8.1 Coordination with Partners to Expand Accessibility and Continuity of Care

Lead Agencies must coordinate child care services supported by CCDF with other federal, State/Territory, and local level programs. This includes programs for the benefit of Indian children, infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care. 8.1.1 Coordination with required and optional partners Describe how the Lead Agency coordinates and the results of this coordination of the provision of child care services with the organizations and agencies to expand accessibility and continuity of care and to assist children enrolled in early childhood programs in receiving full-day services that meet the needs of working families. The Lead Agency must coordinate with the following agencies: a. State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care or similar coordinating body (pursuant to 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Governor's Early Childhood Cabinet (SAC) is co-chaired by the Lieutenant Governor and the OEC's Commissioner. The Cabinet plays a key role in advancing the integration of state and local services to better support young children and families. The SAC was reinstated in 2021, and continues to be active, meeting quarterly with all meetings open to the public. The vision and mission of the OEC and alignment to the CCDF plan and implementation of the plan were reviewed and discussed at the Cabinet’s most recent meeting in March, 2024. All attendees were provided the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, and provide input, which were recorded for analysis prior to the finalizing the plan for submission. A specific focus going forward is to have the SAC play a critical role in providing input and collaborating with OEC as we continue to work on systems reform. b. Indian Tribe(s) and/or Tribal organization(s), at the option of the Tribe or Tribal organization. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination, including which Tribe(s) was (were) involved: With the last CCDF 2022-2024 Plan, the OEC coordinated with the Mohegan Tribe to communicate access to the OEC Registry and explanation of available online professional development opportunities to subsidy providers within the Registry. The OEC reached back out to both the Mohegan Tribe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribe but were unable to schedule a meeting prior to this CCDF 2025-2027 Plan draft because both tribal communities were unresponsive to OEC's repeated emails. [ ] Not applicable. Check here if there are no Indian Tribes and/or Tribal organizations in the State/Territory. c. State/Territory agency(ies) responsible for programs for children with disabilities, including early intervention programs authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The OEC is working closely with the IDEA Part B state coordinator to support community-based programs as they work with their public school counterparts to ensure that children who are eligible to receive special education and related services are provided with a program that ensure continuity and consistency in the least restrictive environment. The OEC’s Division of Quality Improvement has collaborated with CTs Regional Educational Service Centers’ (RESC) Alliance to revise state trainings and materials for virtual, interactive presentation for the EC workforce. The revision of these materials and trainings include content specific to infant / toddler teachers who work with diverse children and families. The CCDF Administrator is working closely with the OEC's Family Support Division who oversees the agency's Birth to Three, IDEA, Part C Program, to raise awareness and provide information regarding the importance of early screening and referral, as well as outreach strategies to engage families in these important practices. In addition, the OEC will continue to pursue strategies to build provider comfort and confidence in supporting children with special needs, and to better coordinate access to early intervention in all child care settings. The OEC is pursuing ways to connect the CCDF program with the State Systemic Improvement Plan, specifically around improving education and outreach to increase access for children with special needs. Through Sparkler, a mobile family engagement platform, available in English and Spanish, Connecticut parents and caregivers are empowered as first teachers and helps outreach systems serve families better, together. For families with children from birth to kindergarten, Sparkler offers: (1) mobile screening to provide easy access to developmental screening and support, (2) a library of 1000+ play activities and parenting tips, just right to spark parent-child co-play and development, and (3) connection with other parents/caregivers and parenting support from professionals. For educators and providers, Sparkler connects families with children ages 0-5 directly with early intervention based upon results from their answers to the integrated Ages and Stages Questionnaire screening tool. d. State/Territory office/director for Head Start State collaboration. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The role of the CT Head Start State Collaboration Office (HSSCO) is to facilitate partnerships between Head Start and state agencies and systems to address identified needs of low-income children and families. The CT HSSCO sits within the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) and serves as a hub for coordination within the agency regarding strategic planning to redesign an integrated early childhood system to assure alignment and reform that include Head Start. These efforts have resulted in the following: (1) Inclusion of Head Start in statewide listening sessions, planning and drafting of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel report; (2) Ongoing leadership role for planning and implementation of American Rescue Plan Act funding to ensure equitable distribution of funds to providers and communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID; (3) Creation of a long-term ECE vision that focuses on six pillars: access, community voice, ECE workforce, outcomes-oriented, equitable distribution, and high-quality. This long-term vision is the foundation from which agency strategies are grounded; and (4) Close collaboration with and support by the Governor’s Workforce Council to support child care short and long-term systems reform efforts and business engagement strategies. e. State/Territory agency responsible for public health, including the agency responsible for immunizations. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: OEC coordinated with Department of Public Health and State Department of Education regarding the removal of religious exemptions to immunization requirements pursuant to CT Public Act 21-6, and the associated transition and phasing in of the new requirements in state law. Following the COVID-19 crisis, the OEC and CT UW (CCR&R) continue to work closely with the Department of Public Health (DPH) to coordinate and update messaging pertaining to health practices. f. State/Territory agency responsible for employment services/workforce development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Working with the Department of Labor (DOL), the Office of Workforce Competitiveness (OWC), the OEC surveyed child care providers around the state to better understand the need to expand nontraditional hours of care. The DOL and OWC will work with local adult education programs run by the public schools to identify strategies to expand access for these services. The OEC is exploring options to expand the definition of education to include attainment of educational credentials in targeted to long-term outcomes such as wage growth and sustained employment, which are tied to families' ability to move towards economic stability. OEC’s CCDF Administrator is a member of the 2-Gen Benefits Cliff work group which includes DOL and OWC. This group is currently working on a proposal for the Governor’s office and state legislators to run a pilot supporting working low-income families to keep their benefits, such as child care, after receiving employment advances and increases income to bridge the benefit cliff and ensure continuity of care for our young children. g. State/Territory agency responsible for public education, including pre-Kindergarten. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The CT's CCDF Administrator and OEC staff continue to work with the McKinney Vento State Administrator, who is a staff member of the State Department of Education, on relevant issues related to the Plan's activities in order to better serve families experiencing homelessness. In 2023, legislation was passed to include families experiencing homeless, foster families and families in their first year of adoption from the DCF system in OEC’s Protected Services category to ensure safe, quality free child care to these populations. In addition, three members of the Governor's Early Childhood Cabinet (SAC) are staff from the State Department of Education, including the Deputy Commissioner and the IDEA Part B State Coordinator. The OEC has and continues to work collaboratively with the Connecticut Association of Public-School Superintendents in our Blue Ribbon Panel work as we focus on streamlining and improving the child care system in CT, including transition to kindergarten. The OEC’s Quality Improvement Division works collaboratively with the state’s Regional Educational Service Centers (RESCs) and CTAEYC our state NAEYC affiliate to provide training and coaching to public school preschool staff around best practices for curriculum, instruction and assessment. This collaboration also supports the building and strengthening of relationships between the public-school preschools and the local community based preschool programs for continuity of services and effective transition. OEC recently updated the transition to kindergarten parent materials and translated them into Spanish. h. State/Territory agency responsible for child care licensing. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Division of Child Care Licensing is part of the CCDF lead agency. In partnership with the statewide child care resource and referral service, the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood’s Division of Licensing launched an enhanced child care search tool in November 2020. This now updated tool now allows families to easily find detailed program offerings and licensing and inspection information about home and center-based child care providers and youth camps all in one place. OEC child care licensing regulations for licensed center-based and group homes will soon be aligned to our C4K subsidy health and safety requirements resulting in all newly licensed programs eligibility as Care 4 Kids providers. These regulations are scheduled to go into effect in October 2024, followed by FCC regulation changes at a later date. i. State/Territory agency responsible for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and other relevant nutrition programs. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The OEC works with the State Department of Education to provide required training and bilingual materials on the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to family-based care providers. This training is focused on educating providers on the value of the CACFP, as well as provide support in navigating the administrative requirements to access this underutilized cost reimbursement resource. This coordination results in increased access of the CACFP for family child care providers. j. McKinney-Vento State coordinators for homeless education and other agencies providing services for children experiencing homelessness and, to the extent practicable, local McKinney-Vento liaisons. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The OEC has contracted with the regional Education Service Center (EdAdvance) to provide a series of train- the- trainer events to inform providers about the trauma of homelessness. The target audience for this activity is providers who receive the Care 4 Kids subsidy, and other key partners that work with this population including the Coordinated Access Networks and the state's McKinney Vento Liaisons. The purpose of the training is twofold: 1) increase the knowledge base of trainers around the trauma of homelessness and2) prepare them to be facilitators and trainers on this and related topics. The contractor's activities include provision of training and technical assistance on identifying and serving children and families experiencing homelessness based on the McKinney-Vento definition; designing and implementing statewide technical assistance to providers in screening homeless families utilizing OEC approved technical assistance. k. State/Territory agency responsible for the TANF program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Social Services is responsible for the TANF program. TANF case workers provide information and referrals to clients regarding child care subsidy. The result is better coordination of subsidy benefits for families. Families in the Temporary Family Assistance (TFA) program for TANF Cash Assistance, that are employed or in the Jobs First Training Program are eligible for and receive Care 4 Kids child care subsidy and up to five years after being a TFA recipient. FFY23, the Care 4 Kids program had 10.4% of families in TFA or post TFA. The coordination of services to these families is with multiple organizations including the Connecticut’s Department of Social Services, Department of Labor and Regional Workforce Boards, Office of Early Childhood, and United Way of Connecticut. In addition, the TANF program supports participation of families in the School Readiness program for preschool age children. This is done in coordination and state funding from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, the Department of Social Services, and community and public-school based School Readiness preschool programs. The OEC staff works closely with Department of Labor staff to coordinate benefits for family participating in TANF Jobs First Training Programs. The OEC shares policy changes and case processing timelines with Department of Labor Jobs First Staff. The Department of Social Services is operating a pilot Opportunity Center. The Opportunity Center is a location where families can schedule appointment with the social service providers, to enroll in eligible services. The Care 4 Kids program has assigned staff to the Opportunity Center where they assist the family to apply for child care subsidy. l. State/Territory agency responsible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Community Health Network for Connecticut administers the Medicaid and the state Children's Health Insurance Program (HUSKY). Once an individual or family goes through the application process, they are automatically enrolled in HUSKY. As of 2017, the Community Health Network for Connecticut have had active community engagement hub networks to provide additional support and resources to HUSKY clients. The Community Health Network works with boards of education, nonprofits, shelters, and other community - based organizations to meet families where they are. Currently, these networks refer HUSKY members to a range of different resources, such as utility assistance, immigration services, and employment services, but do not refer members to Care 4 Kids. The Community Health Network has agreed to work closely with the OEC and now includes Care 4 Kids as a program that their networks actively refer families to. OEC is working with the Office of Health Strategy and Medicaid agency on an effort to deploy ARP funds to deploy Community Health workers and help families access services like health care and housing. This is planned in collaboration with universal home visiting. The Community Health Network for Connecticut administers the Medicaid and the state Children's Health Insurance Program (HUSKY). Once an individual or family goes through the application process, they are automatically enrolled in HUSKY. m. State/Territory agency responsible for mental health services. