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: Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness (OPSR) is the governor- appointed coordination council for the state and local early childhood system with the goal of engaging coordination of organizations and initiative statewide to improve the overall care and education of children of all ages within the state. Child Care Services Director serves as an active OPSR board member participant. Meetings are regularly scheduled including the Lead Agency, OPSR and other invested private/ [public partnerships through the state in a coordinated effort to improve overall childcare and education within the state. OPSR in an active member on the Oklahoma Child Care Advisory Committee. 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 Lead Agency works to have cooperative agreements with recognized tribes within the state. Through these collaborative efforts, meetings are conducted regularly with sharing of information related to licensing, subsidy, resources and quality initiatives, along with program changes. Subsidy participation is open to tribal families attending tribal programs through these established agreements. Through the Center for Early Childhood Professional Development, programs may take advantage of professional development opportunities offered to non-tribal programs and may use all regional resource and referral services. Tribal program monitoring staff also participate in the Lead Agency licensing professional development opportunities. Tribal representation has a permanent seat on the Oklahoma Child Care Advisory Committee. [ ] 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 Lead Agency personnel and Child Care Services Director are active participants on committees working to improve the overall quality of services to individuals with special needs. This includes the Children’s State Advisory Team and Children’s State Advisory Workgroup. Multiple state agencies and private partnerships work collaboratively on efforts. Participation include representation from Oklahoma State Department of Health, Oklahoma State Department of Mental Health, and SoonerStart through the Oklahoma State Department of Education supporting the importance of improving quality of care for young children and offering continuity of service. d. State/Territory office/director for Head Start State collaboration. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Head Start-CCP grantees and the Lead Agency meet quarterly to report on progress and discuss any subsidy issues that need to be resolved. The State Head Start Collaboration Director is on numerous workgroups with staff from the Lead Agency. Staff from Lead Agency also participate in committees with members representing Head Start organizations. Head Start programs may participate as a licensed program on the Oklahoma Child Care Advisory Committee. e. State/Territory agency responsible for public health, including the agency responsible for immunizations. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency coordinates with the Oklahoma Department of Health (OSDH) through collaborative service organizations. Licensing specialist work with local city county health departments for immunization record checks and referrals for services. Contracts are maintained for completion of required health inspections and with request for input into minimum health and safety related licensing requirements. This coordination led to improvement of the overall quality of care within the state. The Lead Agency also maintains a contract with the OSDH to provide warmline referral services to programs and parents. These service offer resources of problems relating to child behavior and health needs. Referrals may also be made for more in depth services as needed Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultations. OSDH personnel have permeant representation on the Oklahoma Child Care Advisory Committee. f. State/Territory agency responsible for employment services/workforce development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Lead Agency provides services through the Adult and Family Services Division. The Lead Agency places kiosks in one stop centers around the state so that parents utilizing employment and workforce development services can apply for subsidized child care online. This allows for greater accessibility to child care. Lead Agency administers the TANF program. TANF recipients participating in a TANF work activity are eligible to receive subsidized child care. g. State/Territory agency responsible for public education, including pre-Kindergarten. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency works with the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) to provide resources and materials support education of children while in child care. The OSDE personnel were instrumental in development of the Oklahoma Early Learning Guidelines for Infants Toddlers and Twos, and ELG for 3 ￿ 5 years old. Representation from OSDE and the Lead Agency actively participate on the Children’s State Advisory Team and Children’s State Advisory Workgroup working collaboratively on efforts. h. State/Territory agency responsible for child care licensing. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency is responsible for child care licensing and licensing services. 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 CACFP is coordinated through the OSDE. The Lead Agency coordinates with the agency seeking to provide best services to programs participating in the CACFP conducting meetings, seeking guidelines and clarifications as needed. The Lead Agency recognizes the CACFP is a vital part of care of children in Oklahoma and work to support nutritious meals provided to children in care. Through contracted partners of the Lead Agency, information is shared on local CACFP services in regions throughout the state informing licensing programs of the opportunities and benefits of CACFP participation. 