1.3 Consultation in the Development of the CCDF Plan

The Lead Agency is responsible for developing the CCDF Plan, and consultation with and meaningful input and feedback from a wide range of representatives is critical for CCDF programs to continually adapt to the changing needs of families, child care programs, and the workforce. Consultation involves meeting with or otherwise obtaining input from an appropriate agency in the development of the State or Territory CCDF Plan. As part of the Plan development process, Lead Agencies must consult with the following: (1) Appropriate representatives of general-purpose local government. General purpose local governments are defined by the U.S. Census at https://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/g12_org.pdf. (2) The State Advisory Council (SAC) on Early Childhood Education and Care (pursuant to 642B(b)(I)(A)(i) of the Head Start Act) or similar coordinating body pursuant to 98.14(a)(1)(vii). (3) Tribe(s) or Tribal organization(s) within the State. This consultation should be done in a timely manner and at the option of the Tribe(s) or Tribal organization(s). 1.3.1 Consultation efforts in CCDF Plan development Describe the Lead Agency’s consultation efforts in the development of the CCDF Plan, including how and how often the consultation occurred. a. Describe how the Lead Agency consulted with appropriate representatives of general- purpose local government: OCDEL has several key members of the state advisory council who represent local municipalities or school districts including: Philadelphia, Allegheny, Bensalem, Lancaster and Towanda. Those members were consulted in the creation of this plan. Meetings for the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care were held on: February 26, May 20, August 27, and November 18, 2024. Child care staff and other stakeholders were invited to participate in virtual feedback sessions on April 15 and 17, 2024, in addition to providing feedback to the state plan draft through a public comment system. Two of the ELRCs represent county government. Those regions are 5 and 17. All ELRCs were consulted in the development of the state plan. In-person meetings with the ELRCs take place quarterly, in addition to bi-weekly phone calls. a. Describe how the Lead Agency consulted with the State Advisory Council or similar coordinating body: OCDEL’s State Advisory Council is known as Pennsylvania’s State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care (SAC). OCDEL engaged SAC in February 2024. An overview of the requirements was presented with small group break out occurring for discussion. b. Describe, if applicable, how the Lead Agency consulted with Indian Tribes(s) or Tribal organizations(s) within the State: There are no federally recognized Tribal Governments in Pennsylvania. c. Identify other entities, agencies, or organizations consulted on the development of the CCDF Plan (e.g., representatives from the child care workforce, or statewide afterschool networks) and describe those consultation efforts: Between November and December 2023, OCDEL participated in thirteen virtual listening sessions with the Start Strong campaign. Meetings were recorded and reviewed, and transcripts were analyzed for themes. Stakeholders engaged through this process were: Family, Group, center and School-age child care providers, Staff members of the ELRC including those responsible for subsidy and quality activities, OCDEL licensing, policy and professional development staff. 1.3.2 Public hearing process Lead Agencies must hold at least one public hearing in the State or Territory, with sufficient Statewide or Territory-wide distribution of notice prior to such a hearing to enable the public to comment on the provision of child care services under the CCDF Plan. Describe the Statewide or Territory-wide public hearing process held to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the provision of child care services under this Plan. i. Date of the public hearing: 4/15/2024; 4/17/2024 Reminder: Must be no earlier than January 1, 2024. If more than one public hearing was held, enter one date (e.g., the date of the first hearing, the most recent hearing date, or any hearing date that demonstrates this requirement). ii. Date of notice of public hearing: 3/26/2024 iii. Was the notice of public hearing posted publicly at least 20 calendar days prior to the date of the public hearing? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: iv. Describe how the public was notified about the public hearing, including outreach in other languages, information on interpretation services being available, etc. Include specific website links if used to provide noticeOCDEL posted information about the public hearings on the DHS and PA Keys website with instructions describing ways the public could comment or register to testify at a hearing including submission through online portal or via United States Postal (USPS). Both websites allowed information about the public hearing to be translated into over 100 languages. OCDEL also utilized their provider listserv and OCDEL’s Pennsylvania Early Education Newsletter, which has more than 13,000 recipients, to share a special announcement which included the hearing dates. Information was also shared through legislative offices; and state-wide and regional member organizations to include it in their communications. v. Describe how the approach to the public hearing was inclusive of all geographic regions of the State or Territory: The public hearings were facilitated by virtual Zoom meetings to include all geographic regions and multiple stakeholders. vi. Describe how the content of the Plan was made available to the public in advance of the public hearing (e.g., the Plan was made available in other languages, in multiple formats, etc.): The CCDF State Plan FFY 25-27 was posted on www.pa.gov/en/agencies/dhs/resources/early-learning-child-care/early-learning- federal-requirements-monitoring.html. Information about the posting, public comment period, and ability to sign up for a slot to provide public testimony in the virtual public hearing were distributed in the Pennsylvania Early Education News and a Special Announcement distributed via OCDEL listserv. vii. Describe how the information provided by the public was taken into consideration regarding the provision of child care services under this Plan: The CCDF State Plan posted for public comment is considered a draft. Upon completion of the comment period and the Public Hearing, OCDEL will review all submitted comments. The public comments will be categorized into themes and plans to be posted by August 31, 2024, at https://www.dhs.pa.gov/Services/Children/Pages/Child-Care-Early-Learning.aspx. Any future changes to the State Plan resulting from public comment will be noted at the time the plan is updated. 1.3.3 Public availability of final Plan, amendments, and waivers Lead Agencies must make the submitted and approved final Plan, any approved Plan amendments, and any approved requests for temporary waivers publicly available on a website. a. Provide the website link to where the Plan, any Plan amendments, and waivers (if applicable) are available. Note: A Plan amendment is required if the website address where the Plan is posted changes. www.dhs.pa.gov/Service/children/pages/child-care- early-learning.aspx b. Describe any other strategies that the Lead Agency uses to make submitted and approved CCDF Plan and approved Plan amendments available to the public. Check all that apply and describe the strategies below, including any relevant website links as examples. i. [x] Working with advisory committees. Describe: OCDEL will distribute the final draft for public comment to the SAC, the State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC), the Early Learning Investment Commission (ELIC) and the Head Start State Collaboration Office’s (HSSCO) Homelessness Stakeholder Taskforce. ii. [x] Working with child care resource and referral agencies. Describe: OCDEL will provide copies to the ELRCs to share with the members of their regional leadership councils. iii. [x] Providing translation in other languages. Describe: OCDEL will translate the plan in Spanish. iv. [x] Sharing through social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, email). Describe: Through the Pennsylvania Key, OCDEL will share information via Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children, which hosts pages on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram to provide information on child development, ways to support children’s learning, and how to access OCDEL services and programs at https://www.facebook.com/papromiseforchildren. v. [x] Providing notification to key constituents (e.g., parent and family groups, provider groups, advocacy groups, foundations, and businesses). Describe: OCDEL offers the family-focused website: http://www.papromiseforchildren.com. A notice about the plan will be posted to this website. Additionally, advocacy organizations such PennAEYC and its affiliates, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, Pennsylvania Child Care Association, Pennsylvania Head Start Association, Trying Together in the Pittsburgh area and First Up in the Philadelphia region received communications. Members of the SAC also received notification as members of the SAC make up both providers and advocacy groups. ELIC also received notice to share with their commissioners and partners who represent foundations and businesses around the Commonwealth. When plan amendments are completed and approved, OCDEL will update the posted copy on the https://www.dhs.pa.gov website and issue an announcement in the PA Early Education News and share via OCDEL listserv. vi. [x] Working with Statewide afterschool networks or similar coordinating entities for out-of-school time. Describe: Out of School time providers will receive notice about the plan being posted to this website: http://www.papromiseforchildren.com. Additionally, we will share with entities that run out-of-school time programs, including those operated through Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families and Allegheny County. vii. [x] Direct communication with the child care workforce. Describe: OCDEL will distribute the final draft for public comment to the SAC, whose members include child care providers. Child care providers will be invited to the public hearing. The hearing dates will be shared via OCDEL’s listserv and the Pennsylvania Early Education News. viii. [x] Other. Describe: OCDEL will share with the two PDOs to share with their local and regional partners. 2 Child and Family Eligibility and Enrollment and Continuity of Care Stable and reliable child care arrangements facilitate job stability for parents and healthy development of children. CCDF eligibility and enrollment policies can contribute to these goals. Policies and procedures that create barriers to families accessing CCDF, like inaccessible subsidy applications and onerous reporting requirements, interrupt a parent’s ability to work and may deter eligible families from participating in CCDF. To address these concerns, Lead Agencies must provide children with a minimum of 12 months between eligibility determinations, limit reporting requirements during the 12-month period, and ensure eligibility determination and redetermination processes do not interrupt a parent’s work or school. In this section, Lead Agencies will identify how they define eligible children and families and how the Lead Agency’s eligibility and enrollment policies support access for eligible children and families.