including activities to encourage families and caregivers to engage in highly interactive, developmentally and age-appropriate activities to improve children's early social, emotional, and cognitive development, support the transition of young children to school, and foster parental and family involvement in the early education of young children;

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Activities of the Council

(ii) supporting professional development, recruitment, and retention initiatives for early childhood educators;

(iii) enhancing existing early childhood education and development programs and services (in existence on the date on which the grant involved is awarded), including quality improvement activities authorized under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990; and

(iv) carrying out other activities consistent with the State's plan and application, pursuant to subparagraph (B).

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Possible Supplemental Award

Any funds for which states do not apply will be pooled together and become available for a supplemental application, with these funds also being awarded no later than September 30, 2010.

Interested states - with 70% match capability - may submit an addendum application to their original application.

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TA to Councils

There is no specific TA money put aside to support the work of the State Advisory Councils

We do not have the ability to identify any of the unspent ARRA funds for this purpose

The new Head Start TA contracts are not in place yet – but even when they are, these contracts are not targeted to include TA to State Advisory Councils.

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TA to Councils

States can choose to modify their applications to use some of their federal or non federal allocations to help provide needed TA for their Councils.

Also, those states that choose to apply for a supplemental award will be given the opportunity to identify some of these funds for the purpose of TA to support the work of the Council.

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Role of HS Collaboration Director

To assist the efforts of Head Start agencies to engage in effective coordination and collaboration; specific responsibilities currently include:

Serve as co-chair or vice-chair of the SAC. Serve on sub-committees, providing information

about Head Start to all sub-committees of the SAC and taking an active role in planning and implementation-Committees include: Standards, QRIS, data system, professional development.

Serve as a conduit for information flow about the SAC to Head Start and about Head Start to the SAC.

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Challenges to Come - or Already Here

- Periodically adjusting membership to address stakeholder needs

- Best ways to get work accomplished; sharing the workload – not overloading 1 or 2 people

- Best ways to provide opportunities for public comment and feedback loop each year of the grant

- Tracking progress and adjusting quickly and as needed

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To Whom Do I Direct Questions?

Richard GonzalesSenior Advisor for Early Childhood Development and

EducationAdministration for Children and FamiliesAerospace Building901 D Street, SW, 7th Floor WestWashington, D.C. 20447Phone: 202-401-5138Email: richard.gonzales@acf.hhs.gov