9.3 Increasing Engagement and Access to Information

Lead Agencies must collect and disseminate information about the full range of child care services to promote parental choice to parents of children eligible for CCDF, the general public, and child care providers. 9.3.1 Information about CCDF availability and eligibility Describe how the Lead Agency shares information with eligible parents, the general public, and child care providers about the availability of child care services provided through CCDF and other programs for which the family may be eligible. The description should include, at a minimum, what is provided (e.g., written materials, the website, and direct communications) and what approaches are used to tailor information to parents, the general public, and child care providers. Information is provided through My Child Care DC, which is the District’s consumer website and online tool for families. My Child Care DC provides detailed profiles of every licensed child care facility in DC. This tool empowers families to explore, compare, and connect with options best suited to their unique needs. Families can search for specific child care providers, filter options based on geography, ages served, and special programs offered such as after-school care and compare child care facilities with ease. In 2023, OSSE created and launched a communications campaign to raise awareness of My Child Care DC among DC families and people, groups, and organizations who support families, such as pediatricians and faith groups. OSSE created a suite of new marketing materials, including print materials (e.g., a flyer, brochure, and palm card), digital materials, two videos, and content for social media platforms. All materials were created in English, Spanish, and Amharic. As part of this campaign, OSSE also ran transit, radio, and digital ads in the fall of 2023. Transit and radio ads ran in English and Spanish, and digital ads ran in English, Spanish, and Amharic. Items (e.g., magnets, stress balls) featuring the My Child Care DC logo and website address were also produced to distribute to families at events. All materials produced for the campaign were grounded in core messaging that was tested with a diverse group of DC families to ensure the language would be effective and resonate with the target audience. The core messaging found throughout the campaign is: ￿Simplify your search for child care in DC! Explore child care facilities. Compare options with care. Connect with high-quality care.￿ This messaging and materials are still in use as we continue outreach to DC families. DC Child Care Connections (DC CCC), DC’s child care resource and referral (CCR&R) agency, supports families in identifying programs and resources that best meet their needs. DC CCC supports this effort via email, telephone, and in-person at their two centrally located service centers and online through their website at https://dcchildcareconnections.org/. In communicating program information and consumer education information, DC CCC provides individualized assistance and referrals to families seeking child care; helps families navigate child care programs; raises awareness of and assists families to access support from the Child Care Subsidy Program and shares information on other available supports to help pay for child care and equip families to make informed choices regarding the services that best suit their needs. DC CCC also engages the community and stakeholders by developing partnerships to reach families with diverse needs and backgrounds (i.e., linguistic diversity, special needs, and non-traditional hours of care) and ensure that families with diverse needs can access care. In addition, family engagement specialists in the Quality Improvement Network (QIN) connect parents with district agencies that offer family support and services. The Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Care Services Division (CCSD) provides information to families on subsidized child care services through scheduled appointments and walk-in sessions. 9.3.2 Information about child care and other services available for parents Does the Lead Agency certify that it provides information described in 9.3.1 for the following required programs? • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. • Head Start and Early Head Start programs. • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). • Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) program. • Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). • Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). • Programs carried out under IDEA Part B, Section 619 and Part C. [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.3 Consumer statement for parents receiving CCDF services Lead Agencies must provide parents receiving CCDF services with a consumer statement in hard copy or electronically that contains general information about the CCDF program and specific information about the child care provider they select. Please certify if the Lead Agency provides parents receiving CCDF services a consumer statement that contains the following 8 requirements: 1. Health and safety requirements met by the provider 2. Licensing or regulatory requirements met by the provider 3. Date the provider was last inspected 4. Any history of violations of these requirements 5. Any voluntary quality standards met by the provider 6. How CCDF subsidies are designed to promote equal access 7. How to submit a complaint through the hotline 8. How to contact a local resource and referral agency or other community-based organization to receive assistance in finding and enrolling in quality child care Does the Lead Agency provide to families, either in hard copy or electronically, a consumer statement that contains the required information about the provider they have selected, including the eight required elements above? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.4 Informing families about best practices on child development Describe how the Lead Agency makes information available to parents, providers, and the general public on research and best practices concerning children’s development, including physical health and development, and information about successful parent and family engagement. At a minimum, the description should include what information is provided; how the information is provided; any distinct activities for sharing this information with parents, providers, the general public; and any partners in providing this information. OSSE and grantee and other DC Government agency partners provide comprehensive information on children’s development, including physical health and development, healthy eating, and successful parent and family engagement. This information is made available through various platforms and activities: • Help Me Grow, https://helpmegrow.dc.gov, is an information and referral helpline for pregnant people, parents, and caregivers of children ages 0-5 in the District. Help Me Grow DC partners with organizations throughout the District to promote the health and wellness of prenatal parents and families with children through age 5. They connect young children and their families to developmental and behavioral services and prenatal parents to services to support a healthy pregnancy. • Health and Development: Information about physical health, development, and wellness guidelines for child care providers is shared with parents, providers, and the general public via the Healthy Tots website. https://osse.dc.gov/page/healthy-tots- act#:~:text=Healthy%20Tots%20provides%20funding%20and%20resources%20to%20support,of% 202014%20became%20effective%20on%20Feb.%2026%2C%202015 • Research and Best Practices: OSSE shares research and best practices concerning children’s development and successful parent and family engagement through standing councils and workgroups (e.g., the Interagency Coordinating Council [ICC], State Early Childhood Development Coordinating Council [SECDCC], Child Care Recovery Working Group, and QIN Policy Council and Interagency Steering Committee) and published reports and materials. Distinct activities for sharing Information with the following groups: • Parents: The QIN provides family engagement specialists who work with parents and families to identify the support needed and connect families to services. Strong Start, the District’s early intervention program, shares child development information directly with parents. DC CCC supports families in identifying programs and resources that best meet their needs. In communicating program information and consumer education information DC CCC provides individualized assistance and referrals to families seeking child care; helps families navigate child care programs, raising awareness of and assisting families to access support from the child care subsidy program and other available supports in paying for child care and equipping families to make informed choices regarding the services that best suit their needs. • Providers: Child Care providers and early educators have access to ongoing in-person and online professional development focused on children’s development and learning through the OSSE Learning Management System (LMS), Quorum Learning, and monthly Capital Quality Communities of Practice (COPs). Webinars are also available for child development providers participating in Capital Quality and QIN. Some CoPs are offered on weekends to accommodate the schedule of the home providers. • General Public: Information is shared with the general public at community events and online meetings such as the SECDCC. DC CCC also engages the community and stakeholders by developing partnerships to reach families with diverse needs and backgrounds (i.e., linguistic diversity, special needs, and non-traditional hours of care) and ensure that families with diverse needs can access information on children’s learning and development. 9.3.5 Unlimited parental access to their children Does the Lead Agency have procedures to ensure that parents have unlimited access to their children whenever their children are in the care of a provider who receives CCDF funds: [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.6 Informing families about best practices in social and emotional health Describe how the Lead Agency shares information with families, providers, and the general public regarding the social-emotional and behavioral and mental health of young children, including positive behavioral intervention and support models based on research and best practices for those from birth to school age: OSSE works through its partners and programs, including DC CCC, the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), and Strong Start, to share information with families, providers, and the general public regarding the social-emotional and behavioral health of young children. DC CCC partners with DBH to link families, providers, and the general public to programs and services related to social-emotional and behavioral health. Through DBH, families may also access mental health information and consultation services. DBH provides child and family services, assessments of children for identification of services, family-centered mental health services, early intervention programs, and emergency services. DBH operates Healthy Futures, the District’s early childhood mental health consultation program, which provides onsite training and technical assistance to early childhood educators and families of children ages birth to 5 in infant, toddler, and pre-K programs to support individual children’s needs using an evidence-based early childhood mental health consultation model. Child development staff are required through licensing regulations to complete annual professional development that: (1) incorporates the knowledge and application of the District’s early learning and developmental guidelines; (2) promotes the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children; and (3) improves the knowledge and skills of directors, teachers, and caregivers in working with children and their families. Additionally, OSSE provides child development facilities and early educators with a variety of training on social-emotional development, evidence-based behavior support, and mental health through both in-person and online modalities through the OSSE LMS, the Quorum eLearning online platform for educators, and the Trainer Approval Program (TAP), which certifies professional development trainers and training organizations. State Part C staff are approved trainers in the District’s professional development system for early educators and regularly deliver training to child development facility leaders, facility teams, and early educators on topics related to identifying children with disabilities and developmental delays and developmentally appropriate strategies for supporting children with disabilities and developmental delays and their families. Strong Start holds annual training on developmental milestones for infants and toddlers, developmentally appropriate practice for infants and toddlers, and Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) developmental screening. OSSE and DC Health have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the early identification and Part C eligibility determination of infants and toddlers and implement a District-wide system of coordinated developmental screening for children from 2 to 60 months of age. The implementation of the online ASQ aims at building the capacity of staff and expanding developmental screenings by bringing all child development centers that participate in the District of Columbia child care subsidy system into the ASQ online initiative. OSSE partners with community and philanthropic organizations, such as the Bainum Family Foundation, DC Association for the Education of Young Children (DCAEYC), and others to widely distribute information about children’s social-emotional development and mental health resources to early educators, child development facilities, and families by participating in fairs, open houses, and information sessions for families. These activities are tailored to a variety of different audiences, including programming focused on educators working with children birth to 8, birth to 5, and infants and toddlers. 9.3.7 Policies on the prevention of the suspension and expulsion of children a. The Lead Agency must have policies to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children from birth to age 5 in child care and other early childhood programs receiving CCDF funds. Describe those policies and how those policies are shared with families, providers, and the general public: OSSE’s child development facility regulations require that a licensee use positive methods of child guidance that meet the individual needs of each child and encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation and requires providers to maintain and provide to OSSE, upon request, for each enrolled children, a record of any suspensions or expulsions. The District’s Pre-K Student Discipline Amendment Act of 2015 (DC Law 21-12), prohibits the suspension or expulsion of a student of pre-K age from any publicly funded pre-K program, including those operated by local education agencies (LEAs) and community-based organizations (CBOs), unless a school administrator determines that the student has willfully caused or attempted to cause bodily injury or threatened serious bodily injury to another person, excluding self- defense. Suspension must not exceed three days for any individual incident. The legislation establishes annual reporting requirements for each local education agency on suspensions and expulsions data for all grades. OSSE collects discipline data through a Discipline Data Collection Template and uses this information to publish an annual report to the DC Council on all disciplinary incidents and actions that occurred in the prior school year. The annual report is widely distributed to OSSE’s child development facilities, LEAs, and other stakeholders, and training and professional development is developed to support child development facilities to comply with the requirements for preventing suspensions and expulsions. OSSE also published a Pre-K Discipline Practices Guide that describes the District’s requirements regarding the prevention of suspension and expulsions of children. Child development facilities can use the guide when working with families on issues related to preventing suspensions and expulsions. The discipline guide is reviewed annually with child development facilities participating in the District’s Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Program (PKEEP). Additionally, DC CCC, the District’s CCR&R, includes the discipline guide as a resource for facilities and families. DC CCC also published a family resource document - https://dcchildcareconnections.org/resource/promoting-positive- behavior/ - (available through the District’s consumer education website) with information related to preventing suspensions and expulsions and promoting positive behavior management. b. Describe what policies, if any, the Lead Agency has to prevent the suspension and expulsion of school-age children from child or youth care settings receiving CCDF funds: OSSE’s child development facility regulations require that licensees, including licensed out-of-school time (OST) programs, use positive methods of child guidance that meet the individual needs of each child and encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation and require providers to maintain and provide to OSSE, upon request, for each enrolled children, a record of any suspensions or expulsions.