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tracking on the quality of child care in Georgia. - The Lead Agency partnered with a national management consulting firm and a statewide small business development center in 2023 to create the Thriving Child Care Business Academy, an online platform of free training and resources to give owners and administrators of child care centers and family homes the knowledge and tools to enhance their financial management, leadership, marketing, and human resources management skills. The business skills training is intended to help owners and administrators to bolster the financial strength and stability of their programs, which in turn will enhance their quality. The skills taught in the Academy are based on identified provider needs gleaned from surveys and assessments over the years by the Lead Agency, its partner organizations, and industry consultants. Most recently, the Lead Agency asked a national management consulting firm to conduct an assessment of child care providers’ business training needs in 2023. It has also asked the firm to conduct an evaluation of the Thriving Child Care Business Academy at the end of its first year in fall 2024. Future trainings will be informed by feedback from biannual surveys and interviews with child care business owners and stakeholders.

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 Lead Agency is conducting a comprehensive review of its QRIS to inform the design and implementation of revisions to make the system more responsive to family and provider needs. DECAL contracted with the Urban Institute and Child Trends to conduct an array of surveys, interviews, focus groups, and data walks with providers, families, DECAL staff, child care resource and referral agency staff, and other stakeholders to get their perspectives on needed revisions to the system. Based on this extensive data gathering, the Urban Institute summarized six recommendations for DECAL to consider when revising Quality Rated: 1) Verify system goals and shape the system to meet them; 2) Simplify but tailor to match many strengths and a variety of needs; 3) Reframe the system to reflect and support experiences; 4) Consider how and how often to verify the experiences; 5) Provide more education, more continuously about the system; and 6) Consider what feedback is for (and should be included in) Quality Rated, and where to strengthen links with other programs or systems. The review process is in the data- sharing phase where feedback from surveys, interviews, and focus groups are being presented to stakeholders for comment. In the next phase, those comments will be incorporated into the planning process and the Lead Agency will use the comments to draft QRIS revisions for further study and review. The needs assessment related to child care providers’ business training revealed that the owners and administrators face acute financial challenges and exhibit low business acumen; the staffing crisis dominates their concerns; and a technology skills gap slows their advancement. Based on these findings, the researchers recommended that the Thriving Child Care Business Academy focus on providing resources and trainings that help providers increase revenue and decrease costs in the near- and long-term; help increase skills in recruitment and retention; and include training on technology ensuring that providers are equipped with the necessary tools and skills to optimize their operations. In September 2021, DECAL contracted with the Urban Institute to conduct stakeholder engagement with Georgia families, child care providers, the early care and education (ECE) workforce, DECAL staff, and other stakeholder groups