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: The Rhode Island Early Learning Council (ELC), established by the Head Start Act, is the primary advisory committee on early childhood programs, goals, and strategies. The ELC reports its activities and recommendations to the Children's Cabinet, the body established in statute consisting of all Department Directors, which reports to the Governor. The Early Learning Council membership include early childhood leaders, practitioners, child development experts and community representatives from the public and private sectors across Rhode Island. DHS engages in dialogue and reviews recommendations in partnership with the other state departments. These departments include the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), the Department of Education (RIDE), and the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). Given this governance structure the lead agency regularly participates in ELC meetings and has previewed and discussed various components of the plan throughout the year during presentations to the ELC. The members received a draft of the CCDF plan prior to the public hearing, as required. The CCDF administrator will distribute the final plan to the ELC at the upcoming June meeting. Article 10 of the FY23 Enacted State Budget required the assemblance of an Early Childhood Governance Working Group tasked with the development of a report to the Governor, Speaker of the House and the Senate President and the chairs of the Senate and House Finance and Education Committees including recommendations for the Governance of Early Childhood in Rhode Island. The legislation required the report to address the (1) Coordination and administration of early childhood programs and services; (2) The governance and organizational structure of early childhood programs and services, including whether, and under what circumstances, the state should consider unifying early childhood programs under one state agency; (3) The fiscal structure of proposed recommendations; and (4) The implementation of early childhood data systems, for strategic planning, program implementation and program evaluation. The Early Learning Council was a named Advisory Body to the Working Group. The final report can be located on the Children’s Cabinet website at kids.ri.gov/cabinet. 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: Historically, the Department has engaged the Tribal community through outreach and consultation led by the Child Care Administrator. Local Tribes are included in all communications to Interested Parties consistent with APA guidelines for rulemaking. In addition, tribal members' ideas and concerns can be addressed through the Early Learning Council and internally with leadership at DHS, as appropriate. The tribe is licensed by and receives regular communication from the lead agency to ensure they are well informed about the various opportunities, resources and support available to them. [ ] 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 Executive Office of Human Services (EOHHS) oversees the state's early intervention programs. EOHHS operates as the umbrella agency for DHS. The organizational structure facilitates strong collaboration among departments. The Office of Child Care Administrator and Head Start Collaboration Director meet monthly, or as needed, with the IDEA Part C Coordinator, the Department of Education's 619 Coordinator and DOH's First Connections Administrator to ensure all children deemed "at risk," or, with special needs, are linked to services at birth. This group also monitors the strength of the connections among agencies to better streamline services to provide comprehensive supports to families across multiple departments. The Department of Human Services (Lead Agency) holds membership with the Department of Health's (DOH) Successful Start Early Care and Education Systems Initiative. This initiative was funded through DOH's Maternal and Child Health division. An early strategic plan became the initial framework for the approach RI was to take to strengthen the overall system in the State. With the advent of the Early Learning Council, the Successful Start leadership team has turned its attention to a primary focus on infants, toddlers, and pregnant women, including providing oversight for the Family Home Visiting program and the support of developmental and mental health screenings through pediatric practices and supports for infants and toddlers in child care. Rhode Island Family home visiting programs include First Connections, Healthy Families America, Nurse Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers. Additional home visiting programs include Early Head Start. As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic and workforce challenges that have arisen as a result. The FY23 state budget included a 45% Medicaid rate increase for Early Intervention services. Despite this increase, a waiting list for services has persisted. The Rhode Island Department of Education oversees the state's early childhood special education services providing free, appropriate, public education to all eligible children ages three to five with developmental delays and disabilities, partially funded through a preschool formula grant under Part B, Section 619 of IDEA. Almost forty percent (40%) of children ages three to kindergarten entry who were referred to a school district with developmental concerns were not evaluated to determine eligibility for special education. Referrals for EI and Outreach screenings are largely made through pediatricians and licensed child care programs. The Lead Agency supports in supporting children and families with diagnosed or suspected disabilities to access screenings and receive services as needed. d. State/Territory office/director for Head Start State collaboration. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Head Start Collaboration Director is housed at the Office of Child Care at DHS and is a key participant in all departmental and cross departmental planning bodies. The Rhode Island Head Start Collaboration Office Director (HSCO) closely coordinates with other State Agencies. The HSCO is responsible for assisting in building early childhood systems; providing access to comprehensive services and support for all low-income children; encourage widespread collaboration between Head Start and other appropriate programs, services and initiatives; Augment Head Start's capacity to be a partner in state initiatives on behalf of children and their families; and Facilitate the involvement of Head Start in state policies, plans, processes and decisions affecting target populations and other low-income families. As an example, the Head Start Collaboration Office Director has been a key participant in the development of the RI Pre K Expansion plan and will be supporting in the PDG funded Infant Toddler Strategic Planning. The HSCO works closely with OCC team around workforce development initiatives and supports in the communication and recruitment of educators for participation in workforce development pathways. The HSCO presents annually the RI Works Advisory Committee, the Refugee Support Services Committee and the Department of Children Youth and Families in service trainings program to ensure the community at large is informed about Head Start services and how to support children and families in accessing them. e. State/Territory agency responsible for public health, including the agency responsible for immunizations. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Director of DHS (Lead Agency) sits on the Rhode Island Children's Cabinet with the Director of the Department of Health and Secretary of the EOHHS (Executive Office of Health and Human Services,) where at the highest level of state government, state agencies collaborate on a policy level to ensure all children are health and ready to learn. This group regularly receives and analyzes data on immunization rates and other key indicators of child health. Additionally, the Lead Agency works in close coordination with the RI Department of Health (DOH) to ensure that child care licensing regulations adopt the RIDOH’s Immunization and Communicable Disease in Preschool, School Colleges, or Universities regulations. Additionally, the Lead Agency consults with DOH on all initiatives related to children’s health as they pertain to licensed child care programming such as lead and radon testing requirements. DHS also collaborates with DOH to support in communication around their family visiting programs to ensure children and families not engaged in licensed child care are still receiving information about other family supports available, including DOH’s Family Visiting Programs. f. State/Territory agency responsible for employment services/workforce development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Governor’s Workforce Board convened an Early Childhood Workforce Advisory Committee in October 2022 in response to the FY23 Budget￿Article 10 board shall convene a working group comprised of representatives from the department of elementary and secondary education, department of human services, office of the postsecondary commissioner, the RI early learning council, organized labor and early childhood education industry employers, whose purpose shall be to identify barriers to entry into the early childhood education workforce, and to design accessible and accelerated pathways into the workforce, including, but not limited to, registered apprenticeships and postsecondary credit for prior work experience. The Working Group worked to identify recommendations and strategies to address workforce challenges including meeting the demand for ECE workers, increasing CCAP reimbursement rates, increasing wages and benefits for ECE workers and improving quality for ECE Programs. The Lead Agency has utilized Preschool Development Grant funding to carry out activities designed to meet the recommendations including the development of new ECE workforce pathways including the adoption of the previously piloted Infant Toddler Registered Apprenticeship Model and the addition of new T.E.A.C.H models including a postbaccalaureate Early Childhood PK-2 Dual General and Special Education Certification. Building on the Pandemic Retention Bonus program which was launched post-covid to retain early childhood educators and made available to all RI ECE providers, the Lead Agency has also utilized PDG funding to pilot the Step up to WAGE$ Model. This model provides education-based salary supplements to center-based educators, directors, and family child care providers working with children in an early childhood setting. The program is designed to increase retention, education, and compensation. Lastly, PDG funding the Lead Agency conducted an expert review of the QRIS system, BrightStars to be utilized to enhance the current system. g. State/Territory agency responsible for public education, including pre-Kindergarten. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Commissioner of Education and Director of DHS serve as co-chairs of the Early Learning Council. In addition, the RI PreK Administrator also sits on the Council as is an active participant along with the CCDF Director and Head Start Collaboration Director. These bodyworks to ensure that children receive the benefits from PreK, child care and Head Start. It also ensures that these three entities come together to meet the community needs in an effective and coordinated manner. The Lead Agency closely coordinates with the RI Department of Education which also not only responsible for K-12 education but also administers the state’s public preschool program, known as RI Pre-K. Through the state’s Preschool Development Grant work the need for greater cross agency collaboration resulted in the development of the Early Childhood Care and Education cross agency workgroup. The CCDF Administrator and the Head Start Collaboration Office Director participate in bi-weekly cross agency calls including the RI Pre K team, the 619 Coordinator Governor’s Office and as needed the IDEA Part C Coordinator and Department of Children Youth and Families Early Childhood Education Resource Specialist. The Lead Agency is responsible for the licensure of RI Pre K programs operating in community-based settings and closely coordinates with the RI Pre K Team in regards to all aspects of the delivery of high quality care and education to children in licensed child care and State Pre-K seats. The ECCE Group worked to pilot and then adopt new RI Pre K service models that include braiding funding to support families with a CCAP subsidy who are enrolled at RI Pre K program providers to maintain placement through matriculating into an RI Pre K classroom rather than entering the RI Pre K lottery. Families will be able to utilize their voucher to ensure full day full year care. Additionally, RI Pre K programs are required to participate in the Lead Agency’s Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System and serve children and families with a CCAP subsidy. Through the Preschool Development Grant the state was able to conduct a number of Needs Assessments and develop and Early Childhood Care and Education Strategic Plan. Leadership at DHS and RIDE both support in the leadership of activities in service of the strategic plan which can be found on the children’s cabinet website at kids.ri.gov. As part of the Enacted FY 2023 State Budget Article 10, Section 4, the Department of Education (RIDE), in collaboration with the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Children’s Cabinet, were charged with developing a planning report related to the expansion of RI’s state prekindergarten program, known as RI Pre-K. The statute called for a growth plan with annual targets and projected funding needs to achieve the expansion of RI Pre-K to 5,000 seats, including children ages three and four, with recommendations regarding: equitable investment in the mixed-delivery system, preparing, recruiting, and retaining a highly-qualified workforce, building capacity among new and existing providers, considerations related to facilities, and ensuring that access to infant and toddler care is not at risk during the expansion. The expansion report can be found on the children’s cabinet website at www.kids.ri.gov/cabinet . h. State/Territory agency responsible for child care licensing. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Child Care Licensing Unit is housed in the Office of Child Care and the Administrator of Child Care Licensing directly reports to the CCDF Administrator. Licensing is a key focus and one of the pillars of the office of child care. New Child Care Center and School Age Program Regulations were promulgated in November 2023 to ensure policies and procedures align with best practice and ACF guidance, and family child care regulations are in the process of promulgation. Additionally, the Child Care Licensing Unit works collaboratively with all other vendors and state agencies who are a touchpoint in a family and child’s life to ensure that the work being prioritized within the unit aligns to both national best practice as well as other priorities related to children. This collaboration has created various workgroups/case management opportunities that allow the unit and Its members to be a voice in both family and provider experiences and update/create regulatory language and guidance to support both. 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: Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) manages and administers CACFP. Through internal coordination, the two departments work together on behalf of children and families to ensure these services are effectively provided to eligible children and child care providers. The Lead Agency’s Child Care Licensing regulations have adopted and incorporated the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program nutritional standards requirements for meals for programs. Meals and snacks provided at programs must meet this criteria, as well as the programs food supply. Staff who participate in the preparation and service of meals are required to complete eight hours of training per year relevant to their position, including food safety and CACFP nutrition standards. 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 state strives to ensure the support of our state's children experiencing homeless from birth-age 5 through Head Start. The Head Start Collaboration Office Director coordinates with the McKinney-Vento coordinator to ensure that public schools are aware of Head Start and making referrals when children identified as experiencing homelessness have younger siblings. Additionally, the department actively strives to spread public awareness about Head Start services and the categorical eligibility for enrollment through press releases, written communications and through the department’s website. When a family experiencing homelessness applies for child care subsidy the family has up to 90 days to provide documentation so the department can make an eligibility determination which aligns with licensing and Head Start policies around enrollment of children and families experiencing homelessness. The department will also. The DHS child care subsidy system is preparing to serve this at-risk population more effectively by facilitating a streamlined eligibility process which then leads to prompt, immediate enrollment. This enables our licensing body to prioritize homeless children by fast-tracking certain key licensing considerations to ensure at-risk families are appropriately supported