Friday, January 6, 2012

Join Us for the Monthly Center Directors Group

THURSDAY, January 12th  - What’s Ahead for Early Childhood
                                              Programs in 2012?

MN Recently Won Race to the Top Funding. 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 12th 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 at RCC offices at 2021 Hennepin Ave. E., Mpls., 55413.


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Notes from the December 7th, 2011  Center Directors Meeting
Child Care WORKS preview of the 2012 legislature 
 Chris Breva-Erickson
CCW Advocacy Agenda is available at: www.childcareworks.org
2012 Action Items include supporting efforts to expand the Parent Aware quality rating and improvement system statewide, fully fund Basic Sliding Fee Child Care Assistance and increase family income eligibility to 75% of the state medium income, and support publication and use of an early childhood report card.
The MN Child Care Association will be taking the lead on trying to restore the 2.5% reimbursement rate cut to providers.
The cut in absent days from 25 to 10 per year for licensed providers and to 0 for FFN providers is also a hot issue. 
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The MNCPD Registry

Kellie Cecil-Medina and Wai Yang, Registry Specialists from the MN Center for Professional Development, MNCPD, provided an overview of MNCPD and a “walkthrough” of the Training Registry.  The vision for Minnesota’s Professional Development System is a seamless, integrated system that raises the capacity and competencies of those providing early care and education for children beginning at birth, aligns with K-12 education and links to higher education to support child development and school success. The ultimate goal of the PD System is to improve positive outcomes for children.

In 2007 the Minnesota Legislature authorized DHS, in cooperation with the Departments of Education and Health, to develop and phase in the implementation of a Professional Development System for providers serving children in early childhood and school-age programs.
Over a 16-month planning period, DHS sought input from a broad array of stakeholder groups to inform, guide and shape system development.
The PD System has been designed around a framework of five interconnected components:

§  Quality Assurance
§  Core Knowledge
§  Qualifications and Credentials
§  Outreach and Access

§  Funding Support
The Annual Report of the Minnesota Professional Development System for Early Childhood and School-age Practitioners (2010) provides details on 25 key indicators of that effort's progress.
After giving a “virtual tour” of the Registry website, Kellie and Wai answered directors’ questions including how to become an “approved trainer (applications on the website),” how trainers are evaluated (by participants), why original transcripts are required (need the information on the back of the transcript), and whether licensors recognize MNCPD approved training by an approved trainer (yes, they’re supposed to).
Kelli and Wai noted that MNCPD and licensing are working towards the Registry training records fulfilling the licensing requirement for evidence of staff qualifications.
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How Do Centers Handle Holiday Traditions and Celebrations ?
Focus on the traditions of families and children in your program
Several directors suggested that a starting place is to ask families to share what they do around holidays
Use the time as an opportunity for community service or sharing
Remember that people aren’t “props”
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Department of Labor Alert:  A director noted that in a recent training about legal and labor issues for child care businesses, it was reported that the Department of Labor recently hired an additional 100 investigators and that they’re cracking down on employers without proper I-9 Forms for every employee, including every employee who worked there in the past 3 years.
Directors requested that one of our upcoming speakers be an expert in labor laws covering child care centers.