2.4 Lead Agency Outreach to Families Experiencing Homelessness, Families with Limited English Proficiency, and Persons with Disabilities

The Lead Agency must conduct outreach and provide services to families with limited English proficiency, families experiencing homelessness, and persons with disabilities. 2.4.1 Families with limited English proficiency and persons with disabilities: outreach and services a. Check the strategies the Lead Agency or partners utilize to conduct outreach and provide services to eligible families with limited English proficiency. Check all that apply. i. [x] Application in languages other than English (application and related documents, brochures, provider notices). ii. [x] Informational materials in languages other than English. iii. [x] Website in languages other than English. iv. [ ] Lead Agency accepts applications at local community-based locations. v. [x] Bilingual caseworkers or translators available. vi. [x] Bilingual outreach workers. vii. [x] Partnerships with community-based organizations. viii. [x] Collaboration with Head Start, Early Head Start, or Migrant and Seasonal Head Start. ix. [ ] Home visiting programs. x. [x] Other. Describe: Through a contract with the University of South Carolina's SC Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R), the Lead Agency provides funding for services customized for child care families and child care providers with limited English proficiency. Non-English-speaking families have a dedicated Dual Language Family Referral Specialist to provide assistance throughout their search for child care including helping to identify financial resources including SC Scholarship, Head Start, or state pre-k programs, completing required paperwork/applications, helping identify child care options, and providing other resources to meet the family’s needs. The Bilingual Family Referral Specialist coordinates with the SC CCR&R’s Dual Language Quality Coach to help coordinate services for both the family and the program they have chosen including coordinate introductory meetings with the family and child care program to aid in the transition, assist the provider with the family’s paperwork and enrollment process, provide technical assistance and trainings to the program staff and teachers to help build a positive, culturally competent learning environment for the dual language learner and their family. The SC CCR&R materials, informational presentations, and resources including the website and child care search portal, are available in English and Spanish. In addition, SC CCR&R has staff available to help families and providers who are fluent in Arabic and Chinese. The Lead Agency contracts with an organization that provides interpretation and translation services in over 100 languages upon request. Additionally, a Spanish version of the Early Learning Standards is available on the website. b. Check the strategies the Lead Agency or partners utilize to conduct outreach and provide services to eligible families with a person(s) with a disability. Check all that apply. i. [ ] Applications and public informational materials available in braille and other communication formats for access by individuals with disabilities. ii. [x] Websites that are accessible (e.g., Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act). iii. [x] Caseworkers with specialized training/experience in working with individuals with disabilities. iv. [x] Ensuring accessibility of environments and activities for all children. v. [x] Partnerships with State and local programs and associations focused on disability- related topics and issues. vi. [ ] Partnerships with parent associations, support groups, and parent-to-parent support groups, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) federally funded Parent Training and Information Centers. vii. [x] Partnerships with State and local IDEA Part B, Section 619 and Part C providers and agencies. viii. [x] Availability and/or access to specialized services (e.g., mental health, behavioral specialists, therapists) to address the needs of all children. ix. [x] Other. Describe: An ADA compliant version of the Early Learning Standards are available on the www.scchildcare.org website. Funding is provided for Beginnings SC to provide sign language interpretation for parents who are deaf or hard of hearing who are searching for child care. 2.4.2 Families experiencing homelessness: Outreach and technical assistance efforts a. Check, where applicable, the procedures used to conduct outreach for children experiencing homelessness and their families. i. [ ] Lead Agency accepts applications at local community-based locations. ii. [x] Partnerships with community-based organizations. iii. [x] Partnering with homeless service providers, McKinney-Vento liaisons, and others who work with families experiencing homelessness to provide referrals to child care. iv. [x] Other. Describe: In South Carolina, the Department of Education administers the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Title X, Part C, of the No Child Left Behind Act). The McKinney-Vento State Coordinator oversees work of the local school district liaisons which includes outreach, determining eligibility, school placement, enrollment, and providing transportation. The State Coordinator also administers subgrants to selected school districts that provide additional coordinated services. While some