7.1 Quality Activities Needs Assessment

7.1.1 Needs assessment process and findings a. Describe the Lead Agency needs assessment process for expending CCDF funds on activities to improve the quality of child care, including the frequency of assessment, how a range of parents and providers were consulted, and how their views are incorporated: Each Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R)Agency is required to complete a needs assessment every other year for their service delivery area. These needs assessments are required to review parental choice, consumer education, and the needs of providers both to recruit and retain programs. The need assessments include both quantitative and qualitative data measures using a combination of closed and open-ended questions The last needs assessment was conducted in June 2023. Methods of data collection included: • Flyers with QR code posted on Facebook pages, agency websites, and other social media outlets. • Web survey link and QR Code sent via email to child care providers, including Center and Family Child Care programs. • Distributed via weekly and monthly electronic newsletters using Web survey links and QR Code • Electronic and paper surveys distributed to families, childcare providers, and community partners • Web survey link and QR Code sent via email to community partners and parents. • Demographic information data gathered from state and local resources. Information collected helps the CCR&R agencies identify early care and education needs/issues, guides the CCR&R agencies on their outreach and technical assistance methods and topics, professional development needs of the workforce, and helps them to coordinate efforts with other community agencies. In addition, through the Preschool Development Grant (PDG), Ohio was able to generate a report on the saturation levels or "child care deserts" in the state to help focus efforts on providing families with child care services. The child care resource and referral (CCR&R) agencies submit quarterly reports to the Ohio Department Children and Youth (DCY) hat include training statistics and progress toward Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) rating goals required in the contract. These reports are reviewed to determine effectiveness of each CCR&R's in providing training to professionals in their service delivery area and their approach toward required SUTQ goals. In addition, Ohio completed a Step Up To Quality Validation Study in 2016-2017 and again in 2019 to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in preparing children for kindergarten. b. Describe the findings of the assessment, including any findings related to needs of different populations and types of providers, and if any overarching goals for quality improvement were identified: The Preschool Development Grant (PDG) needs assessment allowed Ohio to prioritize counties with a low level of licensed child care for recently awarded access/expansion grants. All 88 counties were broken into level, based on the availability of licensed programs, are points were awarded to increase the chance of programs expanding or opening in those counties. The Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies provide quarterly reports to help the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) understand the trends in professionals obtaining professional development and the challenges with becoming or maintaining quality ratings. DCY will look to utilize similar information from State Support Teams in upcoming fiscal years. The Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) Validation Study conducted in 2019 showed that: 1) participation in SUTQ is associated with higher quality classroom practices compared to sites that are not participating; 2) children who spend two years in a publicly funded child care had higher scores, on average, than students who were economically disadvantaged and had not participated for two years in a publicly funded child care; 3) children who participated in early learning and development programs sponsored by the Ohio Department of Education had mean scores on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment second only to students who were not economically disadvantaged; and 4) Type A and type B family child care homes perform on par with their center and Early Childhood Education counterparts.