|
MCCTF Co-Chair Contact Information:
Lisa Brewer
Michigan 4C Association
T.E.A.C.H. Director
866-648-3224, ext.27
brewer@mi4c.org
Richard Lower
Michigan Head Start Association
Executive Director
517-374-MHSA
Richard@mhsa.ws
Future SCHEDULE for the TASK FORCE
*** NO MEETINGS in July and August ***
September 8 Lake Ontario Room, 3rd floor, State of Michigan Library
State of Michigan Library
Lake Ontario Room, 3rd floor
702 West Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48909-7507
(517) 373-1580
Co-Chairs Lisa Brewer and Richard Lower called the meeting to order
shortly after 9:30 a.m. Introductions were done.
BUSINESS OF THE TASK FORCE
Department of Education, Judy Levine
(1) Michigan School Readiness Programs - The State Aid funded programs
continue to expect a $2 million (out of $72.2 ml) in the budget process
since the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid passed that
measure earlier this morning. The application process for state aid
funding is now on line on the Michigan Electronic Grants System (MEGS).
Applications are due to MDEd on June 16. The education consultant job
posting recently advertised deals with school readiness programs, both
state aid and competitive. (The application deadline has passed as of June
8). A reader session for competitive grants will take place on June 15.
MDEd has enough readers.
(2) The
Department is updating the 1992 Early Childhood Education Standards of
Quality. A large committee of around 100 people attended the first meeting
of this endeavor. The group will start with preschool education, move next
to infants'/toddlers and do special needs children later. A proposed
update will go to the State Board of Education for approval in the fall.
Family Independence Agency - Kathi Pioszak
(1) Family Resource Centers - Twenty expansion sites should be approved
this week. A listing of the new sites will be publicly announced when
final approval is obtained.
(2) Child Development and Care
(a) CDC providers will be issued new personal identification numbers (PIN)
for telephone reporting. This change is being made for increased security.
Notices will be sent to providers in a number of ways:
* Message on the Statement of Payments
* IVR telephone message (what providers hear when reporting their hours of
care.
* Internet message (when providers are using the Internet to report
* FIA message on the June/July 2004 issue of Wonder Years (relative care
providers and CDC families)
* Direct mailing to all providers sometime in July. Providers should have
their addresses up to date with licensing and/or local FIA offices. A July
effective date is expected.
(b) A major overhaul of our existing FIA Assistance Application (FIA-1171)
has begun. In the past the application has been restricted to 6 pages by
law. This requirement no longer exists. An Application Steering Committee
has been established and includes FIA policy analysts, systems and
training along with representatives from DCH, the Center for Civil
Justice, and Elder Law of Michigan, Inc. Five public comment sessions have
been set up beginning August 25th through September 30thÐin Hartford,
Novi, Grand Rapids, Escanaba and Gaylord. If interested, Kathi
(517-335-6186; ) has the complete schedule with dates, times and place.
The Steering Committee expects to complete the revisions to the
application by March 2005.
(3) FIA Director, Marianne Udow, has announced public office hours for
people other than FIA staff, other state policy makers and the media.
Information on dates can be obtained from the FIA Office of
Communications at 517-373-7707 or at
www.michigan.gov/fia.
(4) Child Day Care Licensing - (Pat Hogg)
(a) A new director has been selected for the Office of Child and Adult
Licensing; his name is James Gale. He will begin about June 21.
(b) The
committees working on proposed revisions of child care rules continue to
work. The rules for Day Care Homes will be sent to the Office of
Regulatory Reform in August, the Child Care Center rules will go to ORR in
September. Public hearings will take place this fall and new rules should
be promulgated by early in 2005.
(c) Pat
presented data on the number of child care licensees who are overdue in
getting their licenses/registrations renewed:
Child Care
Centers - 4,554 licensees, 391 overdue, 8.6%
Group Homes - 3,573 licensees, 103 overdue, 2.9%
Family Homes - 10,467 registrants, 160 overdue, 1.5%
Total 18,594 654 3.5%
Renewals are delayed for a variety of reasons.
GUEST SPEAKERS: - Marcia Ryzstak, Lansing Community College; Rebecca
Brinks, Grand Rapids Community College; representing the Michigan ACCESS
(American Associate Degree Early Childhood Educators) group.
ACCESS prepares professionals for the field of early education and care.
It also sees itself with an advocacy role. It was started by the Michigan
Early Childhood Professionals Consortium (MECPC) and a
similar local group in the Grand Rapids area about five years ago with
help from a Frey Foundation grant. It became the Michigan affiliate of
a national ACCESS group in 2002.
The group is mostly comprised of early childhood coordinators from the 28
Michigan community colleges; ACCESS also works with early childhood
programs in 4-year colleges and universities to promote a system of
professional development and articulation. Though community colleges
operate very independently, the ECEC programs across the schools have
substantial similarities: they tend to have similar course content,
specialty areas, moving theory into practice (i.e. lab experiences). The
NAEYC standards for early childhood professional preparation, approved in
July 2003, also helps provide some consistency among the community
colleges because they require very consistent outcome/assessment measures.
Michigan's "Core Knowledge and Competencies for Early Childhood Care and
Education Professionals," adopted by the MECPC, also provides a working
base for the group. The group has taken the first level of the Core
Knowledge and Competencies and created an entry level course that is
consistent and used by many of the programs. The group is currently
working on a "challenge exam" that assess knowledge gained from the course
or an equivalent course/training program.
ACCESS promotes "articulation" of credits so a provider can obtain
professional ECEC credits even if they have accessed a variety of training
options. Articulation efforts have included vocational programs and 4C
training. Since the T.E.A.C.H.® program began, articulation has increased
and the community colleges have had increased success in forming
agreements with colleges/universities in their area. Western Michigan
University has been a leader in this effort, making agreements with five
different community colleges.
Other four-year
program continue to work with the community colleges to create unique
agreements for their communities.. In addition, the group is working with
the four-year colleges to discuss the issues related to "early childhood
education" being a minor versus a major area of study. MCCVLC (Michigan
Community College Virtual Learning Consortium) started with a grant to
help child care providers have access to formal training hours to obtain
their CDA Credential from the Council for Professional Recognition. The
collaboration began with Grand Rapids Community College and North Central
Michigan College and is still available on-line. This course-work option
is an alternative means of allowing students to learn on-line with support
from their "home" college/university. In addition, many of the ACCESS
group members also have CCAMPIS grants (A program which helps student
parents stay in college, graduate and find on-going employment. It helps
children develop and succeed in school and later life. These successes for
parents and children help lead to a better economic benefit for society.)
This program also assists students in finding access to quality child care
programs.
As Professional development continues to become a major plank in the
Governor's "Great Start" work a professional development pathway is
important. A growing network of Michigan leaders realize that early
childhood professional develop is very important and this is generating
many new efforts and idea as we try to address. A major advocacy concern
arises from Michigan's bottom ranking among all states with respect to
required training for child care providers - Michigan requires no
training, unlike 48 other states. The ACCESS group will continue to work
in these areas to make professional development opportunities available to
providers across the state.
MORE BUSINESS OF THE TASK FORCE:
MDCH Mental Health Services - Deb Marciniak.
(1) Michigan Mental Health Commission - Children's Issues
The Children's
Workgroup of the Michigan Mental Health Commission is in the process of
refining its preliminary recommendations - they are not yet available for
public review. There appears to be much interest in prioritizing children.
Child advocates still have plenty of opportunities to comment on
children's mental health issues. See
www.michigan.gov/mentalhealth.
(2) Social-Emotional Development in Young Children - A MDCH booklet titled
"Social-Emotional Development in Young Children" is now available at:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Social_Emotional_
Development_in_Young_Children_Guide_88553_7.pdf
You can print if off the web site or use the PDF format version to take to
the printer to make hard copies. Some Intermediate School Districts are
printing and distributing hard copies.
(3) Children and Trauma Conference Call July 28, 2004
The next
conference call in the Georgetown University series on the
social-emotional development of young children, which is on Children and
Trauma is scheduled for July 28 04 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. If you would like
to participate at the downtown Lansing site (Lewis Cass Building),
contact Jackie Cadwell, 517 241-5767.
(4) Conference on "Parenting Preschoolers: Resources to Help Overcome the
Challenges"
This conference will be held on June 12 04 at Lansing Community College.
It_s sponsored by the MSU Parenting Young Children Study; Families and
Communities Together Coalition; MSU Department of Pediatrics & Human
Development; and Office for Young Children. It will feature sessions on
"Medication for Young Children" and "Environments that Prevent Problems in
Preschoolers", among many others.
(5) Challenges
in the Early Years: Infant Mental Health Perspectives
This month, The WSU Merrill-Palmer Institute and the Metro Detroit
Association for Infant Mental Health are sponsoring 3 trainings on
"Challenges in the Early Years: Infant Mental Health Perspectives."
* June 11 - Recognizing and Responding: Children_s Grief Across the
Lifespan
* June 18 - Postpartum Depression Update: What You Need to Know About PPD
* June 25 - Promoting Social-Emotional Competence in Infants and Toddlers
Call Reta at 313 872-1790 for more info.
(6) Early Childhood Comprehensive System Strategic Planning Workgroups To
Convene in July If you have not yet joined the listserve for the Early
Childhood Comprehensive System Strategic Planning project, you may want to
do it now. The 7 work groups will convene in July and their work will be
posted on the listserve for review in between the monthly meetings. To be
added to the listserve, email Joan Blough at
JBlough@kazoocmh.org.
(7) Detroit Free Press Does Front-Page Story on the Child Care Expulsion
Project (CCEP) on June 3 04 Here's the link to get the story:
http://www.freep.com/news/education/expel3_20040603.htm
Federal Reauthorizations
(1) TANF - Kristen McDonald-Stone reported that TANF may move soon in
Congress in part because advocates are pushing for action now. People are
beginning to realize that the budgets for fiscal year 2006 might be very
bad because of the huge deficits being run up now.
(2) Head Start, Child Care & Development Block Grant--nothing is expected
to happen in the near future.
Lindane Poison
William Weil, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and Human Development
at MSU, discussed efforts to get the state to pass a rule banning the
sale, use or prescription of any substance that contains lindane. Lindane
is a pesticide in the same chemical family as DDT and shares the same
harmful characteristics: it is persistent, bioaccumulative and moves up
the food chain to affect humans. It is especially dangerous for small
children. Dr. Weil, the Michigan Environmental Council, the Ecology Center
and others have petitioned Michigan Department of Community Health and the
Department of Agriculture to promulgate a rule banning the use of Lindane.
Under state statutes, these two departments are supposed to reply to the
petition sometime this summer. Dr. Weil will keep us posted on this
matter.
Tiered Reimbursement Opportunity - Mark Sullivan (Michigan 4C), Bob Parks
(Michigan Association of United Ways) A program called the Colorado
Educare Quality Rating System, which is a tiered system of child care,
might come to Michigan as a 4-community pilot program. The pilot would run
three years. The Michigan partners in this effort are: The United Way,
MiAEYC, Mi4C, FIA, MDEd, MDCHealth, Child Care Expulsion Prevention
Projects. The four Michigan communities under consideration are: Jackson
area, Gratiot County, Muskegon area and Detroit. The Michigan pilot would
receive an initial $500,000 through the efforts of United Way and would
have to acquire another $1.5 million in matching funds.
A tiered system typically has three to five levels of child care, with the
different levels determined by different standards of quality programming.
Consumers, including government programs that provide child care support,
would choose higher or lower quality child care according to what they
could afford and their desire for quality care for (their) children.
Educare Colorado has developed a Quality Rating System® (QRS) for
evaluating the quality of child care in accordance with scientific
standards of validity and reliability. QRS is now ready for customizing
and use in any community in the nation. QRS rates quality in the following
areas: learning environment; family partnership; training and education;
adult-to-child ratios and group size; program accreditation. As Educare
Colorado goes national, it has already started a pilot in Kansas City. A
second site will be selected later this year and Michigan is being
seriously considered. Michigan has a favorable climate for this pilot
thanks to the Governor's interest in child care, strong potential support
from Michigan's foundations, support from leaders such as those found in
the Ready to Succeed Partnership, and a strong child advocacy network. We
should know more about this in late summer/early fall. For information
about this matter contact Bob Parks at the Michigan Association of United
Ways: 517-371-4360; bparks@uwmich.org
FINAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
(1) Mark Sullivan - Michigan 4C will host a one-day policy conference
on February 24, 2005 at the Lansing Center, downtown Lansing.
Highlights
Include:
A keynote by Paul Hillegonds, CEO of Detroit Renaissance and co-chair
of the Michigan Ready to Succeed Partnership; As a main speaker, Art
Rolnick, Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota,
co-author of "Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a
High Public Return." Details to follow.
(2) The Children's Trust Fund (517-241-7226) will sponsor the Fourth
Biennial Statewide Conference on the Early Years: Supporting Families with
Young Children; November 8-10, 2004; Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Grand
Rapids. Conference brochure and registration materials will be available
in August. Limited scholarships available.
(3) *** NO MEETINGS in July and August *** NEXT MEETING: - September 8
(2nd Wednesday of the Month) Lake Ontario Room, 3rd floor, State of
Michigan Library
The meeting adjourned at 12:00 noon.
Margie Murphy (Van Buren Intermediate School District) and Steve
Manchester (Michigan AEYC) took notes for these minutes.
SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
Send comments and suggestions regarding this e-mail network, or
requests to be added or removed from it, to
mcctforce@miaeyc.org.
Please FORWARD THIS NOTICE TO OTHERS; we invite and courage people to join
this e-mail network.
The MCCTF Organizational Sponsors: Michigan 4C Association (Community
Coordinated Child Care); Michigan¹s Children; Michigan Association for the
Education of Young Children; Michigan League for Human Services; and
Michigan Head Start Association.
Legislative Sponsors: Senator Patricia Birkholz, Dist. 24; and
Representative Michael Murphy, Dist. 68.
|