at a time when they clearly need it the most. The Office of Child Care DHS does not have a waitlist for families seeking child care assistance. As such, the Department can prioritize the enrollment of homeless children into care immediately. The McKinney Vento Coordinator sits at the Department of Education and participates on the Early Learning Council. Discussions occur regularly between the McKinney Vento Coordinator, TANF Administrator and RI Coalition for the Homeless, to inform the need for services for this population and to provide policy guidance to the lead agency. Apriority of the Children's Cabinet is to ensure all children experiencing homelessness have access to high quality early care. k. State/Territory agency responsible for the TANF program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Human Services serves as the lead agency for TANF and administers the RI Works (RIW) program to more than 5,000 Rhode Islanders yearly. The program administrators for RIW and CCAP meet regularly to ensure the goals, processes, and results of each program are well coordinated and meet the needs of the program participants. Additionally, the Head Start Collaboration Office Director presents annually to the RI Works Advisory Committee to help ensure that RI Works eligible children and families and the community partners that serve them are aware of Head Start services, the categorical eligibility of children and families receiving TANF subsidy and how to support them in applying for services. The TANF administrator and Head Start Collaboration Office Director meet on an as needed basis to ensure that families are supported across programs and community partners are supporting in the referrals of families to Head Start programs. l. State/Territory agency responsible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) administers the Medicaid program known in RI as Rite Care. This coordination ensures seamless eligibility for children in both programs. As Medicaid renewals have reconvened EOHHS has launched a campaign and website dedicated to spreading the word about Medicaid renewals called Stay Covered RI. The website can be found at https://staycovered.ri.gov/. DHS in partnership with EOHHS has been working collaboratively to ensure that RI children and families Stay Covered. Children and families have received ongoing communications from the Department about the Medicaid eligibility renewal process. The CCDF Administrator and Head Start Collaboration Office Director have supported the work by ensuring that all relevant partners that work with families and children are aware and supporting in outreach and ongoing communication to families. This coordination is also monitored as part of the Early Learning Council and Children's Cabinet. m. State/Territory agency responsible for mental health services. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) serves as the umbrella agency for the Department of Human Services (DHS-Lead Agency), The Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) and the Department of Health (DOH). Children and family mental health services is multifaceted. There are several different initiatives across agencies to address mental health services. The Lead Agency subcontracts with the Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital to operate and manage the SUCCESS program, (Supporting Children’s Competencies in Emotional and Social Skills; this infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) program is offered statewide. IECMHC promotes nurturing relationships and enhances the capacity of staff, families, programs, and systems to prevent, identify, and intervene with young children's social, emotional, and behavioral health needs (0-5 years). SUCCESS is staffed by early childhood clinicians at Bradley Hospital, who are contracted to provide, Child-focused IECMHC supports to address the social emotional needs of individual children whose development or behavior is of concern to families or early care and education staff. In this model, an IECMHC consultant works with caregivers, and teachers, to understand, contextualize, and address the child’s identified needs, though observations, consultation, and implementing an individualized plan and referral for families to access additional support as identified. IECMHC clinicians, facilitate Coordination of Care programming, providing a whole classroom and/or whole program approach by engaging in reflective discussion and problem-solving regarding the social, emotional, and behavioral needs and approaches for supporting young children. Mental health is a key theme included in the Lead Agency’s Professional Development Training and Technical Assistance Hub for Early Childhood Educators and staff as well as a theme embedded in our funded workforce development pathways at our institutes of higher education for our early childhood workforce. With funding from the Home and Community-Based Services Project, EOHHS, RIDOH, and DCYF have been able to support the following programs, to help implement the Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Plan: 1) Pedi-PRN is a telephonic consultation program that encourages pediatric primary care providers (PPCPs) to consult with mental health specialists, thus improving access to and delivery of high-quality pediatric mental health services. The free service is offered to all PPCPs in Rhode Island ￿ and any child or adolescent in Rhode Island who comes to a pediatric primary care practitioner with evidence of a possible, or likely, mental health disorder is eligible for the free service. 2) Moms-PRN ￿ EOHHS is support the Rhode Island Maternal Psychiatry Resource Network (RI Moms PRN), which is a free psychiatric telephone consultation service for health care providers who treat pregnant and postpartum people in Rhode Island. RI Moms PRN is a collaborative project between RIDOH and Women & Infants Center for Women’s Behavioral Health, established to build the capacity of providers to screen for behavioral health and substance use disorders in their pregnant and postpartum patients, and respond with appropriate treatment and referral. Additionally, EOHHS received a SAMSHA System of Care (SOC) Expansion and Sustainability Grant to fund the following initiatives: 1) Mobile Response and Stabilization Services which offer rapid crisis intervention, support and stabilization for children experiencing mental health crises in their own environment. 2) Community Based Intensive Care Program, which is an intensive, home-based program for children facing complex health struggles, exceeding the current capabilities of home and community-based services. 3) Family Engagement Organization which includes a statewide Family Engagement Organization which will be procured, providing a Lead Family Coordinator to collaborate at an all-decision-making levels for system of care development and implementation. This work will include full time staff to oversee, and the impacts will be captured and reported in the state’s Data Ecosystem for use to inform future work. 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: Rhode Island’s quality rating improvement system (QRIS) serves as the child care referral agency for Rhode Island. All CCDF subsidized families are directed Brightstars (QRIS) to assist in locating child care. DHS contracts with RIAEYC to oversee the day-to-day operations Brightstars, which provides consumer education and marketing to families around choosing quality child care. In February 2021, Rhode Island launched a new Consumer Website to serve as the centralized source for consumer education. This new site allows families to search for a child care program by multiple factors, including, but not limited to, program type, quality level, geography, hours of operation and languages spoken by staff and children. The new website (www.earlylearningprograms.dhs.ri.gov) can be accessed through http://kids.ri.gov. Future work is focusing on blending the comprehensive information on both websites into one as part of our larger Early Childhood Data system referred to as RISES (Rhode Island Start Early System). The state contracts to support a number of early childhoods training initiatives, including with BrightStars to implement the TEACH Program, the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) and Rhode Island College (RIC) to support higher education workforce education and training opportunities. In addition to higher education, the Lead Agency contracts with the Education Development Corporation to operate the state’s Hub which works closely and is housed in the same office building as BrightStars to deliver high quality professional development to support the workforce in increasing credentials and moving along the quality continuum. Additional initiatives funded include the Child Care Health Consultation Model, the LISC Child Care Facilities Fund and Registered Apprenticeship. Information about these initiatives can also be found on the Lead Agency’s website. o. Statewide afterschool network or other coordinating entity for out-of-school time care (if applicable). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The statewide afterschool network advocates on both the Early Learning Council and PLCC. This advocacy has led to the development and refinement of policies pertaining to school age children eligible for CCDF funding. In addition, the QRIS BrightStars' system, includes after school programming in their quality rating improvement system. Additionally, United Way RI is currently coordinating the program design and strategic planning of school-age care across the state. p. Agency responsible for emergency management and response. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Lead Agency, recognizing that child care is not immune to the risks of natural and manmade disasters, worked collaboratively with several state agencies to develop an emergency preparedness plan to ensure that continuity of care during such disasters while also establishing a cadence for response to disaster during the operating hours of child care. This plan, known as the Rhode Island Child Care Emergency Preparedness Plan, is available for review on the RI DHS website. Several state agencies are identified as partners in the development and implementation of the plan including the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH), the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA). Key sections to the plan include communication strategies (who, when how), plans for reunifying children with families should a disaster occur during operating hours, recovery-based steps that are aligned to the National Disaster Recovery Framework, and the continuation of both child care and child care subsidies in the event of a disaster or emergency. Additionally, this plan was updated in 2021 to reflect the lead agency’s response to COVID-19. The plan also contains resources for licensed child care providers to review when developing their own emergency preparedness plan, which is a requirement to become and maintain a child care license. The goal of this plan continues to be to ensure that the lead agency and providers are prepared and have safe measures in place before, during, and after an emergency or disaster. This plan is reviewed annually by the Lead Agency to ensure that recommendations and goals are aligned with the broader state wide emergency plans outlined on the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency website http://www.riema.ri.gov/. 