8.1 Coordination with Partners to Expand Accessibility and Continuity of Care

Lead Agencies must coordinate child care services supported by CCDF with other federal, State/Territory, and local level programs. This includes programs for the benefit of Indian children, infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care. 8.1.1 Coordination with required and optional partners Describe how the Lead Agency coordinates and the results of this coordination of the provision of child care services with the organizations and agencies to expand accessibility and continuity of care and to assist children enrolled in early childhood programs in receiving full-day services that meet the needs of working families. The Lead Agency must coordinate with the following agencies: a. State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care or similar coordinating body (pursuant to 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services (DHS) is a non-voting ex-officio member of the Early Learning Board, which directs the Executive Office on Early Learning in its administration of the State's public Pre-Kindergarten program in 44 classrooms statewide by August 2024. Planning efforts include scaling up the State's public Pre- Kindergarten program in public schools that require an evaluation of Hawaii’s early learning system, services, and programs from prenatal to five (5) years of age. DHS will continue to gather feedback and guidance from the Department’s Child Care Advisory Committee and the Early Learning Board, when applicable, regarding the implementation of the Child Care and Development Fund requirements to efficiently coordinate child care services. The goal is to expand accessibility and continuity of care, and assist children enrolled in child care programs to receive child care services that meet the needs of working families. Continued discussions would focus on enhancing and aligning accessibility and quality of child care services for families receiving child care subsidies, coordinating comprehensive services to children in child care settings, and further enhancement to the professional development system for the early childhood care and education workforce. b. Indian Tribe(s) and/or Tribal organization(s), at the option of the Tribe or Tribal organization. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination, including which Tribe(s) was (were) involved: The Department of Human Services is coordinating with tribal/Native Hawaiian CCDF grantee for Hawaii, which is a member of the Department's Child Care Advisory Committee. Discussions include coordinating strategies to prevent duplication of resources and a maximization of available funding. To achieve this, the Department of Human Services and the tribal/Native Hawaiian CCDF grantee are working together to develop a consent to share information to ensure subsidy clients are not participating in both in the state and tribal/Native Hawaiian CCDF programs and learning about the best practices used by the tribal/Native Hawaiian grantee for monitoring of exempt child care providers caring for CCDF subsidy children and the provision of training for those exempt providers, and ways to assist the tribal/Native Hawaiian grantee in fulfilling the background check requirements. Hawaii is a state that officially recognizes two (2) languages: English and Hawaiian. Consequently, there is a statewide system of Hawaiian medium early learning centers. Children from these centers are prepared to enter public schools where Hawaiian is the medium of instruction. There are 19 such schools that are located throughout the state on every island, except Lanai. In addition, the Native American Languages Act of 1990 (NALA), a landmark legislation addresses generations of federally imposed suppression of Native American languages, provides that it is the policy of the United States to preserve, protect, and promote the rights of Native peoples to use, practice and develop Native languages, including the Hawaiian language, specifically in education, tribal affairs, and public proceedings. The Department is also coordinating with 'Aha Punana Leo, the statewide Hawaiian medium early learning provider for Native Hawaiian children, in the on-going development of three proposed collaborative pilot projects: 1. Between the Department of Human Services, the statewide Hawaiian medium early learning provider, other Hawaiian medium providers, and the Hawaii State Hawaiian Language College at the University of Hawaii at Hilo in the development of a Hawaiian language domain for Hawaii's early Learning and Development Standards to recognize the developmental process and progress for children acquiring Hawaiian language skills as their primary language at-home and/or in a program offering Hawaiian language medium curriculum. 2. Between the Department of Human Services, the statewide Hawaiian medium early learning provider, other Hawaiian medium providers, and the Hawaii State Hawaiian Language College at the University of Hawaii at Hilo in the development of a framework detailing the competencies and guidelines for Hawaiian medium early learning workforce that align with the State's early care and development workforce competencies, where applicable, to ensure that the Native Hawaiian culture and language continue to thrive in Hawaii's communities. 3. Between the Department of Human Services, the statewide Hawaiian medium early learning provider, other Hawaiian medium providers, and the Hawaii State Hawaiian Language College at the University of Hawaii at Hilo in the development of a degree program, courses, professional development opportunities, and/or a Child Development Associate (CDA)-like credential equivalent established through the Hawaii State Hawaiian Language College and recognized by the Department of Human Services for staff qualifications for the Hawaiian medium early learning workforce and to provide career pathway for the Hawaiian medium early learning workforce to ensure that the Native Hawaiian culture and language continue to thrive in Hawaii's communities. The statewide Hawaiian medium early learning provider will continue to partner with the Department of Human Services in promoting healthy and safe environments through licensure by the Department of Human Services for all keiki (children) in its programs and ensure School Readiness for keiki who continue their Hawaiian medium education into kindergarten and beyond. [ ] Not applicable. Check here if there are no