local school district liaisons (especially those receiving subgrants) are able to identify families with very young children, their primary focus is on the 4k through grade 12 population. The State Coordinator will interface with local liaisons who currently outreach to homeless families and then coordinate with the Lead Agency on those families that appear to meet eligibility requirements for child care scholarships. The South Carolina Coalition for the Homeless serves the coordinating and service entity, designed to assist the local coalitions. The board for the South Carolina Coalition for the Homeless was expanded in 2016 to include state agency representatives such as the Department of Social Services. The expanded board further solidified agency partnerships. The Lead Agency recognizes the need for trainings with the Department of Education and the Homeless Coalitions on procedures to access child care scholarships and other services through the Lead Agency. The Lead Agency is coordinating referral processes with the four regional Coalitions for the Homeless. These four coalitions operate majority of the family shelters (primarily funded through HUD) and other homeless services in local communities and have well-established relationships and outreach programs. They can serve as a valuable source of referrals for families with very young children. The Lead Agency will provide information and training opportunities to the child care providers via www.scchildcare.org, ABC Quality assessors, CCL specialists, and Child Care Scholarship eligibility staff to inform them of the McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness. Child care providers will be made aware of available child care resources. The following McKinney-Vento definition and checklist will be used: McKinney- Vento Act defines homeless children and youth as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This includes: 1. Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason (sometimes referred to as doubled-up); living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations; living in emergency or transitional shelters; abandoned in hospitals; or awaiting foster care placement. 2. Children and youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. 3. Children and youth who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and Migratory children who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described above. The SC CCR&R has dedicated staff through the Homeless Support Initiative to provide one-on-one resources, assistance, and guidance to families experiencing homelessness. The Homeless Support staff provides help to families on finding suitable child care, information on financial resources that include child care scholarship, assist families with the completion of applications, and provide information on related resources and organizations that can assist with housing, health, and other family needs. b. The Lead Agency must provide training and technical assistance (TA) to providers and appropriate Lead Agency (or designated entity) staff on identifying and serving children and families experiencing homelessness. i. Describe the Lead Agency’s training and TA efforts for providers in identifying and serving children and their families experiencing homelessness. The SC CCR&R provides training and technical assistance to child care providers utilizing their Homeless Support Initiative. A Homeless Support Coordinator provides trainings and informational sessions for child care providers on the definition of homelessness as defined by the McKinney-Vento Act, how to identify families experiencing homelessness, and resources and tools on how to provide ongoing support to these children and families. In addition, the Homeless Support Coordinator provides information and training to other SC CCR&R coaches on how to effectively support child care providers who are serving families experiencing homelessness. ii. Describe the Lead Agency’s training and TA efforts for Lead Agency (or designated entity) staff in identifying and serving children and their families experiencing homelessness. The SC CCR&R Homeless Support Initiative collaborates with the Lead Agency and the Child Care Scholarship Program that oversees the distribution of the homelessness scholarships to discuss eligibility enrollment, assist with completion and collection of appropriate paperwork, and collaborate with child care eligibility staff to enroll families. The SC CCR&R Homeless Support Initiative provides support to families trying to locate a program by providing referrals to child care programs that may meet the families need for care and are enrolled in ABC Quality to accept the homeless scholarships. The SC CCR&R provides targeted outreach and information to child care programs across the state about the availability of child care scholarship support to families that may be experiencing homelessness. The SC CCR&R also coordinates its outreach efforts with the Lead Agency staff to support other initiatives in the state, including the lead coordinator of McKinney-Vento Act at the State Department of Education and the four SC homeless coalitions. The SC CCR&R provides trainings and informational sessions at conferences and events for early care and education organizational staff, quality coaches, and child care professionals on identifying and supporting families experiencing homelessness.