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. [x] State/Territory/local agencies with Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership grants. Describe: The RI Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships Grant Recipient in RI is a key partner in early care and education initiatives at the state level. All Head Start programs (including Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships) in RI are licensed by the Lead Agencies Child Care Licensing Unit. They are required to participate in the Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System and all accept the DHS Child Care Subsidy CCAP. With the Preschool Development Grant funding the state launched a pilot initiative to enhance Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCP) Slots. While this initiative did not meet the department’s vision due to challenges with recruitment of partners as result of workforce and quality challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of federal funding to support expansion. A success of this work is that in an effort to support the pipeline of prospective partners for this work DHS partnered with the EHS CCP Grant Recipient and it’s QRIS vendor, BrightStars to pilot the LearnERS program. LearnERS is personalized professional development that utilizes easy-to-use, fun, online sessions that align with the Environmental Rating Scales (ERS) program assessment tools. The program utilizes coaching and peer learning to inspire teachers to implement meaningful changes in the classroom environment and educational practices to improve the quality of care and education children receive. This pilot program proved to be successful and resulted in the permanency of the LearnERS program as a critical program quality improvement tool at a systems level. It also supported in the successful improvement of program quality at several child care programs post pandemic and resulted in a few new EHS-CCP partners. ii. [x] State/Territory institutions for higher education, including community colleges. Describe: The Lead Agency contracts with all state institutes for higher education to offer a plethora of workforce development opportunities informed by the Preschool Development funded Workforce Needs Assessment, the previously mentioned Workforce Development Advisory Committee. For many years the Lead Agency has contracted with the Community College of Rhode Island to offer free CDA and college credit training programs to support workforce qualifications and meet the federal Head Start Program Performance Standards for Early Head Start educator employment requirements. iii. [x] Other federal, State, local, and/or private agencies providing early childhood and school-age/youth-serving developmental services. Describe: The Lead Agency is responsible for the licensure of early childhood and school-age/youth-serving developmental services that occur in a group setting for more than two hours at a time. The Department works closely to monitor programs serving youth and provide access to professional development and technical assistance to support program quality. iv. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for implementing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs grant. Describe: The Head Start Collaboration Office Director works closely with the Department of Health which is responsible for implementing the MIECHV programs grant. They serve as a member of the family visiting council and on the successful start committee to ensure cross agency collaboration around programs serving pregnant women and children through age three outside of licensed child care programming. v. [x] Agency responsible for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Program. Describe: EOHHS is the umbrella agency for DHS and responsible for the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Program. The CCDF Administrator and Head Start Collaboration Office Director sit on a cross agency workgroup with the IDEA Part C coordinator and on the family visiting and successful start committees to ensure services for children and families are streamlined and collaboratively addressed across state agencies. vi. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for child welfare. Describe: The Office of Child Care Team including the CCDF Admin, CCLU Administrator, Head Start Collaboration Office Director and CCAP Administrator all work in close coordination with the child welfare agency to ensure children in families receiving preventative services or enrolled in the foster care system are equitably accessing the child care system and additional family support services they may be eligible. vii. [x] Child care provider groups or associations. Describe: The Lead Agency has several strong partnerships with various groups and associations within the state. Key partners that provide input at a systems level across all ECE related initiatives requiring public input include but are not limited to the Rhode Island Head Start Association, Rhode Island Kids Count, Business Owners of Child Care Association (BOCA) and RI Child Care Directors Association (RICCDA), the Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children. Partners play a key role in providing both formal and informal feedback about the successes and challenges experienced by children and families at a systems level so that the Lead Agency can ensure continuous quality improvement for RI children and families. viii. [x] Parent groups or organizations. Describe: The Parents Leading for Education Equity and RI Parent Information Network are a few of our key partners that provide input both formally and informally at a systems level to ensure the Lead Agency is aware of success and challenges experienced by children and families to drive continuous quality improvement for RI children and families. ix. [x] Title IV B 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinators. Describe: The CCDF Administrator meets consistently with the 21st century learning center coordinator to touch base on programming and information sharing across agencies. x. [ ] Other. Describe: