6.3 Ongoing Training and Professional Development

6.3.1 Required hours of ongoing training Provide the number of hours of ongoing training required annually for CCDF-eligible providers in the following settings: a. Licensed child care centers: 10 hours or one CEU of annual in-service training with concentration in topic areas that include health and safety, behavior management, working with families, literacy, working with children with disabilities, leadership development, and child care management. b. License-exempt child care centers: 10 hours or one CEU of annual in-service training with concentration in topic areas that include health and safety, behavior management, working with families, literacy, working with children with disabilities, leadership development, and child care management. c. Licensed family child care homes: 10 hours or one CEU of annual in-service training with concentration in topic areas that include health and safety, safe sleep practices, behavior management, working with families, literacy, working with children with disabilities, leadership development, and child care management. d. License-exempt family child care homes: 10 hours or one CEU of annual in-service training with concentration in topic areas that include health and safety, safe sleep practices, behavior management, working with families, literacy, working with children with disabilities, leadership development, and child care management. e. Regulated or registered in-home child care: Informal providers are not licensed, regulated, or registered in the State of Florida. f. Non-regulated or registered in-home child care: 10 hours or one CEU of annual in-service training with concentration in topic areas that include health and safety, safe sleep practices, behavior management, working with families, literacy, working with children with disabilities, leadership development, and child care management. 6.3.2 Accessibility of professional development for Tribal organizations Describe how the Lead Agency’s training and professional development are accessible to providers supported through Indian tribes or Tribal organizations receiving CCDF funds (as applicable). The DEL offers professional learning opportunities free of charge through the DCF’s training registry. These courses are available to child care providers statewide. Currently we have more than 800 registry participants statewide that identify as American Indian/Alaskan Native. Additionally, many ELCs with local tribal organizations, such as the ELC of Broward, include this community in outreach efforts and offer trainings that are open to all educators regardless of whether they have a SR contract. ECE educators from the Seminole Tribe have participated in the ELC of Broward’s trainings in the past. 6.3.3 Professional development appropriate for the diversity of children, families, and child care providers Describe how the Lead Agency’s training and professional development requirements reflect the diversity of children, families, and child care providers participating in CCDF. To the extent practicable, how does professional development include specialized training or credentials for providers who care for infants or school-age children; individuals with limited English proficiency; children who are bilingual; children with developmental delays or disabilities; and/or Native Americans, including Indians, as the term is defined in Section 900.6 in subpart B of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (including Alaska Natives) and Native Hawaiians? The Florida Early Childhood Professional Development Registry contains the Florida Early Care and Education Career Pathway which is a voluntary tool available to the early childhood workforce to identify where they are on the pathway and ways to progress. This system also includes the Preservice training courses, which are mandatory for all School Readiness personnel. Introductory training is one option for Preservice training requirements and, as of December 2023, DOE now offers the new School Readiness Preservice Training courses in this system. This system includes multiple levels of requirements that systematically build the skills and knowledge of early childhood professionals. These requirements cover the full range of the diversity of children and families including age (birth through school age), setting (center, school and home-based programs) and topics to reinforce the importance of strong partnerships with families. Additional professional learning opportunities are offered in multiple languages and modalities (face to face, online, hybrid, as part of a community of practice, and/or with coaching supports) to meet the needs of diverse professionals. As needed, some content may be offered by ELCs/RCMA in languages other than English to meet the needs of local providers. Introductory training for regulated/registered providers includes topic areas that cover the unique needs of each age group including infants and toddlers and school-age children; supporting the needs of children with disabilities or delays; and supporting language and literacy development among all children including those who are learning English. These courses can be differentiated by age group or provider type. Ongoing training includes a wide range of options that expand and deepen these critical topics, including DCF and DEL courses on the unique developmental needs of children or different ages including infants and toddlers and school-age children; training on implementing Ages and States Questionnaire screening tools to identify any potential delays that may require additional assessment; DEL and DCF provide professional learning opportunities on meeting the needs of children with special needs and additional support on implementing inclusive programs through local ELCs; and courses on supporting the needs of English-language learners and children with special needs. Through the Registry, courses covering the following topics are available: infant and toddler, school-age children, dual language learners, children with special needs, and family engagement. College credit certificate programs are clusters of credit courses focused on a specific content area. Many of the Florida community or state colleges that offer early childhood associate degrees also offer 12-credit certificates in content areas such as infant-toddler development, preschool development, inclusion, and child care center management. These certificate requirements may be taken independently or as part of a degree program. 6.3.4 Child developmental screening Describe how all providers receive, through training and professional development, information about: (1) existing resources and services the State/Territory can make available in conducting developmental screenings and providing referrals to services when appropriate for children who receive assistance under this part, including the coordinated use of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and developmental screening services available under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); and (2) how child care providers may utilize these resources and services to obtain developmental screenings for children who receive assistance and who may be at risk for cognitive or other developmental delays, which may include social, emotional, physical, or linguistic delays: The DEL has partnered with Brookes Publisher in the implementation of an ongoing Developmental Screening Tools Train-the-Trainer training for ELCs, so they can also offer ongoing developmental screening trainings locally for early learning providers. The purpose is to have a system of training and implementation for developmental screening that supports (1) the professional development of ELC and early learning provider staff who conduct developmental screenings for children and (2) collection of data for assessing the needs of local communities in terms of training and the importance of completing developmental screenings for children. At the local level, ELCs and RCMA encourage providers and families to contact their local ELC or Help Me Grow (HMG) to complete a screening or to receive additional information on the importance of screening. The ELC houses the CCR&R services, provides information to families on the importance of screening and provides referrals to families for screening if needed. Additionally, HMG, which is funded by DEL, is located in 32 of the 67 counties, and three ELCS have an HMG in house. To any family in Florida with a child birth to age 8, HMG provides information on the importance of screening, free developmental screening and online access to screening. HMG also participates in community events to provide information to families on the importance of developmental screening, and in some instances, provides children hearing and vision screening, and assists families through coordination of referrals and services.