Indian Tribes and/or Tribal organizations in the State/Territory. c. State/Territory agency(ies) responsible for programs for children with disabilities, including early intervention programs authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services, Child Care Program Office, serves as a member of the Hawaii Early Intervention Coordinating Council which meets quarterly to advise the Department of Health’s Early Intervention Services. The Departments of Education and Health have representatives on the Department of Human Service’s Child Care Advisory Committee that meets quarterly to advise the Department of Human Services. The Departments will continue to collaborate on strategies to improve coordination of services for children whose families are receiving child care subsidies in seeking referrals for additional screening for Early Intervention Services or special education services. All of the Departments have representation on the steering committee for the development of the Hawaii Early Childhood State Plan that is the shared vision and framework for early childhood collaborations, including strategies and priorities for collective action in Hawaii for birth to eight (8) years of age. Furthermore, the Department of Human Services collaborates with Department of Health, including the Early Intervention Services Section, the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, the Hawaii Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, and stakeholders to continue a pilot project to improve young children's social and emotional development through training and technical assistance and, in some locations, mental health/behavioral consultation to child care providers. There are four (4) levels that are addressed through the pilot project: 1. Developing guidelines and resources to support child care provider's ability to promote children's optimal social and emotional development. 2. Training and technical assistance will be available to licensed and registered childcare providers (those who work with young children) to increase their knowledge and skills to encourage good mental health and social emotional wellness and to manage children's challenging behaviors. 3. Preventing the occurrence or escalation of mental health problems and minimizing children's social emotional development risk will be done through referrals to community- based resources and access to a mental health/behavioral health consultant who will work with child care providers (and/or families) to support the child’s developmental needs. 4. Children who may have a developmental concern need to be properly identified and referred to treatment to support positive developmental progress. Services are available through: Department of Health's Early Intervention Section (IDEA Part Agency) for those children birth - three (3) years old; and through Department of Education's Preschool Special Education (IDEA Part B, 619) for those 3-5 years old. The use of valid screening and assessment procedures to identify concerns and delays is an essential part to supporting and monitoring children's development. d. State/Territory office/director for Head Start State collaboration. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Head Start State Collaboration Director position has been established under the Executive Office on Early Learning (EOEL) to administer the federal grant awarded to the state to support local Head Start/Early Head Start grantees, as well as state-system building efforts with the Department of Human Services partners. The Department of Human Services coordinates with the Head Start State Collaboration Director through a variety of early childhood community meetings to ensure that Head Start and the Department of Human Services align efforts to serve children eligible for Head Start and CCDF subsidies, including children experiencing homelessness, special needs, or from families with at-risk factors, such as low income or limited-English proficient families. e. State/Territory agency responsible for public health, including the agency responsible for immunizations. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services collaborates with Department of Health, for the various programs administered by the Department of Health, such as Early Intervention Services Section, Woman, Infant and Children, Chronic Disease Prevention, Maternal and Childhood Home Visitation programs, and also the Health Resources Administration, including Communicable Disease & Public Health Nursing Division and Disease Outbreak Control Division in order to support healthy children in licensed and registered child care settings and coordinating public health efforts for the Department's licensed and registered child care providers. The agencies at the Department of Health provide guidance and expertise to the Department of Human Services to ensure that child care providers and the families of the children in care receive current and correct information about public health issues that are impacting children and their families. f. State/Territory agency responsible for employment services/workforce development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services houses both the TANF agency and the CCDF agency within the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division. The TANF Program Administrator coordinates with the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) to support families who are required to participate in work activities to maintain their TANF assistance. The TANF work participation offices have job developers from DLIR on-site to provide direct services to TANF work participants. The DLIR job developers set up Community Work Experience program sites with the goal of the TANF Work participant obtaining subsequent sustained employment. The DLIR job developers contact government and private non-profit agencies that offer work experience opportunities with supervised work skills development that will not displace the current work force at those agencies. g. State/Territory agency responsible for public education, including pre-Kindergarten. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services is an ex-officio member on the Early Learning Board who governs The Executive Office on Early Learning (EOEL), which is administratively attached to the Department of Education, and administers the State's public Pre-Kindergarten program in 44 statewide classrooms as of August 2024. The Department and EOEL will continue to collaborate on strategies to improve coordination of services for children whose families are receiving child care subsidies in seeking referrals for additional screening for public Special Education services, supporting a professional development system for the early childhood workforce, as well as partnering to support children's transitions to school settings in the Department of Education and private schools. Both Departments have representation on the steering committee for the development of the Hawaii Early Childhood State Plan that is being led by the EOEL; and the Plan is the shared vision and framework for early childhood collaborations, including strategies and priorities for collective action in Hawaii for birth to eight (8) years of age. h. State/Territory agency responsible for child care licensing. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services is the lead CCDF agency, and the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, which houses the CCDF administrator, is responsible for child care licensing. The CCDF Administrator oversees the Child Care Regulation Program and Child Care Subsidy Program Offices which has programmatic and policy oversight of the child care licensing, child care subsidy, and child care quality improvement programs in Hawaii. The Child Care Program Office coordinates the goals of child care licensing which impact the child care subsidy and child care quality improvement programs in Hawaii. There are approximately 850 licensed and registered homes and centers statewide. i. State/Territory agency responsible for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and other relevant nutrition programs. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services contracts with the Department of Health to provide nutrition consultation and menu reviews for licensed child care facilities. This contractor has an established relationship with the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to ensure alignment of services with CACFP policies. The Department's child care licensing staff and the Department's contractor that provides training and professional development services inform licensed and registered child care providers about the CACFP. The Department of Education is the agency responsible for the CACFP and monitors group child care centers who participate in the CACFP. The Department of Education contracts with a non-profit organization to monitor registered family child care homes who participate in the CACFP. The Department of Education periodically meets with the Department of Human Services to ensure that the child care licensing program continues to align with the requirements and goals of the CACFP. j. McKinney-Vento State coordinators for homeless education and other agencies providing services for children experiencing homelessness and, to the extent practicable, local McKinney-Vento liaisons. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services is the lead CCDF agency, and the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, which houses the CCDF administrators, continues to collaborate with the Department's Homeless Program Office, which is the statewide agency in the same Division that oversees state and federally funded contracts for homeless services throughout Hawaii, on strategies to improve coordination of services for homeless children whose families may be eligible for child care subsidies and other early childhood services which may be needed to meet the needs of homeless children. The Homeless Program Office will support the Department's outreach efforts to the contracted homeless service providers regarding early childhood services available to homeless families with young children, as well as other agencies providing services to homeless families, including the McKinney-Vento coordinators. The Department's Child Care Advisory Committee includes stakeholder members representing preschool programs such as Head Start, Early Head Start, private community-based preschools, and the Department of Education. The Department of Human Services will collaborate with these stakeholder members regarding improving coordination of services for homeless children whose families may be eligible for child care subsidies and other early childhood services. The Department of Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program (EHCY) has established an Early Learning Navigator position to support the enrollment of more children, birth to five, experiencing homelessness into early child program and settings. The Department of Human Services will continue its efforts to work with the EHCY program staff to ensure families have subsidy and child care information needed to enroll their children into programs and services. k. State/Territory agency responsible for the TANF program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services houses both the TANF agency and the CCDF agency within the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division. The CCDF administrator will coordinate with the TANF Program Administrator to support families who are required to participate in work activities to maintain their TANF assistance. For state fiscal year 2023, the monthly average of TANF children served was 5% of the overall number of children receiving child care subsidies statewide. Families are provided information on child care subsidies available, parent education about choosing quality child care providers, and resource and referral services available for licensed and registered child care providers in their area. l. State/Territory agency responsible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services, the lead CCDF agency, and the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, which houses the CCDF administrator, collaborates with the Department's Med-QUEST Division, which is the agency providing eligible low-income adults and children access to health and medical coverage through managed care plans, including Medicaid and the state Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), on strategies to improve access to wellness services and medical coverage for families who qualify for child care subsidies, in order to meet the developmental and health needs of our vulnerable children. The QUEST program is designed to provide Quality care, Universal access, Efficient utilization, Stabilizing costs, and to Transform (QUEST) the way health care is provided to recipients. Med-QUEST will develop and provide training to the Department's child care training contractor staff, the statewide resource and referral contractor staff, and the Benefit, Employment and Support Services’ Staff Development trainers who will incorporate the S-CHIP and Medicaid information into the trainings for TANF and non-TANF child care eligibility determination staff. The Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division will also provide information on the consumer education public website about the programs offered by Med-QUEST. m. State/Territory agency responsible for mental health services. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services collaborates with Department of Health, including the Early Intervention Services Section, the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, the Hawaii chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, and stakeholders to continue a pilot project to improve young children's social-emotional development through training and technical assistance and, in some locations, mental health/behavioral consultation to child care providers. There are four levels addressed through the pilot project: 1. Developing guidelines and resources to support child care provider's ability to promote children's optimal social and emotional development. 2. Training and technical assistance will be available to licensed and registered childcare providers (those who work with young children) to increase their knowledge and skills to encourage good mental health and social-emotional wellness and to manage children's challenging behaviors. 3. Preventing the occurrence or escalation of mental health problems and minimizing children's social-emotional development risk will be done through referrals to community- based resources and access to a mental health/behavioral health consultant who will work with child care providers (and/or families) to support the child’s developmental needs. 4. Children who may have a developmental concern need to be properly identified and referred to treatment to support positive developmental progress. Services are available through: Department of Health's Early Intervention Section (IDEA Part Agency) for those children birth to three (3) years old; and through Department of Education’s Preschool Special Education (IDEA Part B, 619) for those 3-5 years old. The use of valid screening and assessment procedures to identify concerns and delays is an essential part to supporting and monitoring children's development. n. Child care resource and referral agencies, child care consumer education organizations, and providers of early childhood education training and professional development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services ensures the coordination of services between the child care subsidy eligibility contract staff and the statewide child care resource and referral agency to ensure that subsidy families receive consumer education information about availability of comprehensive services for children in the communities and information about choosing quality child care settings. The Department of Human Services ensures that child care providers receive necessary information about the availability of professional development opportunities, to meet their ongoing health and safety requirements. This includes licensed and registered child care providers as well as exempt providers caring for children whose families receive a child care subsidy from the Department. Additionally, the department coordinates services between its contractors for training and professional development and provides career counseling and continuing education for licensed and registered child care providers, as well as exempt providers interested in caring for children whose families receive a child care subsidy from the Department of Human Services. 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 Department of Human Services collaborates with the Department of Education (DOE) on strategies to improve coordination of out-of-school time care, since the Hawaii DOE operates a statewide after-school program called A-plus. The goal is to reduce the high incidence of latchkey children and provide affordable afterschool child care services. Families may qualify for subsidized monthly fees through the Department of Human Services TANF contract with the DOE. Eligibility is based on the family’s income and work activity requirements such as being employed, attending school, or participating in a job training program. The DOE operates the after-school care programs or contracts with private providers to operate the after-school care programs at nearly 180 (this number varies by school year) public elementary and charter schools statewide. The Department of Human Services child care subsidy staff advise parents interested in after-school care and applying for the child care subsidy program of the subsidized DOE after-school care program if the family meets the income eligibility limits under the TANF contract. If the family does not qualify for the TANF contract, the parents may still be eligible for a child care certificate through the Department of Human Services’ child care subsidy program. The Department of Human Services is also coordinating with the DOE to ensure that the staff caring for children in the after-school care A-plus programs complete the initial and on-going health and safety training requirements that exempt CCDF providers must complete and considering what supports could be developed to offer professional opportunities for out-of-school time care staff. In addition, the Department of Human Services works in collaboration with the Hawaii Afterschool Alliance (HAA), the Hawaii statewide afterschool network, to support quality development, resource sharing, and promoting high-quality, affordable and accessible out-of-school programs. HAA will provide a variety of training, resources and consultations that meet providers needs and help assess programs progress toward goals. Collaborating with HAA assures that planning efforts around child care including planning for school-age children. p. Agency responsible for emergency management and response. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services coordinates with the State and County emergency management agencies regarding licensed and registered child care providers that have been impacted by emergencies to ensure that child care providers can resume child care operations as quickly as possible post-emergency by assisting in identifying impacted child care providers and to request post-emergency inspections, when applicable. The Department of Human Services will also assist to verify if child care providers are licensed by or registered with the Department if individuals or facilities are applying for Individual Assistance recovery funds with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. q. The following are examples of optional partners a Lead Agency might coordinate with to provide services. Check which optional partners the Lead Agency coordinates with and describe the coordination and results of the coordination. i. [x] State/Territory/local agencies with Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants. Describe: There are no public State/local agencies with Early Head Start- Child Care Partnership grants. The Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grantee for Hawaii is a private community-based Early Head Start provider. The private community-based Early Head Start provider, who is the Hawaii Early Head Start- Child Care Partnership grantee, and the private child care partner organization are members of the community stakeholders who are invited to attend the Department of Human Services quarterly Child Care Advisory Committee meetings to provide input and feedback to the Department on coordination with the CCDF subsidy program, professional development opportunities for early childhood workforce, and lessons learned from the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership federal grant. ii. [x] State/Territory institutions for higher education, including community colleges. Describe: The Department of Human Service's Child Care Advisory Committee includes stakeholder members representing institutions for higher education, including community colleges; and the Department continues to collaborate with the stakeholder members regarding support for continued education for individuals working in child care settings to obtain early childhood coursework and degrees to promote quality child care services in licensed and registered child care settings. The Department continues to collaborate on ways to increase on-going professional development opportunities, both credit-based and non-credit-based, and supporting career counseling and scholarship funding for those already working in the child care field or planning to enter the field upon completion of their degrees. iii. [x] Other federal, State, local, and/or private agencies providing early childhood and school-age/youth-serving developmental services. Describe: The Department of Human Services is a member of several community workgroups that are focused on improving school readiness of children by improving the quality of care provided to children or by increasing access to high quality early learning and care opportunities from birth through age eight (8) years under the Early Childhood Action Strategy (Action Strategy). The Action Strategy collaborative involves over 80 public and private partners and is working to improve healthy and safe births, healthy development, kindergarten readiness, and meeting grade-level requirements at third grade. iv. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for implementing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs grant. Describe: The Department of Human Services collaborates with Department of Health, including the Maternal and Childhood Home Visitation programs, to coordinate and promote access to the child care subsidies for families participating in the home visitation program v. [x] Agency responsible for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Program. Describe: The Department of Human Services is the lead CCDF agency, and the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, which houses the CCDF administrators, collaborates with the Department's Med-QUEST Division, which is the agency providing eligible low-income adults and children access to health and medical coverage through managed care plans, on strategies to improve access to wellness services and medical coverage for families who qualify for child care subsidies, in order to meet the developmental and health needs of our vulnerable children. The QUEST program is designed to provide Quality care, Universal access, Efficient utilization, Stabilizing costs, and to Transform the way health care is provided to recipients. Med-QUEST developed an informational hand-out that is posted on the Department's consumer education website and is given out to families applying for or receiving child care subsidies. Med-QUEST will also develop and provide training to the Department of Human Services child care training contractor staff, the statewide resource and referral contractor staff, and the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Staff Development trainers who will incorporate the EPSDT and Medicaid information into the training for TANF and non-TANF child care eligibility determination staff. vi. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for child welfare. Describe: The Department of Human Services is the lead CCDF agency, and the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, which houses the CCDF administrator, collaborates with the Department's Social Services Division, which is the agency serving children in child welfare using strategies to improve coordination of services for children whose families are involved with child welfare and are receiving child care subsidies and early childhood services to meet the needs of these vulnerable children. The Department also supports the training of foster parents through the Department's contracted training services to promote knowledge about child development and best practices in working with children ages birth to five (5) years. The two (2) Divisions established a Memorandum of Agreement to ensure that foster parents are made aware by Social Services Division Child Welfare Services’ staff about the child care subsidy program, where foster parents can apply and receive child care subsidies for eligible foster children who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents when the foster parents have an eligible CCDF activity of employment, attending school, and/or in a job training program. vii. [ ] Child care provider groups or associations. Describe: viii. [ ] Parent groups or organizations. Describe: ix. [ ] Title IV B 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinators. Describe: x. [ ] Other. Describe: