6.3 Ongoing Training and Professional Development

6.3.1 Required hours of ongoing training Provide the number of hours of ongoing training required annually for CCDF-eligible providers in the following settings: a. Licensed child care centers: 16 b. License-exempt child care centers: 16 c. Licensed family child care homes: 16 d. License-exempt family child care homes: 16 e. Regulated or registered in-home child care: 16 f. Non-regulated or registered in-home child care: 16 6.3.2 Accessibility of professional development for Tribal organizations Describe how the Lead Agency’s training and professional development are accessible to providers supported through Indian tribes or Tribal organizations receiving CCDF funds (as applicable). Virginia’s training and professional development requirements are found on child care microsite, (https://www.childcareva.com). VDOE includes Virginia’s federally recognized tribes on email distribution lists for professional development information and leverages existing committee collaboration structures for Indian tribes and tribal organizations, whether CCDF funds are accessed or not, to encourage involvement in early childhood initiatives. Intentional collaboration with Virginia’s recognized tribes is an identified area of improvement for the Commonwealth. VDOE will work with tribal communities to identify priorities, areas for collaboration, and ensuring meaningful access to training and professional development for tribal providers. 6.3.3 Professional development appropriate for the diversity of children, families, and child care providers Describe how the Lead Agency’s training and professional development requirements reflect the diversity of children, families, and child care providers participating in CCDF. To the extent practicable, how does professional development include specialized training or credentials for providers who care for infants or school-age children; individuals with limited English proficiency; children who are bilingual; children with developmental delays or disabilities; and/or Native Americans, including Indians, as the term is defined in Section 900.6 in subpart B of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (including Alaska Natives) and Native Hawaiians? VA ITSN trainings are focused on infant and toddler development/needs, how to enhance the infant's or toddler's development in a group setting as well as addressing family engagement and inclusion. The infant and toddler behavior consultants base their trainings on the VA ITSN's Social Emotional Competencies for Infant Toddler Child Care Providers which includes diversity, inclusion and culture (implicit bias, microaggressions, culture competency, cultural brokerage, interpretation, inclusion of children with disabilities, and cultural and linguistic responsiveness). In addition to the content of infant and toddler trainings, training materials are designed to be representative of the diversity among children and providers so examples and pictures include infants, toddlers, children with disabilities, family child care, and diverse cultures. In addition to trainings, the VA ITSN also provides TA and materials to support inclusion and diversity as well as support to obtain the Infant/Toddler CDA and Family Child Care CDA by purchasing online courses for providers and offering one-on-one coaching and learnings communities. Some VA ITSN trainings are specific to family child care since infants and toddlers often receive care in these settings; webinars specifically for family child care providers that are archived on the VA ITSN website (https://va-itsnetwork.org/webinars/) for viewing include Preparing Your Family Child Care Home to Include Infants and Toddlers with Special Needs, Constructing Developmentally Appropriate Infant and Toddler Activities for Family Day Home Providers, You are Not Alone: Strategies to Keep "Family" in Family Child Care Homes That Serve Infants and Toddlers, and Business Tips for Infant and Toddler Family Day Home Providers. Director forums are also held to address the needs of directors as related to infant and toddler care; one director forum is archived on the VA ITSN website (https://va-itsnetwork.org/webinars/) and is titled Director Forum: Inclusion - The Program Administrator's Role. Some archived webinars on the VA ITSN website (https://va-itsnetwork.org/webinars/) that address families include Supporting Infants, Toddlers and Families Experiencing Stress; Connecting with Parents of Infants and Toddlers; and Developmental Monitoring - A Family Engagement Strategy to Support Infants and Toddlers. To reduce the likelihood of expulsion and to support children in child care, the infant and toddler behavior consultants also offer coaching and TA to parents/families when the infant or toddler behaviors are challenging to the teacher as well as trainings to parents/families. Virginia has made additional progress in promoting training and resources in multiple languages, with a primary focus on translating materials and trainings into Spanish based on the population of Virginia. Virginia has made the Early Learning and Development Standards Micro-credential available in English and Spanish, as well as the standards document. In addition, several VQB5 participation resources have been translated in Spanish, including the VQB5 Participation Handbook for Leaders and a VQB5 for Families overview document. The VDOE has partnered with WIDA to make available the Making Connections Document, a comprehensive resource to help providers support learning and development for all children and engage families. Annual webinars with WIDA provide opportunities for providers to receive technical assistance on best practices to engage families and reflect together. Virginia’s early childhood vetted and approved curriculum list currently has 11 curricula available in Spanish. For the past two years, the Curriculum ￿Get to Know You￿ series has hosted webinars in Spanish, where Spanish speaking providers are connected with Spanish speaking curriculum vendors to learn more about available resources and materials. 6.3.4 Child developmental screening Describe how all providers receive, through training and professional development, information about: (1) existing resources and services the State/Territory can make available in conducting developmental screenings and providing referrals to services when appropriate for children who receive assistance under this part, including the coordinated use of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and developmental screening services available under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1419, 1431 et seq.); and (2) how child care providers may utilize these resources and services to obtain developmental screenings for children who receive assistance and who may be at risk for cognitive or other developmental delays, which may include social, emotional, physical, or linguistic delays: Information on developmental screenings is on the Parent and Provider pages of the child care microsite, (https://childcareva.com/) https://childcareva.com . As new information becomes available, updates are sent via the Lead Agency's newsletter, added to the microsite, and shared at partner meetings. Contact information for the Infant and Toddler Connection and the Virginia Department of Education's Special Education 619 Office, Virginia's developmental screening agencies, is listed in the Family Resources Reference Guide that is posted on the Lead Agency websites and distributed in trainings. Child Care Aware of Virginia and Infant and Toddler Specialists staff provide this information to families and providers as needed or requested. Families and child care providers may contact the Infant and Toddler Connection and the Virginia Department of Education's 619 Office to obtain information about getting developmental screenings. They may also contact Child Care Aware of Virginia, the Infant and Toddler Specialist Network, and Early Impact Virginia (Virginia's home visiting consortium) to learn about resources in their communities. Developmental screening information is provided in the 10-hour preservice training that is required for all child care practitioners who work in programs receiving subsidy funds. The VA ITSN infant and toddler behavior consultants base their trainings on the VA ITSN's Social Emotional Competencies for Infant Toddler Child Care Providers which includes the area of resources and referrals (making community referrals to Part C and Child Find, locating resources). Numerous relevant webinars are archived on the VA ITSN website (https://va- itsnetwork.org/webinars/) for viewing (e.g., developmental monitoring, CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early). In addition, through its professional development opportunities, the Network promotes to infant and toddler providers its coaching to parents/families when the teacher finds the infant or toddler behaviors challenging. During this coaching, the infant or toddler is screened with Ages & Stages Questionnaire® (ASQ®) screening tools (ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2), and as appropriate the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT R/F™); positive screenings results are discussed with the family and appropriate community referrals are made. The VA ITSN also provides training and TA on ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2 to infant and toddler providers so they can administer these screenings to the infants and toddlers in their care.