6.3 Ongoing Training and Professional Development

6.3.1 Required hours of ongoing training Provide the number of hours of ongoing training required annually for CCDF-eligible providers in the following settings: a. Licensed child care centers: 12 b. License-exempt child care centers: not applicable c. Licensed family child care homes: not applicable d. License-exempt family child care homes: 12 e. Regulated or registered in-home child care: 12 f. Non-regulated or registered in-home child care: not applicable 6.3.2 Accessibility of professional development for Tribal organizations Describe how the Lead Agency’s training and professional development are accessible to providers supported through Indian tribes or Tribal organizations receiving CCDF funds (as applicable). All providers that receive CCDF-funded seats have access to professional development, including technical assistance, training, coaching and other supports, through Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies. Tribal organizations that have child care sites that are eligible to receive CCDF-funded seats are able to access and participate in these supports. 6.3.3 Professional development appropriate for the children, families, and child care providers Describe how the Lead Agency’s training and professional development requirements reflect the range of children, families, and child care providers participating in CCDF. To the extent practicable, how does professional development include specialized training or credentials for providers who care for infants or school-age children; individuals with limited English proficiency; children who are bilingual; children with developmental delays or disabilities; and/or Native Americans, including Indians, as the term is defined in Section 900.6 in subpart B of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (including Alaska Natives) and Native Hawaiians? On behalf of the Lead Agency, Child Care Resource & Referral agencies provide trainings, which are Lead Agency-developed Key Training Modules or Contractor-developed modules, that represent a broad range of topics to reflect the needs of diverse child care experience levels, roles, and sites and that meet these professional development requirements for providers. These vendors also provide a monthly schedule of training content based on the community-level need, Lead Agency initiatives, community request, and established quality goals. Special care is taken to ensure training opportunities related to infants and toddlers, as well as family child care, are offered each month. Training opportunities are also linked to CDA Content Areas and include topics related to building productive relationships with families, including engaging with families from different backgrounds and ways to promote positive relationships with families from differing backgrounds. Additionally, the Lead Agency’s Early Childhood Ancillary Certificate programs are based on the CDA content areas. Participation in these programs ensures that Lead Teachers in child care classrooms receive professional development in the CDA Content Areas, which include understanding principles of child development and learning, observing children's behavior to identify developmental delays and individualize teaching to support and advance children's physical and intellectual development, for infants as well as toddlers and preschoolers. Additionally, the Lead Agency ensures that children in child care sites have access to developmental screenings with at least one staff member from each Child Care Resource and Referral Agency trained via a train-the-trainer program. 6.3.4 Child developmental screening Describe how all providers receive, through training and professional development, information about: (1) existing resources and services the State/Territory can make available in conducting developmental screenings and providing referrals to services when appropriate for children who receive assistance under this part, including the coordinated use of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and developmental screening services available under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); and (2) how child care providers may utilize these resources and services to obtain developmental screenings for children who receive assistance and who may be at risk for cognitive or other developmental delays, which may include social, emotional, physical, or linguistic delays: In local-level community networks Part C representatives (from the statewide system, called EarlySteps) participate as a program partner alongside child care providers. The Lead Agency, and many community network lead agencies, administer Part B services; regardless of who serves as the community network leadership, Part B representatives also participate in the local-level community networks as a program partner alongside child care. This familiarity and partnering among Part C, Part B, and child care providers means that information about developmental screening resources, referrals, and services and how to utilize them is shared with child care providers. The Lead Agency provides guidance to all community network lead agencies on the transition process from Part C to Part B services through the ￿Early Childhood Transition Process￿ guidance document, available via the Lead Agency’s website. The Lead Agency monitors compliance of the transition process from Part C to Part B services through the state data system, eSER (Enhanced Special Education Reporting System). Child care providers and community network lead agencies can participate in Part B services by attending Part C transition conferences to assist in developing and implementing an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) by the child’s third birthday. In the event that the local Part B provider does not attend the transition conference, the local Part B provider (who is often the same as the community network lead agency) will initiate their own conference with the family to transition from Part C to determine eligibility for services in Part B. The partnership between Part C and Part B builds the capacity of families to meet the special needs of their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers by promoting the importance of developmental screening, early intervention, and resources that meet the needs of young children with disabilities. The Lead Agency publishes an annual Developmental Screening Guidebook that serves as a reference point for providers and families and outlines how to best support healthy growth and development of children throughout key developmental intervals, helps provide guidelines on how to identify children who may benefit from specialized support, and gives providers guidance on developmental screening processes and practices. Furthermore, the Developmental Screening Guidebook outlines ways providers can establish a referral process after screening is complete. The Lead Agency conducts periodic meetings and outreach with community networks in order to assess community training needs in the area of developmental screening. These outreach practices provide the Lead Agency with the opportunity to assess the need for annual professional development opportunities for ASQ-3 Training of Trainers to support new Early Childhood staff and staff that may need up-to-date training. The Lead Agency will continue to provide ongoing technical assistance and guidance for developmental screening to early childhood community networks who train providers in turn, to ensure that young children with disabilities are identified early and accurately. The Lead Agency will also continue to provide professional development to prepare educators with strategies that ensure that young children with disabilities have access to high-quality inclusive early learning experiences and opportunities.