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: In accordance with Public Act 13-178, Connecticut Department of Children and Families is the primary state agency responsible for children’s mental health needs. DCF is charged with creating a comprehensive and integrated behavioral health plan that meets the behavioral health needs of all children in the state. Interagency collaboration is essential with respect to areas of expertise and population served within each agency. Recognizing the value of a well-established continuum of care, OEC values the importance of proactively expanding partnerships with sister state agencies to promote overall wellness for children throughout their development. OEC has reached out to DCF to collaborate on past and upcoming professional learning webinars focused on promoting mental health and wellness for children, families and providers. Additionally, OEC has collaborated with other CT State agencies promoting mental wellness in the same way, including State Department of Education (SDE), Department of Housing (DOH), and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). n. Child care resource and referral agencies, child care consumer education organizations, and providers of early childhood education training and professional development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The OEC has a written contract with United Way of Connecticut, our state's CCR &R, to inform families of all childcare services available across the state. Through the UWC contract, UWC coordinates and implements professional learning opportunities in the areas of First Aid/CPR/Med Admin certifications throughout the state, both in person and online. Through this collaboration, UWC has increased the number of offerings, locations, and languages. From OEC direction, UWC C4K has updated their website, and continues to improve the user- friendliness of website as well as revising family/provider communications to be more family friendly and culturally responsive. UWC C4K has collaborated with OEC and other partners to improve the effectiveness of our online Parent Portal, including a recent update that incorporates redeterminations. o. Statewide afterschool network or other coordinating entity for out-of-school time care (if applicable). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The OEC continues to work with the Connecticut Network for Children and Youth, the statewide afterschool network, to address the pressing issue of ensuring quality in afterschool programs. The Connecticut Network for Children and Youth provides a variety of conferences, fee-for- service trainings, and consultation that meets providers where they are and helps to assess programs’ progress made towards goals. The OEC will continue to explore opportunities to invest in additional school-age training and professional development that promote high quality before- and after-school care. Additionally, OEC Contracts with the Connecticut Network for Children and Youth to help build local coordinating entities for early childhood services, an initiative that is also funded in part by CT's Early Childhood Funders Collaborative. This assures that local planning efforts around child care include planning for school-age children. p. Agency responsible for emergency management and response. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The OEC is an active participant in state emergency preparedness and response activities, and takes a leading role in response related to provision of child care services. Jointly with the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security the OEC co-chairs the Child Emergency Preparedness Committee, a group of stakeholders with roles in emergency response related to children. The group￿s current focus is the expansion of the Handle With Care program to communities throughout CT. Handle with Care creates a process by which police notify a school/district that a child may have witnessed a violent or traumatic incident. This information is relayed to the classroom teacher as a ￿situational awareness￿ message, informing the adults who work with the child that something has happened in the child’s life that may be exhibited in uncharacteristic behavior, fatigue, or other response. The adults are then primed to be able to provide additional support and make referrals as necessary. The State Department of Education is leading discussions with school superintendents to advance this work during FY 25 to new districts. The CEPC partners with OEC to deliver annual training on emergency preparedness for child care providers by providing access to the CT State Police training unit. q. The following are examples of optional partners a Lead Agency might coordinate with to provide services. Check which optional partners the Lead Agency coordinates with and describe the coordination and results of the coordination. i. [x] State/Territory/local agencies with Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants. Describe: The OEC works very closely with Connecticut's three federally funded EHS-CCP grantees to ensure continuity and stability of childcare through regularly scheduled meetings and telephone conference calls. The OEC has dedicated a portion of a staff member's time from the Division of Early Care and Education to work directly with the three grantees. The OEC provides over $1 million annually in state funds for families who are not currently eligible for C4K subsidy. The OEC will continue to explore opportunities to expand upon the EHS- CCP model to increase access to care in high need areas through the use of grants or contracts, and build capacity among family child care providers to serve infants and toddlers. ii. [x] State/Territory institutions for higher education, including community colleges. Describe: The OEC has a partnership with CT State, our consolidated community college system, to provide courses toward a CDA and a set of 12 defined early childhood credits on a path toward a degree. iii. [ ] Other federal, State, local, and/or private agencies providing early childhood and school-age/youth-serving developmental services. Describe: iv. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for implementing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs grant. Describe: The Office of Early Childhood's Division of Family Support is the recipient of the MIECHV Grant program. In an effort to move the home visiting system upstream and produce better outcomes for families, MIECHV and state home visiting programs will be prioritizing enrollment for three sub-populations: families, including fathers, who enroll prenatally or with children up to six months of ag; mothers and fathers under the age of 20; and women at highest risk for poor pregnancy outcomes and low birth weight babies as defined by the Centers for Disease Control, which includes Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women. MIECHV funding has also supported the enhancement of family-centered approaches to incarcerated fathers, with children under five years old, living in the Department of Corrections re-entry units. Through regular home visits conducted at the reentry units, fathers have the opportunity to meaningfully connect with their children and, ideally, instill a greater sense of parental responsibility and family connection. Grant funding has been used to develop on-line training modules for home visitors. The MIECHV modules cover topics such as child development, safe sleep, nutrition and moving early, working with fathers, and supporting families affected by substance use disorder. Additionally, as part of Governor Lamont’s ARPA proposal, legislation has been proposed adding universal home visiting to existing home visiting services in CT. v. [x] Agency responsible for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Program. Describe: CT OEC is responsible for providing B-3 services and works collaboratively with the CCDF Administrator; together these partners have expanded the Help Me Grow program to enhance technology so early screening and support activities are more accessible to families, pediatricians, and providers. Families and providers are able to track children’s development through a new mobile application, Sparkler, and alerts are sent to the child’s pediatrician as well as childcare providers. Furthermore, information is given to families who have a child with disabilities about their rights to access childcare. The OEC has offered training for childcare providers on how to use the ASQ screening tool along with families’ use of Sparkler. vi. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for child welfare. Describe: OEC and Department of Children and Families co-invest in behavioral health services for preschool aged children through the Early Childhood Consultation Project. OEC has also been a member of the governance committee planning DCF's Prevention focused strategy. Additionally, OEC has worked with DCF over the past 18 months to create a Protected Services category that includes foster families. OEC has also agreed to take over all child care payments on behalf of DCF. Those providers who are not Care 4 Kids providers will be paid out of DCF funds, not CCDF funds, that will be transferred from DCF to OEC quarterly per draft MOA. vii. [x] Child care provider groups or associations. Describe: The OEC contracts with the Early Child RESC Alliance and CTAEYC on goals pertaining to access and quality. As a result of this partnership, the EC RESC Alliance provides NAEYC accreditation support to licensed programs, conducts rating scales for program improvement, trainings and technical assistance to support professional growth and development for the EC workforce, and through the Governor’s Education Emergency Relief Fund (GEER), provided technology, access to internet and training for providers around working with families remotely, and training staff to support children’s, ages 3-11, to access and engagement in remote learning during over the past year. The OEC collaborates with the CT EC Alliance and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to share information statewide with stakeholders about services and solicit feedback to integrate into service structures and systems. The OEC is funding twelve state-wide family childcare networks. The funding of these networks is to increase the supply of infants and toddlers, reduce administrative costs of family childcare providers through technical assistance, training, and back-office support. viii. [x] Parent groups or organizations. Describe: The CCDF team met with the OEC Parent Cabinet to discuss ways to further engage stakeholders in reviewing and providing feedback on the plan during the Public Comment period. It was decided that Parent Cabinet ambassadors would share a 1-2 page visual summary document with stakeholders at their various meetings and engagements to encourage participation in the public comment process. The CCDF Administrator is a member of Connecticut’s Early Childhood Cabinet, which acts as an advisory council. The CCDF Administrator and the CCDF State Program manager presented an overview of the 2025-2027 CCDF plan to the Cabinet and requested input into the plan. Links to the preprint were provided to members and the public at this meeting. The CCDF Administrator’s email as well as the CCDF State Program Manager’s emails were provided for members and the public to use for input, comments, and questions regarding the plan. Timelines for public comment and final submission were also discussed. ix. [ ] Title IV B 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinators. Describe: x. [ ] Other. Describe: