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ELC regional partnership groups. ELC's also know and understand their region of the state. They are sometimes able to either work directly with providers who are not licensed, or they work with local groups who provide outreach to the unlicensed providers and work to get the programs to become either licensed or assist them to become license exempt. Both ECTC and ELC staff provide information regarding high quality care and assist families in understanding what to ask prospective providers.The CCR&R and ELCs work collaboratively with Planning Regions Teams funding by federal IDEA dollars and managed by the NDE office of Special Education. Planning Region Teams are tasked with ensuring that young children with disabilities are identified and receive the appropriate services with include child care.

b) How are CCR&R services organized, include how many agencies, if there is a statewide network and if the system is coordinated? The system is led from the Early Childhood Training Center. The Early Childhood Training Center operates with a combination of Federal CCDF funds, Federal IDEA funds, and state funds. The CCR&R staff are paid with Federal CCDF funds. The 7 Early Learning Connection Partnerships are located in Educational Service Units across the state. The ELC's operate with Federal CCDF funds supplemented by a variety of local funding sources. The CCDF funds are granted to the ESUs by through an interagency MOU between the Lead Agency and the Nebraska Department of Education. The Early Childhood Training Center staff and the ELC coordinators have four face to face meetings annually. Additionally, the ECTC staff and the ELC coordinators have virtual (zoom) meetings approximately monthly.

1.8 Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan

Lead Agencies are required to establish a Statewide Child Care Disaster Plan (658E(c)(2)(U)). They must demonstrate how they will address the needs of children'including the need for safe child care, before, during, and after a state of emergency declared by the Governor or a major disaster or emergency (as defined by Section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5122)'through a Statewide Disaster Plan that, for a State, is developed in collaboration with the State human services agency, the State emergency Nebraska Page 32 of 314