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children with disabilities. See Section 8.3 for additional information vi. Facilitating compliance with Lead Agency child care licensing, monitoring, inspection and health and safety standards. [ ] No plans to spend in this category of activities at this time. [x]Yes. If yes, describe current and future investments. The Lead Agency has child care licensing consultants that help facilitate compliance with child care licensing, monitoring, inspection and health and safety standards. These staff are regionally based and work in supporting these initiatives through a variety of capacities Regionally, child care licensing consultants are conducting annual unannounced licensing and monitoring visits to assess for compliance. In addition, DECAL also has specialized staff in identified units that also support in various roles. The Special Investigations Unit staff are responsible for the extreme incident investigations and monitoring of compliance for child care programs around rule violations as a result of those. The Applicant Services Unit staff are responsible for the initial licensing of child care programs to ensure compliance with health and safety standards and licensing requirements, prior to being given a license to operate., The Technical Assistance Unit staff are responsible for assisting licensed programs in areas of technical assistance to help support compliance around rules and regulations, health and safety standards, training, and proven best practices for program operation. The Exemption Unit staff are responsible for the inspection and oversight of exempt and informal child care programs receiving CCDF funds, ensuring compliance with health and safety standards. vii. Evaluating and assessing the quality and effectiveness of child care services within the State/Territory. [ ] No plans to spend in this category of activities at this time. [x] Yes. If yes, describe current and future investments. DECAL assesses child care quality through Quality Rated, the state’s quality rating and improvement system, which assigns ratings up to three stars based on observations using the ERS family of instruments and scoring a portfolio made up of five standards. viii. Accreditation support. [x] No plans to spend in this category of activities at this time. [ ] Yes. If yes, describe current and future investments. ix. Supporting State/Territory or local efforts to develop high-quality program standards relating to health, mental health, nutrition, physical activity, and physical development. [ ] No plans to spend in this category of activities at this time. [x] Yes. If yes, describe current and future investments. Using $87,500 from the United Way of Greater Atlanta, the Lead Agency will explore developing a Nutrition and Physical Activity Endorsement to Quality Rated. Pilot development is under way and includes a pre- and post-training assessment using Go NAPSACC (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care), conducted with providers as an interview by DECAL Nutrition and Quality Rated staff. Nutrition