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 Lead Agency works collaboratively with the Oklahoma State Department of Education through active workgroup participation through the Children’s State Advisory Team and Children’s State Advisory Workgroup. This workgroup includes participants from the OSDE where information is shared relating to services for children and families experiencing homelessness. k. State/Territory agency responsible for the TANF program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency administers the TANF program. Transfer of TANF dollars to the subsidy program allows increased accessibility to child care. TANF recipients participating in a TANF work activity are eligible to receive subsidized child care. The results of accessibility to child care allow for continuity of care, and potential for extension to full day services. Child Care Services coordinate regular scheduled meetings within the Lead Agency to share updates, resources and initiative between agency divisions. l. State/Territory agency responsible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency coordinates with the state Oklahoma Health Care Authority to offer EPSDT test to TANF recipients and their children to increase access to health and developmental screenings of children in the state. Regular communication is conducted between the two agencies with updates, resources and initiatives shared as needed. m. State/Territory agency responsible for mental health services. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency including Child Care Services Director has active participation on the Children’s State Advisory Team and Children’s State Advisory Workgroup working collaboratively on efforts to improve the quality of life for children within Oklahoma. These also include active personnel participation from Oklahoma State Department of Mental Health. 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 Lead Agency holds quality contracts to outsource resource and referral services as well as maintenance of state wide professional development services. Regular meetings are conducted to determine industry needs, goals of the state and agency, and future progress. Information is obtained through these contracts offering direct services to improve the overall quality of care throughout the state. o. Statewide afterschool network or other coordinating entity for out-of-school time care (if applicable). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Through board participation with the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness, the Lead Agency works in partnership with out-of-school time partners . Efforts through this work increase opportunities and understanding between the Lead Agency and school age services p. Agency responsible for emergency management and response. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency coordinates with the Oklahoma Emergency Management Services (OMES) for inclusion and input into the emergency preparation plans. A program manager with the Lead Agency actively participates on a multi-agency work group for Oklahoma Disaster Housing Task Force. 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. [ ] State/Territory/local agencies with Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants. Describe: ii. [x] State/Territory institutions for higher education, including community colleges. Describe: The Lead Agency contracts with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to provide a scholarship program to increase accessibility of professional development, certificates and degrees in child development. Providing education supports leads to improving the quality of child care programs. Scholar coordinators work with students at local or distance-learning institutions with tutoring, course assistance, any concerns with administrative access and completion of forms, etc. iii. [x] Other federal, State, local, and/or private agencies providing early childhood and school-age/youth-serving developmental services. Describe: The lead Agency collaborated with local communities and non- profit agencies throughout the state as needed to meet agency and state goals. iv. [ ] State/Territory agency responsible for implementing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs grant. Describe: v. [x] Agency responsible for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Program. Describe: The Lead Agency coordinates with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (Medicaid Agency) to ensure EPSDT referrals are completed for children who are approved for Medicaid through the Lead Agency. Eligibility determination staff explains the importance of the EPSDT program to parents to expand accessibility to developmental screenings. vi. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for child welfare. Describe: The Lead Agency is responsible for the child welfare program. Subsidized child care is available for children in protective custody. Child Care policies allow foster parents to receive child care for work, school, training, or for exceptions as determined by foster care program staff. In addition, intact families who are on a safety plan can receive child care for protective or preventive reasons if the parent doesn't otherwise participate in a qualifying activity (work, school, or training). vii. [x] Child care provider groups or associations. Describe: The Lead Agency is required by Oklahoma State Statutes to conduct Oklahoma Child Care Advisory Committee meetings. These meetings are held quarterly and include state agency, private and public partnerships representation. A vital part of the success of this committee is the active participation of representatives of program and sub-program types throughout the state to include rural and metro areas. This group also include representation for affiliated child care associations within the state. Input in sought on policy and program changes for Child Care Services. Agency personnel regularly participate in meetings and workgroups alongside other child care representatives within the state including provider group and associate members. viii. [x] Parent groups or organizations. Describe: The Lead Agency makes the tri- annual Child Care Services Quality Survey accessible to parents and guardians of children in licensed care as an opportunity for input into the goals and direction of child care within the state. ix. [ ] Title IV B 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinators. Describe: x. [ ] Other. Describe: