Massachusetts State Advisory Council (SAC) on Early Childhood Education and CareReview of Grant and Work Plan

December 2010

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Background

The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 requires the Governor of each “State” to designate or establish a council to serve as the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care for children from birth to school entry.

To be eligible to receive a grant, a state had to prepare and submit an application for a three-year period that addresses select criteria.

The State Advisory Council is responsible for leading the development or enhancement of a high-quality, comprehensive system of early childhood development and care that ensures statewide coordination and collaboration among the range of programs and services in the State including: child care, Head Start, IDEA preschool and infants and families programs, pre-kindergarten programs and services.

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Required Grant Activities

A statewide strategic report addressing the activities of the Advisory Council

How funds will be used to improve school preparedness by developing or enhancing programs and activities consistent with the statewide strategic plan

A description of the State’s early learning standards and the State's goals for increasing the number of children entering kindergarten ready to learn

The agency or joint interagency office, and the individual designated by the Governor to coordinate the activities of the State Advisory Council

A description of how the State plans to sustain activities beyond the grant period

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Healthy, Safe and Ready Children

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Early Care and EducationB-3rd grade

Health, Oral Health and Mental

Health Care

Family Support, including,

economic self sufficiency,

parental literacy

Early Intervention

Healthy,Safe and

Ready Children

Key Sectors of the Service System

A sample of programs included within each sector in a birth through age 8 system:

 Physical, oral, and mental health services: health insurance, prenatal care, developmental screenings, well child visits, nutrition and food programs, dental care

 Family supports and services: family literacy, parenting education, fiscal supports, family friendly work policies, parental mental health, domestic violence, substance abuse or incarceration, housing, child welfare

 Early education and care: licensed and unlicensed family-based child care, center-based child care, preschool and Head Start, and

 Early intervention: Early Head Start, B-3 programs and preschool special education.

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State Advisory Council Functions

A. Needs assessment

B. Early education and care collaboration

C. Early education and care enrollment & outreach

D. Unified data collection

E. Quality improvement in early education and care (NEW MA Item)

F. Professional development

G. Early education-higher education workforce preparation partnerships

H. Early learning standards

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Six Focus Areas for SAC ARRA Grant

Early Childhood Information System development and use

Needs Assessment B-8 Community Planning and PreK-3 Partnerships Early Education/Higher Education Workforce

Preparation Partnership Policy and Best Practices for Children & Families with

Limited English Proficiency and/or Developmental Delays or Multiagency Involvement

ARRA Council Implementation Support and Accountability

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SAC Application History

Original application was submitted in May, 2010. We were notified in late August that we had been

awarded $1,137,560 for the three year project period.

In mid-August we were invited to submit a supplemental application. (Not every state had applied or applied for the full amount of funds in the original application process.)

We were notified in late September that we had been awarded an additional $164,277 for the three year project period.

The revised three year total is $1,301,837. The goals that follow represent the funding totals

for the combined submissions.

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Goal 1 – Early Childhood Information System development and use - Year 1: $40,000 - Year 2: $80,000 - Year 3: $70,000

Data development, analysis, and use, including continued development of an interagency Early Childhood Information System and the assignment of child, workforce, and program identifiers coupled with the analytic capacity to examine and report on data collected on young children’s needs and programs.

Includes a continued partnership with UMass Lowell and the Open Indicators Project.

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Goal 2 – Needs Assessment Consulting Work- Year 1: $47,300- Year 2: $20,000- Year 3: $20,000

Design and implementation of the required needs assessment with a special emphasis on multi-risk families with infants and toddlers

Needs assessment will be conducted and analyzed throughout the tenure of the SAC ARRA grant.

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Goal 3 – B-8 Community Planning and PreK-3 Partnerships- Year 1: $70,000- Year 2: $70,000- Year 3: $70,000

Co-Investment Funding Partnership Contracts with the Philanthropic Sector

Support for community birth through age 8 (B-8) strategic plans, anchored in local data on: Child/family needs, and The quality/effectiveness of Pre-K through

Grade 3 aligned systems linking local schools, local providers, and families through grants to communities.

EEC is working with ESE to create an extended conversation among elementary school principals and a variety of community-based program sectors.

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Goal 3 – B-8 Community Planning and PreK-3 Partnerships (Continued)- Year 1: $25,000- Year 2: $24,500- Year 3: $24,000

Grants of $3,000 - $5,000 to participating communities for training and tool development

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Goal 4 - Early Education/Higher Education Workforce Preparation Partnership- Year 1: $60,000- Year 2: $0- Year 3: $0

Complete development of an early education and care workforce preparation data infrastructure partnership with the Department of Higher Education and with public/private higher education institutions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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Goal 5 - Policy and Best Practices for Children & Families with Limited English Proficiency and/or Developmental Delays or Multiagency Involvement- Year 1: $0- Year 2: $60,000- Year 3: $60,000

Development of policy and best practices and recommended models for early education and care serving limited English proficient children and families and/or children with developmental delays or multiple system involvement.

Through three in-depth meetings EEC will support Principals and community-based providers in spending time learning together in three areas of timely importance to the Commonwealth: Child growth and development Literacy Dual language learners

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Goal 6 - ARRA Council Implementation Support and Accountability

Staffing support within EEC to advance the Council’s agenda and to help integrate SAC-funded priorities with the comprehensive early childhood system of early childhood services being supported by the Department’s work.

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