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: Building Bright Futures ("BBF") is Vermont's Governor designated Early Childhood State Advisory Council ("SAC") charged with creating an integrated system of services for Vermont children and families, from the prenatal period through age eight. BBF has a multi-tiered infrastructure consisting of 12 Regional Councils and seven committees that move the Vermont Early Childhood Action Plan ("VECAP") forward; both of which inform the priorities and recommendations from the SAC. This network links community-based and state level planning and program development with the SAC. BBF's committee infrastructure facilitates optimal engagement of stakeholders in identification of gaps and barriers and then elevating them to inform changes to policy and practice. To build integration and collaboration across public and private partners, BBF's committees have a public and private co-chair. Lead Agency staff serve on and facilitate each of these committees. In addition, we engage with BBF's Regional Council leadership regularly by participating in monthly coordination calls and attending their regional meetings as needed or requested. The goals of this coordination include: aligning the quality of services for infants and toddlers through school age children; promoting constructive partnerships across sectors; linking comprehensive services to children in child care or school-age settings; smoothing transitions for children between programs and as they age into school; and developing the supply and quality of child care and out-of-school time settings. Vermont’s Early Childhood Action Plan (VECAP) is a bold, collaborative approach to building a comprehensive and integrated early childhood system that promotes healthy child development and family stability. The VECAP outlines a cohesive vision by the year 2026 and establishes shared accountability to achieve statewide priorities for children and families from the prenatal period through age 8. Originally established in 2013 along with the Vermont Early Childhood Framework, the updated VECAP is a structure around which to build coordinated action across public and private stakeholders throughout Vermont. It centers around making measurable changes in early childhood outcomes through identification of common goals, strategies to reach those goals, and the use of common language to align initiatives. It is built on Vermont’s Guiding Principles, which articulate Vermont’s commitment to fully include each and every child and their family in a continuum of meaningful experiences to ensure their health, mental health, safety, happiness, and success now and into the future. 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: [x] 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: Children's Integrated Services (CIS) is a unique model for integrating early childhood health, mental health, evidence-based home visiting, family support, early intervention and specialized child care services for pregnant and post-partum women and children birth to age six. The model is designed to improve child and family outcomes for vulnerable populations by providing family-centric holistic services, effective service coordination, flexible funding to address gaps in services, prevention, early intervention, health promotion and accountability. DCF/CDD administers CIS overseeing services delivered to children and families by 12 regional CIS coalitions of local partners unified under a single fiscal agent in each region. CIS services and supports are delivered in homes and in child care programs. The goals of this coordination include: Developing the supply and quality of child care and out-of-school time settings willing to serve children with high needs, and; Linking comprehensive services to children with special needs in child care d. State/Territory office/director for Head Start State collaboration. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Head Start State Collaboration Office ("HSSCO") is in the Statewide Systems and Community Collaboration Unit in DCF/CDD. The HSSCO Director attends monthly meetings of the Head Start Association and acts as a liaison between Head Start grantees and state agencies, including DCF/CDD, AHS and the Agency of Education ("AOE"). Supporting partnerships between Head Start grantees and prekindergarten programs in public school and community settings and promoting Head Start/Early Head Start -Child Care Partnerships is a strategic priority for CDD. The goals of this coordination include: Extending the day or year of services for families eligible for head start; Smoothing transitions for children eligible for head start between programs or as they age into school; Enhancing aligning the quality of services for infants and toddlers to school- age children; Linking comprehensive services to children in child care programs; Developing the supply of quality care for vulnerable populations in child care programs. e. State/Territory agency responsible for public health, including the agency responsible for immunizations. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Vermont Department for Health ("VDH") is the State agency responsible for public health, including immunizations and, like CDD/DCF, is a part of the Agency of Human Services. In addition, VDH/FCH are partners with CDD in the Preschool Development Grant in pursuit of coordination and better alignment at the systems level. Coordination happens at all levels: commissioners and deputy commissioners across AHS meet weekly with the Secretary and central office leadership; The Director of the Family Child Health Division (FCH) of VDH meets regularly with the CDD Leadership; leadership and staff of CDD and FCH serve together on Building Bright Futures (BBF) State Council and BBF Committees to advance strategies in Vermont's Early Childhood Action Plan. CDD and FCH staff work together as lateral partners on Vermont's Early Childhood Coordinating Council to align state policy efforts for a more cohesive voice of state government in Vermont's early childhood system. The goals of this coordination include: A holistic, cross-sector approach to early childhood development and learning; Enhancing the health and safety of child care and out-of-school time settings; Aligning quality of services; Coordinating services to families; Linking comprehensive services to children in child care and out-of-school time settings. f. State/Territory agency responsible for employment services/workforce development. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Vermont Department of Labor ("VDOL") is the State agency responsible for employment services and workforce development, including the administration of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act ("WIOA") programs funded through the US Department of Labor. CDD works in partnership with VDOL on childcare workforce training needs by meeting regularly with staff from VDOL's Workforce Development Division. One area of collaboration is our shared support for the Vermont Early Childhood Education Apprenticeship Program, administered by VTAEYC. Goals for this coordination are: to ensure Vermont's child care workforce and child care employers have the supports they need to provide high quality services to working Vermonters with young children, and; to build the supply and quality of child care and out-of-school time settings. g. State/Territory agency responsible for public education, including pre-Kindergarten. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: AOE is responsible for public education (Prekindergarten through Grade 12) and has joint agency oversight on Universal Prekindergarten Education ("UPK") under Act 166 with CDD. Joint agency oversight includes designation of roles and responsibilities that supports the UPK Education application verification processes and joint agency approval. Joint agency efforts have also established and implemented Vermont’s UPK Accountability and Continuous Improvement System ("ACIS"). Leadership from AOE and CDD work together on the ECICT to coordinate services and supports for children and families to advance positive educational outcomes from the earliest years. The ECICT maintains a broad view of the collective work across the early childhood world to foster a collaborative and collective approach across state government to realizing the promise of every Vermont child. This broad view includes federal and state grants that support this vision, such as the Preschool Development B-5 grant and early childhood programs with shared inter-agency responsibility, including, but not limited to: Publicly Funded PreK under Act 166: Monitoring, Fingerprinting, Program Evaluation; Head Start Collaboration; Vermont Early Learning Standards; Special Education IDEA Part C and 619; Kindergarten Readiness Survey and STARS. In addition, CDD and AOE co-administer publicly funded prekindergarten education to support a robust mixed delivery system that strives to identify, address, and meet the needs of each and every child and their family. Public Education dollars fund Universal PreK Education for approximately 8,900 children. These funds are layered with Head Start funding, CCDF subsidies and parent paid tuition to increase affordable access to high quality child care. While AOE employs the state’s UPK Coordinator a member of the Early Education Team and UPK ACIS team, fiscal and data collection/analysis team, the UPK interagency-team meets twice monthly to address implementation of UPK/ACT 166 requirements, review data to support and benefit policy and procedures that ensure high quality PreK Education for each and every child enrolled in private and public PreK programs across the state. h. State/Territory agency responsible for child care licensing. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: CDD is the entity responsible for child care licensing. The Director of Child Care Licensing, licensing supervisors, child care business technicians, and licensors collaborate with many entities: Vermont Division of Fire Safety; Vermont Agency of Natural Resources; VDH, Child, and Adult Care Food Program; FSD; and AOE. In addition, the director works with both internal and external partners such as Vermont Afterschool; LGK; BBF; STARS; Specialized Child Care; VTAEYC; Northern Lights; and CCFAP staff. Through these collaborations and this work, the director remains well informed, promotes services that meet families' needs, and identifies ways to strengthen the regulatory system. 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: AOE is responsible for administering the Child and Adult Care Food Program ("CACFP") for the state. CDD, 3Squares VT, and AOE CACFP staff all collaborate with Hunger Free Vermont and food security advocates to promote meals and nutrition services available for children as part of early childhood and school age programs to increase food security and proper nutrition among young children and households. Leadership from AOE and CDD participate together on the BBF SAC. AOE and CDD collaborate and coordinate together to align and improve the quality of child care programs and afterschool programs by increasing access to nutritious meals and snacks, connecting households to comprehensive services available for children and providing access to state and Federal funding to help support these improvements. 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: AOE is the designated McKinney-Vento state coordinating agency for homeless education. Within CDD, the Vermont Head Start Collaboration Office supports access to services for children and families experiencing homelessness through coordination with state and local education agencies implementing McKinney-Vento requirements. These entities include the state McKinney-Vento Coordinator; local education agency McKinney-Vento Liaisons; the Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity ("OEO"), including Family Supportive Housing programming; statewide domestic and sexual violence shelters; Specialized Child Care programs and services; and VT Head Start/Early Head Start grantees. Specifically, the Vermont Head Start Collaboration Office has partnered with Head Start/Early Head Start grantees and their local Continua of Care to review and update Coordinated Entry Housing Crisis Referral and Coordinated Entry Partnership Agreement forms to improve the effectiveness of referral processes for families served by Head Start/Early Head Start programs and community organizations providing housing services. The Vermont Head Start collaboration Office also participates in the national HSSCO Learning Community on Homelessness which informs its work to identify potential collaboration models for providing access to housing for vulnerable families and the development and implementation of strategies with an ultimate goal of increasing the percentage of Head Start/Early Head Start families experiencing homelessness that acquire housing k. State/Territory agency responsible for the TANF program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Economic Service's Division ("ESD") is responsible for the Reach Up Program, Vermont's TANF program, and is another division within DCF, along with CDD, Disability Determination Services (DDS), FSD, Office of Child Support ("OCS"), and Office of Economic Opportunity ("OEO"). Deputies of both CDD and ESD are part of the DCF Leadership Team, which meets weekly. The two divisions work closely together on budget and policy development and supporting families to achieve economic stability. They collaboratively implement a two-generation approach to mitigating the impacts of poverty on family well-being and child development. CDD staff provides training and technical assistance regarding child care to Reach Up workers. The goals of this coordination include: providing viable options for part day or full day services for families; ensuring continuity of care; smoothing transitions for children between programs and as they age into school; enhancing and aligning quality of services across settings; linking comprehensive services to children in child care and out-of-school time settings; coordinating services to families; and building protective factors in families to support and enhance their capacity as the children's first teachers. In June 2024, 826 families accessed Child Care Financial Assistance through a child care authorization submitted by the family's Reach Up Case Manager. The coordination between Reach Up and the Child Care Financial Assistance Program allowed for families to receive financial support to access child and increased families' access to information about finding quality child care. In addition to the 826 families with Reach Up child care authorizations, additional families would have received information about child care from the Reach Up Case Manager and the Child Care Financial Assistance Program to help inform their decision about accessing child care. l. State/Territory agency responsible for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department for Vermont Health Access ("DHVA"), in AHS, is responsible for Medicaid and the state Children's Health Insurance Program: Dr Dynasaur. DHVA Leadership sits on the AHS Interagency Policy and Operations Team with the CCDF Co-Administrator. CDD leadership work with staff in DHVA to identify ways to leverage Medicaid resources to provide individualized supports for Medicaid-eligible children with high needs to ensure their ability to successfully access high quality, State regulated, early learning and development programs. The goals of this coordination include: improving the quality of State-regulated early learning and development programs; assisting families to identify and access these programs; providing individualized supports to support children’s development and stability within regulated care settings in accordance with developmental or medical service plans (ex. Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act); and supporting successful transitions for children between programs and as they enter the public school system m. State/Territory agency responsible for mental health services. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: The Department of Mental Health ("DMH") is responsible for mental health and is part of the AHS with CDD. Commissioners and deputy commissioners across AHS meet weekly with the Secretary and central office leadership. The Children's Integrated Services ("CIS") Unit in CDD includes a focus on Early Childhood and Family Mental Health ("ECFMH") that includes mental health consultation to child care providers and ECFMH treatment for children through the designated community mental health agencies. Staff from DMH consult with CDD staff to develop, implement, and improve those services to support the social and emotional development of children. The goals of this coordination include: a holistic, cross-sector approach to early childhood development and learning; supporting the social-emotional development of children in child care and out-of-school time settings; aligning quality of services; coordinating services to families; and linking comprehensive services to children in child care and out- of-school time settings. As well, the CDD is a member of the State Interagency Team which is comprised of relevant departments at AHS and the AOE who meet monthly to Identify systems issues so supports for children and families can be provided as flexibly as possible. 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: CDD contracts individually with twelve (12) regional CCCSA, which determine income eligibility and referral for the CCFAP. The CCCSAs manage certificates that link children in eligible families with participating providers; and provide consumer education and referral services for families, particularly families participating in CCFAP. CDD program staff and leadership meet regularly with leadership in member agencies. We worked closely together to reasonably interpret consumer education requirements in the CCDBG Act of 2014 and incorporate these into CCCSA grants. On an on-going basis the CCCSAs and CDD work with BBF Regional Councils, child care providers and providers of professional development - including First Children's Finance, VTAEYC, Northern Lights, and Vermont Afterschool - to assess and increase the capacity for high quality early care and learning programs to serve children and families in their communities. The goals of this coordination include: providing viable options for part day or full day services for families; ensuring continuity of care; smoothing transitions for children between programs and as they age into school, enhancing and aligning quality of services across settings, linking comprehensive services to children in child care and out of school time settings and building the supply of child care and out of school time opportunities for all children. Vermont does not fund a statewide CCR&R system. o. Statewide afterschool network or other coordinating entity for out-of-school time care (if applicable). Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: Vermont Afterschool, Inc is an independent 501C-3 organization that works with afterschool programs, summer programs, youth serving-organizations, and community partners throughout the state to strengthen out- of-school time programming for children and youth in Vermont, to expand the number and types of programs being offered, and to improve access for all children and youth regardless of race, creed, color, religion, sexual orientation, family income, family situation, or geographic location. Vermont Afterschool is the statewide afterschool network organization in Vermont and also serves as the state affiliate for the National Afterschool Association. Vermont Afterschool has been providing in-depth project support, resources, technical assistance, and evaluation services in the areas of afterschool and summer programming and positive child and youth development in Vermont since 2009. Vermont Afterschool also provides training and technical assistance to programs and practitioners across the state with 80% of Vermont towns with out-of-school time programs and/or youth-serving organizations being supported and/or impacted by Vermont Afterschool's initiatives in recent years. In addition, Vermont Afterschool hosts an annual statewide conference serving 250-300 participants each year; runs yearlong leadership strands for Vermont’s afterschool directors and site coordinators; serves on state and national committees supporting quality school-age programming; and has led a strong statewide initiative around social emotional learning ("SEL") and trauma informed care. Through the SEL effort Vermont Afterschool has provided in-depth training and onsite coaching in afterschool programs across Vermont and fostered many new partnerships across afterschool, youth services, foster care, restorative justice, mental health, youth in transition, early childhood, and more. Growing out of that initiative has come a deep focus on positive child and youth development, including an emphasis on youth voice, belonging, and engagement. The work of Vermont Afterschool is supported by private funds from the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Afterschool Alliance, the Overdeck Foundation, the Vermont Community Foundation, the Northfield Savings Bank Foundation, and the STEM Next Education Foundation; as well as, federal and state funds from AOE, the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, the Vermont Department of Health, DMH, and CDD (including CCDF quality funds). Goals for coordination include: enhancing and aligning the quality of services for school-age children; building staff training and experience levels; linking comprehensive services to children in out-of-school time settings; supporting staff development along the career pathways; developing the supply and quality of out-of-school time settings. p. Agency responsible for emergency management and response. Describe the coordination and results of the coordination: AHS, Emergency Management and Department of Public Safety are responsible for the state's Continuity of Operations Plan ("COOP") and State Emergency Operations Plan. CDD coordinated the development of the Emergency Response Planning Guide for Child Care Providers. These plans were developed in coordination with AHS, Department of Health, AOE, Regional Planning Commissions, committee members from SAC and others. The goals of this coordination include technical assistance to child care providers, continuation of subsidy payments and determination of eligibility, provide emergency child care services where needed, and ensure post disaster recovery services are in place. 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 Head Start State Collaboration Director works in CDD and in partnership with the CCDF Child Care Administrator. The director attends the Head Start Association Executive Director monthly meetings and acts as a liaison between CDD and federal Head Start grantees which are the local agencies that have been awarded Early Head Start and Child Care Partnership ("EHS/CCP") funding in Vermont. CDD staff have attended Region I conferences and meetings for EHS/CCP with grantees. CDD has worked with grantees to align child care subsidy policies to support goals of the EHS/CCP programs and support high quality full day, full year comprehensive early childhood services for Vermont families with young children. EHS/CCPs are a strategy for developing the supply of high-quality child care that meets the needs of vulnerable children and families. EHS/CCPs can expand the supply of stable community-based early childhood programs that are child-focused, built on identified community needs and strengths, meet the child care needs of parents and the developmental needs of children, draw on and help coordinate existing services in a community, provide high-quality, comprehensive care and services for children and families who are low income, meet Federal Head Start Program Performance Standards ("HSPPS"), employ highly qualified professionals, and maximize Federal and State funding. The Head Start State Collaboration Director is actively working with the Office of Head Start Region I Office and other Region I Head Start State Collaboration Offices to learn how other state systems have employed the use of EHS/CCPs to expand the supply of high-quality child care and explore how Vermont might participate in future EHS/CCP funding opportunities as they become available. ii. [x] State/Territory institutions for higher education, including community colleges. Describe: CCV was selected as CDD's partner in transforming the Early Childhood and Afterschool Professional Development System in Vermont - Northern Lights at CCV. Low or no cost training is offered statewide through Northern Lights at CCV to ensure that child care workers have opportunities to meet training and qualification requirements in Child Care Licensing regulations. Northern Lights at CCV employs regionally located Resource Advisors dedicated to the early childhood and afterschool workforce to help individuals create attainable Individual Professional Development Plans to achieve their professional goals. Staff and leaders from CDD work closely with staff and leaders from CCV to grow and support a skilled and knowledgeable professional workforce for early childhood programs and services and afterschool programs in Vermont. Early Childhood Higher Education Consortium ("ECHEC"), made up of all institutions of higher education ("IHE") offering early childhood classes, certificates and degrees in Vermont and representatives from Vermont early childhood agencies and organizations, was successfully launched and supported through Vermont's Early Learning Challenge Grant ("ELCG"). That group has created and successfully implemented an annual week-long summer Early Childhood Educators Institute that has been enthusiastically received and well attended by professionals in public and private early childhood programs across the state. The group has also worked on alignment of course content and articulation agreements. The ECHEC continues to meet quarterly since the end of the ELCG and is co-chaired by a CCV Associate Academic Dean affiliated with Northern Lights and Director of Education from Castleton University. iii. [x] Other federal, State, local, and/or private agencies providing early childhood and school-age/youth-serving developmental services. Describe: In addition to responsibility for early childhood and afterschool child care services in Vermont, CDD is for CIS, an innovative model for integrating early childhood health, mental health, a continuum of evidence-based home visiting, early intervention and specialized, child care services for pregnant and postpartum women and children birth to age six. The model is designed to improve child and family outcomes by providing family-centric holistic services, effective service coordination, and flexible funding to address prevention, early intervention, health promotion, and accountability. CDD administration of CIS in Vermont includes regular and on- going: coordination with federal partners including US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (IDEA Part C) and US Department of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau (CBCAP), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Early Childhood and Family Mental Health), and Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MIECHV Program). iv. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for implementing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs grant. Describe: CDD leadership and staff work hand in hand with leadership and staff from the Maternal Child Health ("MCH") Division at the Vermont Department of Health. Both Divisions sit within AHS and partner closely on population health initiatives for young children and families. Specific areas of collaboration include creating a continuum of effective evidence based and evidence informed home visiting services available state-wide. Home visiting services are often involved in coordinating access to childcare and financial assistance for care when this a goal of the family or need due to caregiver health issues. The evidenced based Strong Families VT Nurse Home Visiting Program completes regular Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3 and ASQ-SE) developmental screenings, one of several performance measures, in childcare settings and partners with these and other involved service providers. Additional areas of collaboration include providing high-quality health consultation to child care programs and standing up Help Me Grow Vermont, a statewide coordinated referral and intake system. HMG promotes universal developmental screening and improves access to existing resources and services for expectant parents and families with young children through age eight. HMG helps families, child care providers, educators and others navigate resources and referrals through a centralized system to better connect families with information, resources, and social supports. HMG staff help families access to childcare and financial assistance for care when needed. Help Me Grow offers quality improvement training for early educators to screen children across multiple domains of development, including screening for social determinants of health. Training includes use of the ASQ Enterprise online system and tools as well as use of the Hunger Vital Sign food insecurity two-question screener. v. [x] Agency responsible for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Program. Describe: In Vermont, DHVA is responsible for the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment ("EPSDT") Program. The Deputy Commissioner for CDD meets at least weekly on an AHS Leadership Team with DHVA leadership. The Director of CIS in CDD participates in an agency wide EPSDT work group. CDD staff and DHVA staff interact regularly to ensure Medicaid eligible children receive the services to which they are entitled. vi. [x] State/Territory agency responsible for child welfare. Describe: FSD is also a part of DCF. Teams from FSD and CDD meet regularly to collaborate on prevention programs and services, to coordinate policies and practices and to ensure that children in state custody and children at risk of child abuse and neglect and their families have access to services and supports that address trauma, minimize, or mitigate the impact of toxic stress, build protective factors in families and advance optimal child development. In addition, the collaboration has informed FSD’s Policy 73: Protective Services Child Care. vii. [x] Child care provider groups or associations. Describe: CDD has positive relationships with the VTAEYC and the Vermont Child Care Provider Association. CDD staff is available to meet and consult with smaller, local Child Care Director collaboratives and groups and with regional and local VECN, which are local groups of early childhood professionals across 12 regions in Vermont who take initiative through leadership, professional development, and peer support to encourage, learn and grow together. CDD helps to fund the VECN. viii. [x] Parent groups or organizations. Describe: CDD has a positive collaborative relationship with BBF’s Families and Communities Advisory Committee. ix. [x] Title IV B 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinators. Describe: CDD has a positive collaborative relationship with Title IV B 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinators. x. [x] Other. Describe: CDD has a strong and positive collaborative relationship with philanthropic partners in Vermont with a mission committed to early learning and development including the AD Henderson Foundation and the Turrell Fund. Staff from these organizations participate on many groups, committees, and councils that CDD staff participate on, including the BBF Early Childhood SAC. Consultation among all the partners focus on strategic partnerships and coordination of efforts to increase access to affordable, high quality child care and early learning for all Vermont children.