8.4 Public-Private Partnerships

Lead Agencies must demonstrate how they encourage partnerships among other public agencies, Tribal organizations, private entities, faith-based organizations, businesses, or organizations that promote business involvement, and/or community-based organizations to leverage existing service delivery (i.e., cooperative agreement among providers to pool resources to pay for shared fixed costs and operation) to leverage existing child care and early education service delivery systems and to increase the supply and quality of child care services for children younger than age 13. 8.4.1 Lead Agency public-private partnerships Identify and describe any public-private partnerships encouraged by the Lead Agency to leverage public and private resources to further the goals of CCDF: The Department of Human Services partners with the Executive Office on Early Learning and the Department of Education for the on- going licensure of private child care providers utilizing existing classrooms on public school campuses for preschool services, also called the Pre-Plus Program. All the Pre-Plus programs are Head Start grantees, and some of the Pre-Plus classrooms offer inclusion settings for the Department of Education's Special Education children. All the Pre-Plus providers must be licensed by the Department of Human Services, since the programs are operated by private, community- based providers. Without the Pre-Plus classrooms, there would be a loss of 280 slots for preschool-age children throughout needy communities across the State. The Hawaii Departments of Human Services, Health, and Education have representation for the development of the Hawaii Early Childhood State Plan 2019-2024 that was steered by the Executive Office on Early Learning. The Hawaii Early Childhood State Plan is the shared vision and framework for early childhood collaborations and partnerships, including strategies and priorities for collective action in Hawaii for birth to eight (8) years of age. The Hawaii Early Childhood State Plan launched on January 30, 2019. The Department of Human Services also partners and collaborates with the Department of Health (DOH) on strategies to improve coordination of public health information dissemination or health services for child care providers or children in child care; develop strategies to capitalize on previous and existing work to encourage physical activity and health eating for young children; and support children’s social-emotional development. DOH also shares information about the federal child care subsidy program and the state-funded Preschool Open Doors program with the agencies in Health which serve families who may qualify for these subsidy programs. DOH developed a resource listing for families about services available through various State agencies, and the Department of Human Services will include this resource list on its consumer education website for families to access once the website is in production. The Department of Human Services also partners and collaborates with the Department of Education (DOE) Community Engagement Branch on strategies to improve coordination of out-of- school time care, since 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 Hawaii 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 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 transitional care subsidy unit 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. The Department of Human Services partners with the Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission for the on-going licensure of private community-based organizations operating child care centers on campuses of public charter schools for the Preschool Development Grants, since the pre-Kindergarten program is not part of the Commission’s charter contract agreement with charter schools. Many of the preschools under the Hawaii Preschool Development Grant programs are Native Hawaiian culture focused or Native Hawaiian language immersion programs. Without the 18 Preschool Development Grant pre-Kindergarten classrooms, there would be a loss of 360 slots for preschool-age children throughout needy communities across the State.