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340 | P a g e FFY 2025–2027 CCDF State Plan
Georgia Professional Development System that supports training and professional development for early care and education professionals in the state. The Lead Agency's Commissioner and leadership team meet quarterly with key partners and providers about services, programs, and policies through the Georgia Children’s Cabinet. Consumer education organizations in Children’s Cabinet meetings include: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, United Way of Northwest Georgia, Barton Child Law & Policy Center, Voices for Georgia’s Children, United Way of Greater Atlanta, United Way of Central Georgia, Georgia Family Connection Partnership, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Georgia Head Start Association. These meeting result in better alignment of programs across the system and help all participants, including the state, better understand the full context. For example, these meetings have informed the ongoing revisions of Georgia’s quality rating and improvement system with raising the need to strengthen the nutrition aspect. These organizations’ feedback also led to opening participation to them in the Georgia 2Gen Academy, an opportunity for selected staff across state agencies to better understand a two-generation approach and coordinate and plan new initiatives. The Lead Agency’s Community Partnership Coordinators facilitate Birth-to-Eight Meetings in their regions made up of community stakeholders who are invested in promoting high-quality early learning services. Birth-to-Eight Meetings include United Way organizations and county-level Family Connection Collaboratives, as well as state and community partners, and provide coordination for system-building efforts. The Lead Agency also partners with Voices for Georgia’s Children annually to promote the state-funded Georgia’s Pre-K program, increasing awareness through on-site visits with state leaders to Pre-K classrooms, events at the state capitol, and social media, television and radio media coverage about the program. 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 Lead Agency partners with the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network (GSAN), a public/private collaborative dedicated to advancing, connecting, and supporting quality afterschool programs to promote the success of children and youth throughout Georgia. The Lead Agency is a member of GSAN’s Advisory Board and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Georgia Afterschool & Youth Development (ASYD) Initiative that is co- led by GSAN. Results from this coordination include joint projects aimed at raising quality and increasing access to higher quality school-age trainings, trainers, and other school-age initiatives. Currently, the Lead Agency is collaborating with GSAN on a project to strengthen how school-age care is part of Georgia’s QRIS. p. Agency responsible for emergency management and response. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Annually the Lead Agency reviews and revises the Georgia Statewide Child Care Emergency Plan. Upon completion of revisions, the draft is sent electronically to representatives from the following partnering agencies: Georgia Department of Human Services, Georgia Department of Public Health, Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, and the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics with the request for review, feedback, and additional information/edits. Once this review period has ended, the plan is finalized and published on the Lead Agency’s website. The Lead Agency makes resources available through links and information within the document, as well as from partnering agencies for the continuity of care of children enrolled in early childhood programs.