9.3 Increasing Engagement and Access to Information

Lead Agencies must collect and disseminate information about the full range of child care services to promote parental choice to parents of children eligible for CCDF, the general public, and child care providers. 9.3.1 Information about CCDF availability and eligibility Describe how the Lead Agency shares information with eligible parents, the general public, and child care providers about the availability of child care services provided through CCDF and other programs for which the family may be eligible. The description should include, at a minimum, what is provided (e.g., written materials, the website, and direct communications) and what approaches are used to tailor information to parents, the general public, and child care providers. The DECAL website at www.decal.ga.gov has information about all programs, supports, and services the agency offers to families with young learners and providers including the Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) subsidy program, Georgia’s Pre-K Program, Child Care Services, Nutrition Services, and Quality Rated. The website includes written materials that can be downloaded and printed by users. Additionally, the agency issues newsletters, news releases to the media, social media communications, flyers, palm cards, emails, letters, and text messages to eligible parents, the general public, and child care providers describing and promoting its programs, supports, and services. All this information is also disseminated by the agency’s Community Coordinators to families, providers, community leaders, and the general public through their newsletters, birth-to-8 groups, and community meetings. In addition to the DECAL website, the Lead Agency also has a website at www.qualityrated.org that includes a search engine with information on licensed child care learning centers, family child care learning homes, and exempt programs that accept child care subsidies. The search engine allows families to find providers based on their needs (e.g., location, hours of operation, and type of care). Families can also see whether the child care program is Quality Rated and read its licensing inspection reports, all to help them make informed decisions. The website also includes information on a child care provider’s participation in other Lead Agency programs, including Georgia's Pre-K Program; the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and the CAPS subsidy program. Beyond the child care search engine, the site informs families that if they want help with their child care search, the 1- 877-ALLGAKIDS Call Center that the Lead Agency funds is staffed by specialists who can perform a search for them and provide them with child care referrals. Families can reach the Call Center in person, by phone, through email, or through an online chat bot. The Call Center staff also help families that fall into certain categories of high need enroll their children in child care. Additionally, the https://families.decal.ga.gov/ChildCare/Choosing section of the site includes an overview of Quality Rated child care, plus information on choosing a child care program and a summer camp program, paying for child care, and understanding licensing reports. The Lead Agency has also launched a provider self-service website that allows child care programs to update basic demographic information, pay license and enforcement fees, and submit and track criminal records check applications. Through the Lead Agency's website and community partnerships, the Lead Agency provides information that is easy to find and is in consumer-friendly formats. Community partnerships include other governmental entities, providers, and workforce development councils. Information about the variety of child care services is readily available to parents and the general public on www.qualityrated.org. The Lead Agency also uses social media to post consumer resources directly to families. The Lead Agency shares information about child care options through direct communication with families. During the intake process to determine eligibility, CAPS staff discuss with families the child care options in their community and stress the importance of selecting high-quality early care and learning environments. If a family is determined not to be eligible for CAPS, the staff refers the family to the CCR&R call center for help locating affordable child care. Families determined eligible to receive child care subsidies are assigned to work with a Family Support Consultant throughout their eligibility period. The Family Support Consultant is responsible for annually determining ongoing eligibility, making changes to the family's case, discussing the family's child care needs, and providing information on community resources and supports. For example, the Lead Agency has developed an extensive resource and referral portal in partnership with Prevent Child Abuse Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia called Find Help Georgia. As Georgia’s web-based portal within the findhelp.org nationwide network of free and reduced-cost assistance, https://findhelpga.org/ is a customized platform that serves Georgia residents via a user-friendly website, mobile app, and additional support provided by resource specialists through an online chat feature or by phone at 1-800-244- 5373. These resources help families access public programs and community supports that fit their needs. Nearly 8,000 resources found in each of Georgia’s 159 counties are listed. More than 6,000 community organizations and nonprofits are listed in the Find Help Georgia network. Additionally, there are nearly 5,000 claimed assistance program locations in Georgia where the agency, or organization, has verified their resource information on the Find Help. The website is simple, free, and easy to navigate providing families with links to supports related to financial assistance, food pantries, medical care, child care, job training, and other free or reduced-cost services.] The Lead Agency plans to continue expanding the resource and referral portal to include additional partners and resources while continuing to embed portal usage across all divisions of the Lead Agency. Additionally, CAPS created a more robust Provider Relations website for child care providers. The CAPS Provider Relations Education and Outreach team conducts outreach to every potentially eligible licensed facility and approved Exempt facilities to proactively provide information about enrolling in CAPS. This outreach is possible through an interface with KOALA; GACAPS creates a task for this team when the interface identifies that a new provider is approved to operate. When the task is received, the Education and Outreach team will inform the provider about CAPS and determine if they want to enroll. If they choose to enroll in CAPS, the Education and Outreach team notifies Enrollment Services to send a welcome email that includes a link through which the provider can submit their application. Additionally, the self-service website can easily be translated into four languages to meet the needs of providers. The provider self-serve website can be accessed through a web page dedicated to providers that contains up-to-date information about how to enroll in the CAPS program, a Provider Handbook and User Guides, tutorial videos (which are all currently being translated into Spanish and captioned), payment timelines, and other resources to benefit providers. 9.3.2 Information about child care and other services available for parents Does the Lead Agency certify that it provides information described in 9.3.1 for the following required programs? • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. • Head Start and Early Head Start programs. • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). • Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) program. • Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). • Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). • Programs carried out under IDEA Part B, Section 619 and Part C. [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.3 Consumer statement for parents receiving CCDF services Lead Agencies must provide parents receiving CCDF services with a consumer statement in hard copy or electronically that contains general information about the CCDF program and specific information about the child care provider they select. Please certify if the Lead Agency provides parents receiving CCDF services a consumer statement that contains the following 8 requirements: 1. Health and safety requirements met by the provider 2. Licensing or regulatory requirements met by the provider 3. Date the provider was last inspected 4. Any history of violations of these requirements 5. Any voluntary quality standards met by the provider 6. How CCDF subsidies are designed to promote equal access 7. How to submit a complaint through the hotline 8. How to contact a local resource and referral agency or other community-based organization to receive assistance in finding and enrolling in quality child care Does the Lead Agency provide to families, either in hard copy or electronically, a consumer statement that contains the required information about the provider they have selected, including the eight required elements above? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.4 Informing families about best practices on child development Describe how the Lead Agency makes information available to parents, providers, and the general public on research and best practices concerning children’s development, including physical health and development, and information about successful parent and family engagement. At a minimum, the description should include what information is provided; how the information is provided; any distinct activities for sharing this information with parents, providers, the general public; and any partners in providing this information. The Lead Agency has established a website (Developmental Milestones (https://development.decal.ga.gov/#/) providing information on developmental milestones and monitoring for families, educators, and the public. Resources include milestones checklists, links to resources for obtaining developmental screening, strategies for conducting developmental monitoring in classrooms, and instructions on how to obtain referrals to early intervention and special education and other services. The resource includes links to programs and resources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Learn the Signs. Act Early. materials; information on resources for obtaining developmental screening; making referrals to early intervention and special education, child health, and wellness; choosing high quality care; breastfeeding practices; and supporting positive child development. The Lead Agency also uses Family Peer Ambassadors who are family members of children in child care who receive training and resources on child development, high quality early learning, and strategies to support school readiness. The ambassadors then share this information with families of young children in their communities at local events, on social media, or by hosting virtual meetings. Family Peer Ambassadors also serve on advisory groups and taskforces to provide family perspective and advise on family engagement for policies and programs. The Lead Agency plans to train three new cohorts of Family Peer Ambassadors over the next three years. 9.3.5 Unlimited parental access to their children Does the Lead Agency have procedures to ensure that parents have unlimited access to their children whenever their children are in the care of a provider who receives CCDF funds: [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 9.3.6 Informing families about best practices in social and emotional health Describe how the Lead Agency shares information with families, providers, and the general public regarding the social-emotional and behavioral and mental health of young children, including positive behavioral intervention and support models based on research and best practices for those from birth to school age: The Lead Agency has a state leadership team focused on the social-emotional, behavioral and mental health of young children. The Lead Agency makes information about children’s social-emotional and behavioral needs available to families, providers, and the public through multiple sources. Agency websites and social media posts include information on topics such as early brain development, strategies for promoting young children’s development, and preventing and addressing challenging behavior. Training, coaching, and technical assistance addressing evidence-based prevention strategies and strategies for responding to persistent challenging behavior are offered to early childhood professionals through the agency. Teachers, administrators, and families can contact the SEEDS Helpline (1-833-354- 4357 or SEEDSHelpline@decal.ga.gov) for resources, referrals, and classroom-based support. Specialists provide training, consultation, on-site coaching, materials, and resources to teachers and administrators on topics such as preventing suspensions and expulsions, social-emotional competencies, and pro-social classroom practices. Additionally, specialists work with classroom teachers, administrators, and family members to develop and implement behavior intervention plans for children with serious, persistent, challenging behavior. Specialists support programs in making referrals to early intervention, special education, and supplemental mental health services as appropriate through the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation pilot sponsored by the Lead Agency. This pilot makes mental health professionals more available to families and child care staff. The consultants provide family engagement sessions (in person and virtual) to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and wellbeing practices. The consultants are also available to visit families in their homes and communities to discuss more specific mental health needs. The consultant can connect families with referrals and resources making sure that the family can successfully navigate any systemic barriers in obtaining support. The Lead Agency also sponsors Children’s Mental Health Week annually, the first week of May, to coincide with state and national mental health recognition events. Children’s Mental Health Week raises awareness, reducing the stigma around mental health and educating caregivers how to best support behavioral development and the importance of maintaining their own mental wellbeing. The Lead Agency also partners with the Georgia Association of Infant Mental Health (GA-AIMH) to make web-based resources and training videos about the foundations of infant and early childhood mental health available to the early childhood workforce (child care professionals, healthcare professionals, etc.) and families/caregivers. GA-AIMH, based at Georgia State University, serves as the resource hub for infant and early childhood mental health resources and training in Georgia. https://aimh.gsu.edu/ 9.3.7 Policies on the prevention of the suspension and expulsion of children a. The Lead Agency must have policies to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children from birth to age 5 in child care and other early childhood programs receiving CCDF funds. Describe those policies and how those policies are shared with families, providers, and the general public: The Lead Agency requires by rule that programs establish and implement written operational policies and procedures outlining a description of enrollment and admission requirements and a description of behavior management, guidance and discipline actions used by the program within which these policies should be addressed. These operational policies and procedures are reviewed during annual inspections for completeness and to ensure that they are fair and adequate to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children. Georgia’s state funded Pre-K program also addresses suspension and expulsion in the Pre-K Program Provider’ Operating Guidelines that are made available to programs and families on the Department’s website. b. Describe what policies, if any, the Lead Agency has to prevent the suspension and expulsion of school-age children from child or youth care settings receiving CCDF funds: The Lead Agency requires by rule that programs establish and implement written operational policies and procedures outlining a description of enrollment and admission requirements and a description of behavior management, guidance and discipline actions used by the program within which these policies should be addressed. These operational policies and procedures are reviewed during annual licensing inspections for completeness and to ensure that they are fair and adequate to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children.