7.1 Quality Activities Needs Assessment

7.1.1 Needs assessment process and findings a. Describe the Lead Agency needs assessment process for expending CCDF funds on activities to improve the quality of child care, including the frequency of assessment, how a diverse range of parents and providers were consulted, and how their views are incorporated: The California Department of Education, when they were the Lead Agency, received technical assistance (TA) from the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance to align Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) quality funds and activities to maximize investments and to ensure sufficient time for new quality investments to be launched and achieve adequate implementation. As a result of this TA, California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has started the process for future fiscal year quality investment activities that include an assessment and feedback loop with Research, professional development systems support, as well as data and evaluation. The professional development evaluation system created a continuous assessment and evaluation process that collects annual program quality reporting information, utilizes data to identify gaps in professional development accessibility, affordability, and quality, identifies the challenges and needs of the workforce including equity across programs, funding streams, and communities, and informs CDSS of when investments are fully implemented and sustainable. The evaluation of the State’s professional development system allows for analysis of quarterly progress reports as well as end-of-year evaluations to inform investment decisions. The CDSS began to engage in additional federal TA in 2023 to continue to evaluate the professional development system and plan for changes that will take place over the next three years. In addition, CDSS completes formal assessments yearly on specific quality investments and the results of the evaluations are used for project improvement including how to better support family child care homes and family, friends, and neighbor providers. To increase equitable access to high-quality child care services through CCDF funds, CDSS partners with other state agencies, the child care community, and families to conduct ongoing evaluation of its quality improvement efforts through evaluation of trainings, surveys, contractor meetings, and public comment during meetings like the Early Childhood Policy Council meetings. Feedback is used to address gaps, concerns, or build on successes as it relates to improving quality in early learning and care programs. Additionally, to support equitable access and outcomes, CDSS continues to build from recent state planning efforts (i.e., 2020 California Early Learning and Care Master Plan, 2019 Blue-Ribbon Commission, and Preschool Development Grant-Renewal) to track measurable indicators that assess the equity of CCDF quality improvement efforts. Evaluations of these indicators help inform future decisions, as well as dismantle systemic structures, policies, and practices that produce inequitable access and outcomes. b. Describe the findings of the assessment, including any findings related to needs of different populations and types of providers, and if any overarching goals for quality improvement were identified: The recent Preschool Development Grant Renewal (PDG-R) Needs Assessment provided recommendations on opportunities to positively impact racial equity through future quality investments. The report provided recommendations for 14 priorities. This is not exhaustive and the entire report can be found at https://pdgcaforallkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/PDG-R_NA- EL_Report_FINAL_ADA.pdf. The priorities and recommendations are as follows: (1) disseminate public funds equitably: map and monitor how funds flow from their respective programs to the deliverable outcomes; (2) move toward holistic, strengths- based, and authentic integration, partnering state agencies need to include information from existing data systems around child, teacher, and leader demographic makeup at the site and classroom levels; (3) embed equity in monitoring and accountability systems, establish a racial equity audit process across the child care and development ecosystem and, at least for the PDG-R partners, implement it on a set schedule that assesses gains and areas of improvement; (4) address workforce equity, examine existing workforce compensation data and identify whether disparities exist by race, ethnicity, setting type, or child ages, and establish a plan to close these pay gaps, aiming toward pay parity for all lead early educators with elementary school teachers; (5) embed equity in workforce (including leadership) preparation and development, ensure that equity-focused content across professional preparation and development systems is required and not optional, and review and update this content as needed; (6) explicitly include equity in the definition of quality across rating systems; Include actionable, equity-focused indicators in the new iteration of the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System. A non-exhaustive list of indicators is provided by the Community Eligibility Provision report: Equity is Quality, Quality is Equity; (7) ensure high-quality curricula and pedagogy are accessible and culturally responsive by evaluating which approaches and curricula close racial, ethnic, economic, and disability gaps, regardless of whether they receive public funding; (8) ensure global environmental classroom quality measurement explicitly assesses equitable experiences; (9) eliminate harsh discipline by Requiring annual professional development to understand the role of race and racism in the perceptions of children’s behaviors that challenge adults and discipline decisions; (10) address equity in early intervention and special education access, identification, and inclusion by ensuring all partners involved with coaching or consultation, including the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Network, are required to ensure inclusion and support of children with disabilities is part of the content; (11) implement a data- driven continuous equity quality improvement cycle; (12) expand family leadership and engagement; (13) prioritize family child care with intentional strategies and outreach, specifically to family child care, and outreach across all training, technical assistance, and coaching; (14) equitably expand access to dual language immersion approaches for dual language learners. Overall, the PDG-R Needs Assessment recommendations highlight that achieving an equitable system requires agreeing on a clear and actionable definition of “equity” that is consistent across the state child care and development system focuses on access, experience, and outcomes across programs, polices, organizations, and agencies, and recognizes the importance of fair and just opportunity and of addressing both historical and contemporary inequities and injustices.