7.1 Quality Activities Needs Assessment

7.1.1 Needs assessment process and findings a. Describe the Lead Agency needs assessment process for expending CCDF funds on activities to improve the quality of child care, including the frequency of assessment, how a range of parents and providers were consulted, and how their views are incorporated: The Lead Agency’s needs assessment approach is ongoing and incorporates multiple efforts with varying timeframes, relying on both internal and external resources. Internally, the state uses data from components of Quality Rated, Georgia’s quality rating and improvement system, to assess where additional quality activities are needed. The Lead Agency’s research team regularly meets with Quality Rated program leaders to review data and design needed evaluations. For example, the rating process includes an unannounced observation using the Environment Rating Scale (ERS) family of instruments. ERSs are widely used, valid and reliable observation tools that measure the quality of the child care environment. The data from the indicators covered in ERS observations reveal additional areas where improvement is needed or where quality is already well supported. Most recently, the Lead Agency, in consultation with an external expert committee, reviewed ERS data to plan and develop a Quality Nutrition and Physical Activity Endorsement to improve quality in this area. The endorsement development is underway and will be piloted in late 2024 and into 2025. Feedback from the pilot participants will be incorporated into Quality Rated. Externally, the Lead Agency has recently collaborated with state and national partners, including the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS), Child Trends, and the Urban Institute, to conduct a comprehensive review of all aspects of the current Quality Rated system. This effort began in 2022, with extensive data gathering taking place in 2023 and analysis and final reports produced in 2024. Through this process, providers and families helped identify areas for quality improvement that will be incorporated into revisions of the system. Data gathering methods included: surveys of licensed child care programs, including family child care providers, child care centers, and school-age only providers; multiple targeted focus group sessions held virtually and in- person with child care providers (both participating and not participating in Quality Rated), families (including those requiring care during non-traditional hours), regional technical assistance providers, Quality Rated staff, and other concerned advocates and stakeholder groups; and virtual and in-person targeted data walks to discuss outcomes from the surveys and focus groups and seek feedback at a deeper level into the results of the initial findings. Two statewide stakeholder convenings were held in March 2024 to present findings and propose recommended revisions to the system, followed by a public webinar and comment period in May 2024. Urban Institute reports were published in 2024 and are available at: https://www.urban.org/projects/partnering-georgia- department-early-care-and-learning-strengthen-georgias-early-care-and; the most recent of these was published in August 2024. The Lead Agency has several additional mechanisms for identifying quality improvement needs in specific topic areas. These include: - Exploring the incorporation of school-age care in center-based child care programs for Quality Rated. The purpose of this exploratory evaluation with research partners at the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network was to gain a better understanding of the levels of quality in the state’s school-age classrooms within center- based child care programs and to develop initiatives to better support and incorporate school-age classrooms into the revision of Quality Rated. - Evaluating the Quality Rated Language and Literacy Endorsement (QRLLE). The Lead Agency has awarded QRLLEs to 23 center-based programs and nine family homes. The Lead Agency is partnering with the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to evaluate the degree to which the QRLLE helps programs improve their language and literacy practices. Researchers are observing classrooms in QRLLE and non-QRLLE programs using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Toddler, CLASS Pre-K, and the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO). Results of the evaluation are expected in fall 2024 and will include recommendations on next steps for the QRLLE. - Providers going through the Quality Rated rating process receive a survey after their ERS observation to collect feedback about their experience with the observation process. Provider feedback helps identify needed improvements to the observation process. - The Lead Agency’s research team is developing a research agenda to direct agency research activities moving forward. This will include research questions and regular data 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 about supports Georgia’s ECE system needed. Based on the feedback, the Urban Institute shared nine recommendations with DECAL to improve Georgia’s ECE system: 1) Provide support to encourage more people to become and remain early childhood educators; 2) Focus attention on and provide information about basic health and safety; 3) Reconsider group sizes and child-to-staff ratios; 4) Provide more accessible information to families about available early care and learning services; 5) Consider how to support more providers in offering care, providing longer hours, and participating in CAPS (the child care subsidy program); 6) Support providers in supporting child’s developmental needs including challenging behaviors and responses to trauma; 7) Consider new benchmarks for affordable care in Georgia and CAPS parent contributions; 8) Support CAPS program operations to increase responsiveness to parents; and 9) Offer more grants and supports for financial sustainability and business planning. DECAL used this feedback to inform how the agency allocated federal COVID-19 relief funding and continues to reference the results to inform needed improvements to Georgia’s ECE system.