JANUARY 12th, 2012 - EC Directors Group

Join Us for the Monthly Center Directors Group

THURSDAY, January 12^th  - What’s Ahead for Early Childhood

                                              Programs in 2012?

MN Recently Won $45 Million in Race to the Top Funding and instituted an Office of Early Learning. What Could This Mean for Your Program?

10:00 AM – 12:00 noon  -  RCC West office – 2021 E. Hennepin Ave., Mpls

Speaker:  Barb Yates, RCC executive director and

Chair of the Governor’s Early Learning Council

On January 12^th we’ll hear about the plans for Minnesota’s $45 million in Race To The Top funds.  Barbara Yates, Chair of the Governor’s Early Learning Council and executive director of Resources for Child Caring, will discuss the Race To The Top and the plans for statewide expansion of  Parent Aware Ratings, scholarships for high need children in top rated programs and the policy directions of the Governor’s Early Learning Council and the newly created Minnesota Office of Early Learning.

All center directors and assistant directors are invited to RCC’s FREE directors networking groups on the second Thursday of the month.

SAVE  February 9^th  -  Meeting Topic: Children with

                        Challenging Behavior

Need strategies and resources for working with children with challenging behavior? Colleen Dockendorf, Special Needs Consultant, will join us on February 9^th to discuss how directors can support their staff and engage with parents of children with behaviors that are challenging.

March 8^th Meeting Topics  -  Meet the NAZ   

                                         Successful Parent Conferences

April 12^th Meeting Topic  -  Trends in Schoolage

                                               Child Care

Questions? Call Nancy Johnson, 651-233-2260 or

email  njohnson@resourcesforchildcare.org

DECEMBER MEETING - Center Directors Group

Come join colleagues and friends for center news, information sharing, stimulating discussion and holiday treats:

Thursday, December 8^th from 10:00 AM – Noon

Resources for Child Caring - WEST Office  Suite 250

2021 East Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis  55413

RCC’s networking group for center directors is free and open to all directors
and assistant directors.

                          December Meeting Agenda

Minnesota’s Professional Development Registry

Kellie Cecili-Medina, Registry Specialist for the Minnesota Center for Professional Development, will give an overview of the Registry and answer your questions including those raised at our November meeting:

·         What are the Registry’s benefits for center staff?

·         Why are original transcripts required?

·         What’s the process for becoming an approved trainer?

·         How are courses approved by the Registry?

Center Holiday Traditions  

•  Does your center celebrate any winter holidays?
•  How are children’s experiences included in your planning for holidays?
•  What do you do to engage parents from different backgrounds in your   holiday plans and traditions? 

Policy Update for the 2012 Legislative Session

• The outlook for child care policy at the 2012 Legislative Session
• Update on union representation for family child care providers

Please call Nancy Johnson with questions or to RSVP: 651-233-2262

Notes from the November Directors Group:

Scholarships for Professional Development

Shelly Hendricks and Erin Young from the Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network presented information about T.E.A.C.H  Scholarships, CDA college credit scholarships, the Judy Lindman Memorial Scholars forgiveable loan program and Retain Awards. Applications are currently being accepted and the next deadline is April 1st, 2012.

For more info: http://mnchildcare.org/TEACH/index.php

Or contact Shelly Hendricks - 651-290-9704 Ext.106;  shellyh@mnchildcare.org; Erin Young - 651-290-9704 ext.109; eriny@mnchildcare.org

Twin Cities Child Care Center Pay Scale Survey Results 

A total of 18 metro area centers completed the survey. 94.4% are licensed programs, 4 are NAEYC Accredited and 4 receioved 3 or 4 Level Ratings from Parent Aware. Most (38.9%) enroll 41-70 children with 5 small programs (less than 40) and large centers (more than 71).

Most centers in the survey (83%) serve both preschoolers and toddlers and are open year-round. The survey included questions about pay scales for teaching staff, how programs determine wage increases, what percentage of salary is considered for raises, the types of experience and education considered in hiring new employees and employee benefits including paid health insurance, child care, and the number of holidays, in-service days, sick, vacation and PTO days.

   

A few highlights from the survey include:

• Starting rate for lead teacher - 4 centers at $10-11.99;                          7 at $12-13.99;  3 at $14-15.99;  3 at $16-17.99.
• A majority of centers who answered this question give 1-2% of employee's salary in raises.
• The most common percentage for the centers (9) was a 25-74% health insurance subsidy.
• 7 centers provide 7-10 paid holidays, 6 are closed for 1-3 days for in-service, and most programs have no floating holidays. Also, most programs (9) provide 4-6 days or less for paid sick leave. 
• While 6 programs didn't answer this question, 4 programs capped vacation at 15-20 days.

Copies of the complete survey will be available at the December meeting. You can also email Nancy Johnson at njohnson@resourcesforchildcar.org for a copy of the survey.

November 10th, 2011 Early Childhood Directors Meeting

Hi Center Directors,

Join us for the next center directors meeting THIS THURSDAY from 10 am - 12:00 noon and find out how other directors in the metro area answered our wage, benefits and salary scales survey:
Metro Area Center Directors Meeting THURSDAY - November 10th
10:00 am - noon - Resources for Child Caring, WEST office
2021 East Hennepin Ave., Suite 250, Minneapolis

If you haven't taken the 10 minute wage and benefits survey, check out the Early Childhood Directors Blog from the October meeting: http://ecdirectorsgroup.blogspot.com/

Or go directly to the survey URL below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L3538TG

This Thursday, we'll also hear about scholarships for CDA credentials and the T.E.A.C.H. MN Program. You'll have time to share concerns, strategies and tips with other directors and make suggestions for topics for the monthly meetings in 2012.

Hope to see you on Thursday.
Nancy Johnson

October Meeting Minutes

Meeting
October 13th, 2011
10am-12pm

Guest speakers: Dena Roberts and Amy Dimmler, Accreditation Facilitation Project

Amy and Dena came and presented a power point on the expanded services offered by the Accreditation Facilitation Project (AFP). AFP has a goal of helping 350 centers become accredited in the next 3 years. They will work with any DHS-approved accreditation (not just NAEYC) and help cover fees, offer monthly consulting, resources, training, and support. If you are interested, you can set up a meeting and someone from the project can come out to your center to provide information and consulting. Services are FREE if you have at least 1 child considered at risk (Special needs, IEP, CCAP or other scholarship, ESL/ELL, Free or Reduced meal on food program).

For more information, see this flyer or visit the MNAEYC AFP website.
To apply, you can submit this application.

We talked about pay scales and setting teaching staff rates and came up with a survey that we would LOVE for you to complete. It will probably take 15-20 minutes but we will sit down and discuss all the data at our next meeting so please take the time so you can benefit from the information gathered. Please share this with other directors you may know!

We also welcomed Nancy Johnson from Resources from Child Caring today who will be taking over the directors group and blog this December so Nicole can focus on directing. Nancy has a lot of great experience in the field and will bring a wealth of resources and insight to the group. Nancy can be reached at njohnson@resourcesforchildcare.org.

Meeting Reminder

Don't forget to come to our next meeting. October 12th, 2011 starting at 10am and goes until 12 noon at the Minneapolis Resources for Child Caring location. The Accreditation Facilitation Project will be there to talk about the services they offer to child care centers looking to become accredited. We will also work together to create a survey for followers and members regarding employee wages, benefits and costs to attend child care in your area. 


See you there!

September Meeting Recap

Greetings Directors! Here is the recap from our September meeting.

 

1. Sandy Myers, RCC - came to speak about several offerings from RCC including:

• The Getting Rady Project (see this flyer)
• Pathways to Professionald Development (for really committed staff who may be stuck at aide or assistant teacher level because they are missing some core skills to advance; there are scholarships available to help them get basic ed and assessments completed; cohort-based program) - contact Micki Lechner-Riehle 651-233-2276
• Building Quality (similar to Getting Ready for those outside the Parent Aware pilot area, statewide, RCC is looking to start a list of interested programs who would like money to help with training and equipment needs; sites should serve a significant number of at risk families) - contact Carol Stromme 651-641-6644

2. Cory Woosely, Eager to Learn - came to speak about programming for directors

• Free webinars - sign up for email list by contacting coryw@mnchildcare.org
• Director's Crediential cohort starts in January, $940, NAEYC-credential
• CDA program, 10 months, $600, all online, community based.

3. Upcoming training on the Go Green rating scale! See flyer for more info.

4. Cathy Clair, RCC - came to talk about changes with the Debra S. Fish library

• You will now need to register your library card if you don't have a St. Paul Public Library card in order to check out books - Cathy will be here next month from 11:30-12:30 to help directors register their cards.
• You can pick up, return and request books at any public library using the online system.
• Some flyers about the changes: flyer 1 and flyer 2 (sorry, scans are kind of cut off)

5. Linda Magle, Mn Child Care - came to talk about available grants and scholarships

• TEACH
• RETAIN - FREE money for child care providers to be used however they wish $1,000-$3,500. Rewards longevity and professional development. Must have a CDA or degree.
• Check out mnchildcare.org's scholarship page for more info on other available grants and scholarships.

6. Alicia Frosch, Child Care Works - came to talk about 2011 legislative outcomes.

• Check out this great summary sheet.
• Reimbursement rates will actually change starting November 28th not October 31st.
• No exceptions to new absent day policy.
• They may make some changes in the $20 background study fee related to returning staff.
• QRIS (Parent Aware) will probably be moved through by the Administrative Branch (Gov Dayton) and not the legislature.
• Hannah's Law PASSED. As of 8/1/11 all Assistant Teachers and Teachers should be trained in CPR within 30 days of employment.

7. Discussion

• Job Description hints, tips and practices:
• Give out when fill out the application so they know what they are applying for
• Include in employee handbook
• Include the key phrase, "And other duties as assigned by director"
• Include cleaning, daily maintencnace tasks, team work
• If staff aren't following, one way to give a reminder is to highlight area in question on job description and hand to them.
• Break down by classroom and title (i.e. Infant aide, Infant lead, Preschool assistant teacher, etc)
• Insurance agent may be of help when developing this.
• Including "Must see and hear"....ADA questions...
• Employee Reviews hints, tips and practices:
• Have employees do a self evaluation using the same form (can be harsher on themselves)
• Areas commonly assessed: general job performance (on time, dress code, cooperation); relations with kids; relations with parents
• Good time for goal setting (where do you see yourself in ...? Training plan fo the following year)
• Mixed opinions on giving raises for review result.
• Mixed opinions on giving reviews on anniversary or all at once (some do new staff at 90 days, 6 months, 1 year and then annually at a year round review process)
• Probationary periods - risky because can give staff past the period a false sense of security in an at-will employment state

8. Suggestions for next month:

• A more in-depth survey on rates and pay scales for teachers
• See if we can get the information collected by CCR&R broken down by city.
• Discuss a salary cap and other compensation (PTO, Training)

Meeting Agenda

Here is our agenda for the next meeting.

September 8th, 2011
10am-12pm

1. Cory Woosley, Eager to Learn -Topic: New director's track (appx. 10am)
2. Linda Magle, MN CCR&R - Topic: Grant cycle (appx. 10:15am)
3. Cathy Clair, RCC - Topic: Library Accessibility (appx. 10:30am)
4. Alicia Frosch, Child Care Works - Topic: Legislative Wrap up (appx. 10:45am)
5. Group Discussion - Topics: job descriptions and teacher evaluation (appx. 11:30am)

Next Meeting

Our Next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 8th, 2011 from 10a to 12p at the RCC West location in Minneapolis. We plan on having a legislative session wrap up to discuss how the changes will affect your business, information about a new Eager to Learn directors track and your discussion. Please join us for this opportunity to network and grow as directors. Your input will help us plan for the rest of the year.

Directors Group Going Forward

There will be no meeting this week of the Director's Group. We will be taking the next couple of weeks to plan topics for the year ahead. If you have ideas or input, please email me at directorsgroup@resourcesforchildcare.org. We will resume meetings in September at our usual time and location. Updates soon on our topic!

CCAP FUNDING CONTINUES DURING SHUTDOWN

From Child Care Works:

Breaking News, Wednesday, July 13, 12:45 p.m. We have just been notified that Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin has issued an order continuing all Child Care Assistance payments during the Minnesota state government shutdown. The order is available online at http://1.usa.gov/oRhVeD. We know many child care providers and families are making key decisions right now about continuing child care services and arrangements. As further details become available today we will update you again, but wanted to share this welcome news that child care assistance has been included now as an essential government service.
Regards,
Mary Nienow, Executive Director
Child Care WORKS

Site Visit Schedule

Site Visit Schedule:
Start 10 a.m. on July 14th
*Caring for Children, 5835 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419 (4-star Parent Aware)
*Early Wonders Preschool, 2539 Pleasant Ave South, Mpls, MN 55404 (NAEYC Accredited & 4-star Parent Aware)
*Lexington Kids Christian Child Care, 701 Lexington Pkwy N, St. Paul, MN 55104 (PEK site, NAEYC Accredited & 4-star Parent Aware)
*Bethel University - King Family Foundation Child Development Center, 376 Western Ave, St. Paul, MN 55103 (PEK site, NAEYC Accredited & 4-star Parent Aware)


View Larger Map

June Meeting Summary

Greetings Directors!

In June, we heard Mara from First Children's Finance present on Recruiting Non-Profit Board Members (worksheets available here). We also had Nichole Polifka, Professional Development Manager from the Minnesota Children's Museum out to speak about their Intentional Provider professional development series. As a group, we discussed sibling discounts (most centers present offered 10% off to the older children in a family) and financial management software (one center used EZCare and was dissatisfied, most used Quickbooks or something equivalent, another center had specially designed software).

Suggestion for future discussion: social media policy and use in child care marketing.

I will be posting the schedule for the site tours later today. We will meet at the first center at 10am on July 14th. Thanks to all of the centers who have volunteered for visits!

Links to documents distributed are within the meeting summary. One additional document would be information about MN Charities law that Mara handed out, available here.

Email from MCCA regarding Government Shutdown - Families receiving TANF funds will continue to be funded

Today, Ramsey County Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin, released her ruling what core government functions should continue in the case of a government shutdown and without the passage of appropriations. The ruling states that despite negative impacts of a shutdown, the Constitution limits judicial branch authority.

Therefore, the Court is narrowly construing its authority to order government spending to maintain core functions.
As it relates to childcare assistance, Judge Gearin ruled that while TANF childcare should continue to be funded, Basic Sliding Fee childcare would not.  The court ruled that although not funding non-TANF child care assistance may cause extreme hardship to low income working parents, increase the public assistance rolls because some of these people will have to leave the workforce in order to care for their children, and may lessen for opportunities for low income children to succeed in school.  These likely consequences can only be avoided by the exercise of legislative and executive branch discretion in settling the budget issues.
The Governor and Legislative leaders continue to meet to try and resolve their differences over the budget. 

Whether or not they reach an agreement in the next 30 hours is unclear.  So, it is very important that you contact Governor Dayton and your legislators to let them know the impact this has on your center, families and children.   (from Child Care Works: Find who represents you at http://www.gis.leg.mn/OpenLayers/districts/ and call or email today!)
We are contacting DHS to see what information they will be sending out to providers.  We will keep you informed as we learn more but please dont hesitate to contact me, if you have questions.


Valerie Dosland                                                                             
MCCA Lobbyist

NEW Poll posted on the blog - Please let us know how you plan to handle the government shutdown.

More from May - Employer resources

Here are the last 3 handouts that Sue Fischer brought with at our May meeting, shared via google docs:

Coaching/Employee Improvement
Termination Guide
Unpaid Internships

Meeting Reminder - June

This is just a reminder that we will be meeting Thursday, June 9th from 10am-12p at RCC West for the director's group. Mara will present on non-profit board recruitment and we will discuss: discounts, financial management and attendance software and plan the site tour visits for next month. We should have time this week if there is another question or topic you would like to discuss. I can be reached at directorsgroup@resourcesforchildcare.org.

Additional Recap

Some other tips from the last meeting that I found in my notes:

• If you cap how much PTO can rollover from year-to-year, be very clear about the amount of rollover, the amount of accrual, and the time period an employee has to use it (for example, "an employee can rollover up to 10 hours of PTO per year, but it must be used by March 31st of the year and employees cannot accrue more than 90 hours of PTO in their bank.")
• When giving written employee improvement plans, be sure that your final line includes "...violation of this or any policies can be subject to discipline up to and including termination."
• Remember that your employee handbook is not a contract, you may pull out important policies or contract pieces for employment and have employees sign them separately.
• Make sure you are tracking actual hours worked and not just scheduled hours in paying employees.
• Paycheck deductions by your company (for in-service, uniforms, child care, etc.) must all be authorized.
• Final paychecks after termination: If voluntary - next pay period; if involuntary - employee must request it in writing and you must provide within 24 hours. Just have it ready to go for them!
• Don't forget to include a PTO policy stating that unused accrued PTO will be considered forfeit if terminated, otherwise it's considered due wages and must be paid.
• Required training time must be paid. Trainings that you require must be paid for by you.
• Avoid progressive disciplinary procedures, it locks you in to a forced procedure when the best course may be to terminate immediately.
• Employees have a right to review their personnel file every 6 months and should receive written notice of that (include in employee handbook).

Thanks! I will be posting the last 2 google docs handouts sometime soon. Don't forget our next meeting is this Thursday. I have in my notes that we will talk about sibling discounts and attendance and financial management software. Other suggestions are welcome.

Milk in CACFP

Food Program Update

Whole Milk and 2% Milk no longer allowed to be served to children over 2 years old. See memorandum on Fluid Milk Guidelines. There have also been changes made to milk substitute guidelines.

From the FNS-CACFP:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued the attached memorandums implementing provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
Memorandum on “Water Availability in CACFP.”
Memorandum on “Nutrition Requirements for Fluid Milk and Fluid Milk Substitutes in CACFP.” This memorandum requires that fluid milk served to children age two and over in the CACFP be skim milk or low-fat (1%) milk. Whole milk and 2% milk may no longer be served in the CACFP.
This memorandum also allows CACFP facilities the option of offering a non-dairy beverage, for example soy milk, in place of fluid milk for children who cannot consume fluid milk due to medical or other special dietary needs, at the written request of a parent or guardian. Non-dairy beverage products that are offered must be nutritionally equivalent to fluid milk and meet the standards established by USDA. Before implementing this provision, a CACFP organization must contact the Minnesota Department of Education-Food and Nutrition Service to confirm whether the non-dairy beverage product that it plans to offer meets the minimum nutritional requirements established by USDA.
If you have any questions about this information, contact the Minnesota Department of Education-Food and Nutrition Service at 651-582-8526, 1-800-366-8922 (MN Toll-free) or e-mail fns@state.mn.us.

May Meeting Summary

Directors,

May was a different sort of meeting so this post is not going to follow the typical "minutes" format.

Meeting Summary

Sue Fischer from ENGELMEIER & UMANAH, P.A.came to speak with us for our May meeting. I have finally figured out a good way for me to share handouts and information from meetings with all of you (without breaking email or scanning each page in individually as a .jpg to post as a picture). I will post links to google docs .pdf versions of the documents that are distributed so everyone has access. Most of what Sue spoke about was clarification of some handouts she gave. Unfortunately, I have figured out this briliant plan too late to scan them in where I have access to a scanner. I do have one digital document that was discussed at the meeting that Sue was able to send me later on Records Retention Document. Here are a few of the ideas and information passed along at the meeting:

• Overtime - any work over 40 hours, including training. There seemed to be some question about when overtime needed to be paid and Sue's response was anything above 40 hours.
• Staff as "Volunteers" - Staff can really not volunteer at your center this includes helping out in a classroom before or after their working hours or working events after hours. If someone is doing anything that can be construed as work, they should be paid.
• Unpaid interns - should be connected to a school or not replacing a staff person and receiving as much as they are giving (in terms of education/information/experience).
• Documention of work performance - Employee reviews should never be a surprise, keep a manager's file for each staff person to document verbal corrections or incidents that may require documentation further down the road (can tie these notes into written warnings at a later date if a patterns is discovered).

I will get the other digital copies scanned in and shared through google docs as soon as I have access to a scanner.

June Meeting Planning

• First Children's Finance presentation - Recruiting Non-Profit Board Members
• Discussion topic: ???
• Ideas:
• Accounting and records software, retention systems
• Please comment on this post with your ideas and requests!

July Meeting Planning

• Site Tours! Please email directorsgroup@resourcesforchildcare.org if you would like to have your site included on our site tour list. I will have a final list with locations and times prepared after our June meeting.

New Contact Information

The address nfrethem@resourcesforchildcare.org is now defunct. Please delete it from your address books. If you have questions or comments regarding the Directors group, you may direct them to directorsgroup@resourcesforchildcare.org.

Meeting Today

Don't forget to come to the meeting today! We will be hosting Sue Fischer to discuss employment law in child care settings. You will not want to miss this opportunity to have important legal questions answered.

April Meeting Minutes

Director’s Group
Meeting Minutes
Meeting Date: April 14, 2011
Made possible through the support of the Deluxe Corporation Foundation

1. No First Children’s Finance Presentation

2. Kevin Terrell presents Shared Services proposal
    a. Advanced search
    b. Site profiles
    c. “Angie’s list” of resources for child care providers
    d. Jobs board

3. News and Updates
    a. Nicole’s new position/role with RCC
    b. New Early Childhood Director’s Group blog http://ecdirectorsgroup.blogspot.com/
        i. Meeting reminders will come through Constant Contact to directors in 7 county metro area.
        ii. Reminders will also be posted on the Director’s Group blog, you can subscribe to the blog and receive email updates of all new postings

4. Week of the Young Child ideas
    a. Have volunteers or student teachers plan WOYC events
    b. Kids hand out pencils with activities around them
    c. Focus on “stories, snacks, and crafts”
    d. Carnival for the kids
    e. Faith-based programs - hand out children’s handprints for prayers at chapel time
    f. family breakfast
    g. Special lunch
    h. Launch special program features (i.e. lending library for parents)
    i. Super jumper
    j. Art fair of students’ art work
    k. Make and Take flower pots
    l. Focused on Earth Day (following week) for nature based program (Earth/Spring/Environment)
    m. Preschool Prom
    n. WOYC planning guide at NAEYC.org

5. Teacher Appreciation - First week in May
    a. General observation - centered on food
    b. Personal note as director to each staff member and a small gift
        i. Step into the classroom for teachers for 15-45 minutes and give them an extra break
        ii. Chair massages to staff?
    c. Breakfast/lunch for staff
        i. Can have parent volunteers fill in over naptime (not very successful but gives them an idea of what teachers contend with daily)
    d. Provide families information to contact teachers and provide words of appreciation
        i. Work email addresses
        ii. Make notes (“I love my teacher because...”) or bulletin board available to parents
        iii. Have teachers post a list of favorite things (candy, soda, etc)
        iv. Parent volunteered scrapbooked picture boards for teachers

    e. Another option - Year-round appreciation, sign-up board located in public area and parents sign-up for a week.

6. Field Trips (In-house and off-site)
    a. Puppeteer (Colleen, from Eden Prairie, ??) recommended
    b. Sara Waters (Babytimefun.com) recommended
    c. Merlajean the puppet lady, not recommended
    d. Science museum (very expensive, got the time wrong), not recommended
    e. Como Zoo (affordable, good programs), recommended
    f. MadScienceMN, recommended
    g. The Reptile Experience (affordable) recommended
    h. History Center (bad experience but provided some compensation)
    i. Step Up to Soccer via Children’s Learning Mgmt Services (very popular with families, depends on who teaches the class, parents pay separately) - recommended
    j. City of Richfield free reading program (access via city website, may not have to be in Richfield to participate) - recommended
    k. Humane Society (haven’t used, thinking of trying)
    l. Underwater Adventures, recommend
    m. Rob Ellos (didn’t catch what he did or spelling but he was a “crazy guy, kept kids attention)
    n. Bruce the Bug Guy (kind of expensive)
    o. Will Hale (really cool, very expensive)
    p. The Alphabets (more affordable than Will Hale, also fun
    q. Jody Blindaur- Yoga for kids, teachers, parents. Recommended - jodylbee [at ] yahoo [dot] com
    r. Wayzata HS String Orchestra came and did a concert at one center, even if not for your center, explore local public schools
    s. Mike Mann the Baker (Gardening, Santa Claus), recommended
    t. Utilize businesses within walking distance: Farmer’s Market, DQ, McDons, Chuck’E’Cheese, library
    u. Landscape Arboretum (OFFSITE), highly recommend for preschoolers
        i. Other offsite field trips: apple orchard, Children’s museum, Como zoo
        ii. Renting Bus (Can share with other centers)

7. Other/Future Meetings
    a. Children are not permitted to use water bottles except on field trips (licensing rule regarding children having access to water “in cups”)
    b. May meeting - Sue Fischer will come to talk about employment law (experience with child care and rule 3)
    c. June meeting - First Children’s Finance (non-profit board recruitment); discussion topic: TBD
    d. July meeting - Site visits? (let me know if you would like to volunteer your site for a visit)

Meeting Reminder

This month's director's meeting will be Thursday, April 14th at 10am at Resources For Child Caring's West Metro location in Minneapolis. We will be talking about Week of the Young Child, Teacher Appreciation Week, Summer Programming Planning and Special visitors/field trips.

Protecting Children in Emergencies: Do you have a plan?

Please take our survey!

We would really appreciate your feedback as to how we can make the director's group meet your needs better. Please follow this link to take this quick survey. If you have additional feedback, please email me, Nicole Frethem at nfrethem@resourcesforchildcare.org.

Responses from Licensor

Here are the responses to the questions we asked the licensor last month:

The first was what is the time period in which staff need to have new background studies completed? There was some question of whether it was 45 or 60 days in regards to staff who have a work interruption (i.e. go on maternity or medical leave or are rehired or return after summer break)?  45 or more consecutive days as specified under Minnesota Statutes, section 245C.04, subdivision 1, paragraph (i).  There are proposed amendments to this requirement in the Legislature, so it may change, but the current requirement is to provide the commissioner notice through the commissioner’s online background study system following an absence of 45 or more consecutive days.  This means submission of a new background study through NetStudy after an individual has been absent for 45 or more consecutive days, or after the program resumes operation following discontinuation of services for 45 or more consecutive days.

Also, what are the requirements for volunteers and particularly parent volunteers? If a parent goes on a field trip with a site and then another a few months later would a new study need to be done (assuming the parent has been on site dropping the child off at least weekly between this period)?  Any volunteer who has direct contact with children served by the program, who is not under continuous, direct supervision by a staff person, needs to have a background study completed (Minnesota Statutes, section 245C.03, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (4).  If the volunteer is absent for 45 or more consecutive days and returns to a direct contact position for another field trip, a new background study is required to be submitted. 

What are the requirements for classroom volunteers or visitors that are never left alone with children?  The same requirement applies for all volunteers – if at any time a volunteer is not under continuous, direct supervision by a staff person, a background study needs to be completed (Minnesota Statutes, section 245C.03, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (4).  If the volunteer is always under continuous, direct supervision by a staff person, a background study is not required to be completed.

March Meeting Minutes

Below you will find the minutes from our last meeting.

Director’s Group

Meeting Minutes

Meeting Date: March 20, 2011

Made possible through the support of the Deluxe Corporation Foundation

I.                    First Children’s Finance – Starting and Building A Donor Program

a.       Mara O’Neill presented on this topic. Some of the ideas she provided are:

                                                               i.      Building relationships and keeping a database of possible donors (current and past families, vendors and businesses, board members and associates, other organizations)

                                                             ii.      Utilizing Give to the Max day, GiveMN.org, your company’s website, planned drives and events

                                                            iii.      Developing a plan for specific fundraising goals (worksheet provided)

II.                 Child Care Works – Legislative/Budget Updates

a.       Alicia Frosch (community organizer) provided information on Child Care Works(http://www.childcareworks.org/),  MN Budget Project (http://www.mncn.org/bp/), and Minnesota’s Future (not the Tom Emmer supporters but this one – sorry, long url) (flyers attached via .pdf)

b.      Discussed Governor Dayton’s budget proposal and sought information about it’s impact on child care providers. Examples of policy proposals that would impact centers:

                                                               i.      License fees may decrease (estimated average of $25)

                                                             ii.      Child care providers will need to pay for background studies (appx. $20 per study).

                                                            iii.      CCAP reducing number of absent days (from 25 to 10) and capping reimbursements for child care center staff.

                                                           iv.      $5 million cut to basic sliding fee CCAP (one time)

                                                             v.      Expand all-day K for low-income students (free/reduced meals0

                                                           vi.      2 million dollars to continue a QRIS (Parent Aware or other)

c.       Voices for Children day coming up on MARCH 17^th to find info, attend or volunteer visit here: http://www.voicesforchildrenmn.org/ 

d.      If you have questions on how legislation could impact your center or would like to learn more about advocating for young children, you can contact Alicia Frosch at Alicia@childcareworks.org or 612-455-1055.

III.               April Meeting Planning – WOYC/Teacher Appreciation

a.       Our next meeting is April 14^th, 2010 which falls in Week of the Young Child. If you have never participated in WOYC, we will be sharing ideas for what you can do so you can start planning for next year now.

b.      We will also discuss ways of showing appreciation for staff and organizing staff appreciation weeks in anticipation of Teacher Appreciation week which is the first full week in May (2^nd-6^th in 2011) or Teacher Appreciation Day (May 3^rd).

c.       Ideas for resources to share include Guest Visitors and Field Trips (in house and out).

d.      We can also share some summer program planning resources at this time as many of these will overlap.

IV.              May Meeting Planning – Employment Law

a.       In May, Sue Fischer from ENGELMEIER & UMANAH, P.A. will join us to discuss employment law questions that arose during previous meetings. So far on the agenda are:

                                                               i.      Overtime/Training wages and pay requirements

                                                             ii.      Managing and Documenting performance

                                                            iii.      Hire/Discharge Issues

                                                           iv.      Hourly/Salaried differences and regulations

b.      If you have additional ideas or questions, please send them my way so I can help Sue prepare for her visit

V.                 Feedback and Future planning

a.       We are beginning to look ahead to next year at this time and are looking for feedback and ideas for future discussions. I will be preparing a survey that I hope to have attendees (and non-attendees!) fill out to make improvements to the director’s group. If you have ideas now, please feel free to send them my way!

VI.              Licensing Questions

a.       Here are the questions I asked this month, will send responses when I receive them:

·         The first was what is the time period in which staff need to have new background studies completed? There was some question of whether it was 45 or 60 days in regards to staff who have a work interruption (i.e. go on maternity or medical leave or are rehired or return after summer break)?

·         Also, what are the requirements for volunteers and particularly parent volunteers? If a parent goes on a field trip with a site and then another a few months later would a new study need to be done (assuming the parent has been on site dropping the child off at least weekly between this period)?

·         What are the requirements for classroom volunteers or visitors that are never left alone with children?

Next meeting: Thursday, April 14^th from 10am to 12pm at RCC West (2021 East Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55413)

Agenda:

·       No presentation from Mara L

·       Week of the Young Child

·       Staff/Teacher Appreciation

·       Guest Visitors (share your good ones and ideas!)

·       Summer Program Planning