Child Care Services Association

Programs: Child care wage$:the key goal of the child care wage$ project is to improve early care and education services. Outcome 1 - by june 30, 2015, the turnover rate of child care wage$ participants for the year will be less than 25% (the goal established within smart start's performance based incentive system). This outcome was achieved. The turnover rate for wage$ participants was only 12%, well below the smart start benchmark of 25%. Outcome 2 - by june 30, 2015, 40% of active wage$ participants funded at a temporary* level on the supplement scale will submit documentation during the fiscal year showing they have completed additional coursework. Wage$ exceeded this outcome. In fy15, 46% of the active population funded at temporary levels submitted documentation to verify their pursuit of continued education. Outcome 3 - by june 30, 2015, 25% of active wage$ participants funded at a temporary* level on the supplement scale will submit documentation during the fiscal year showing they have moved up a level on the scale. *temporary levels on the wage$ scale are those below the associate's degree plus or including at least 24 birth to five focused semester hours.

t. E. A. C. H. Early childhood:the t. E. A. C. H. Early childhood project provides unique educational scholarships to child care professionals as a strategy to improve the education, compensation and retention of north carolina's early care and education workforce. Scholarships are structured using four components (scholarship, education, compensation and commitment) and are available to facility based teachers, directors and family child care providers working in north carolina and to individuals who perform non-direct service functions on behalf of young children and families throughout the state's early care and education system. These scholarships enable eligible personnel with the opportunity to complete coursework leading towards credentials and degrees at all of north carolina's 58 community colleges and 21 universities. Participants are expected to increase their education by completing a minimum number of credits annually and in turn are given raises or bonuses in recognition of their achievement. More importantly, participants are required to commit to the childcare field, their employing child care program or sponsoring organization for six months to one year. During fy 2014-15, the t. E. A. C. H. Early childhood scholarship project met its goals for improving the education, compensation and retention among its program participants in north carolina and produced positive outcomes as were proposed. The t. E. A. C. H. Early childhood project provided core, comprehensive scholarships to 2,563 child care teachers, directors and family child care providers in 98 of the state's 100 counties. Additionally, race to the top early learning challenge grant funds were used to help nearly two hundred additional individuals complete coursework offered at the associate, bachelor and graduate levels. Successful outcomes were produced in the areas of increased education, increased compensation and retention. For example, on average, teachers who participated on the project's most utilized scholarship model, the associate degree scholarship program, completed 14 credit hours of formal education, experienced a 9% increase in earnings and had a 9% turnover rate. More than 72,900 children were cared for in a setting that supported at least one recipient on a t. E. A. C. H. Early childhood core scholarship. The provision of scholarships enabled t. E. A. C. H. Recipients to enroll in 17,719 credit hours of education at the state's community colleges and selected universities.

state & local initiatives:statewide ccr&r initiatives:ccr&r council and contracts management: the infant toddler enhancement initiative exceeded their goal of 3,700 statewide technical assistance consultations by providing 4,778 on-site ta consultations in fy15. The healthy social behaviors initiative exceeded their goal of 3684 statewide technical assistance visits by providing 4595 ta visits in fy15. Fully 100% of regional lead ccr&r agencies indicated that assistance received from the r&r council was helpful. Under the statewide infant/toddler project, 735 training hours were conducted benefitting 4,113 child care providers (unduplicated count) across nc; technical assistance was provided to 322 licensed and 1 unlicensed (start-up) programs; 153 classrooms completed participation in the infant toddler quality rating improvement program resulting in 1,589 child care slots demonstrating improved quality. The average increase from pre to post assessment was 1. 91 points. Under the statewide core services, all 14 regions reported that at least 70% of the customers surveyed indicated that they chose 3, 4, or 5 star care. Statewide, 96% of parents responding to follow-up surveys indicated that they chose 3, 4, or 5 star care. All 14 regions reported that at least 70% of the customers surveyed indicated that they used quality indicators in their child care search. Statewide, 98% of parents responding to follow-up surveys indicated that they used quality indicators in their child care search. At the conclusion of fy15, statistical data from dcdee indicates that 73% of all children enrolled in licensed care in the state of north carolina were enrolled in 4- and 5- star care. This is a significant percentage of the state's children in higher quality care. It is also important to note that this figure represents a 4% increase from fy14. Furthermore, at the conclusion of fy15, only 3. 1% of children enrolled in licensed child care in north carolina remain enrolled in 1- or 2-star care. 100% of the regional lead agencies met nc ccr&r standards for referral assessment calls (rac). Other triangle ccr&r services: training and support services there were 327 professional development workshops conducted for 6,077 (duplicated) child care professionals in the triangle area. There were 811 in-service hours received by the attendees. There were 8 pre-licensing workshops presented to 30 potential home child care providers. There were 20 ceu classes presented to over 200 early childhood professionals. Other program services: the child and adult care food program (cacfp) served 71 child care homes and 23 centers in the triangle. There were 617,376 meals reimbursed to an average of 1,100 children. There were 282 monitoring visits were made to child care programs to review records, observe meals and provide technical assistance as needed. The ta department served a total of 208 early childhood education programs/school-age programs in fiscal year 2014-2015. Child care scholarship services:fy15 durham county smart start scholarship program (dpfc)- >99. 9% of contracted funds for scholarships was expended, totaling $2,820,364- a total of 539 families were served- a total of 605 children received scholarships- children attended 81 different child care facilities- 4. 8 was the average star rating of the care utilized by children receiving services- 292 children were funded jointly through the durham county ncprek program - 76 children received a scholarship through the early head start set-aside fund- 49 children receiving services had documented developmental needs- 27% of children lived in families reporting spanish as their primary language other fy15 scholarship- 33 children were served through the durham and orange county regular scholarship programs. 88% of these children received services in a 4 or 5 star facility. A total of $68,566 was spent in united way and other donated funds for these scholarships. - 108 children received assistance through the unc scholarship program, including 23 children of unc employees, and 85 children of unc students (1 child had both an employee and student contract at different points in the year). A total of $107,253 and $390,889 were expended on scholarships from the unc child care fee assistance program and unc students for child care scholarships fund, respectively. Fy15 scholarship program evaluation196 families and 81 child care programs were surveyed as part of the department's annual program evaluation process. Findings included the following: - 87% of scholarship recipients reported that services enabled them to select higher quality care for their children- 67% reported that their children were not in any kind of licensed care prior to accessing a scholarship- 94% of recipients reported that scholarships enabled them to secure or maintain employment- 99% reported overall satisfaction with ccsa's services- among child care programs serving ccsa scholarship children, 100% felt that the scholarship program was an important service, 99% felt the program was being operated effectively, and 97% felt that ccsa staff were considerate in their dealings with programschild care referral services:for fy15, a total of 2,508 families received child care consumer education and referral services through child care referral central, the regional call center operated by ccsa:- 1,123 were durham county residents or clients- 238 were orange county residents or clients- 907 were wake county residents or clients- 240 were residents of alamance, caswell, franklin, granville, person and vance counties a total of 3,395 children were impacted by these services. 30% of families accessed services through the agency's online referral system. Enhanced referral services were provided to 747 families. Forty percent of referrals were to families earning less than $20,000 per year. Referrals were provided in spanish to 96 families (5% of all counselor-delivered referrals) and 9% of all families reported being of latino/a descent. In the department's annual evaluation of families served, 434 families were surveyed. 93% of all families reported being satisfied with services, 89% reported feeling more informed and better able to select child care as a result of ccsa services, and over 99% reported using three or more quality indicators in their search for child care. The average star-rating of child care selected by families receiving referral services was 4. 4. For the year, family support staff also conducted 44 workshops and 85 information sessions, and participated in 21 community fairs throughout ccsa's service area. Quality supplements:in fy15, the first year of implementation, 131 child care programs participated in the wake county quality supplement program, of which 87% were center-based and 13% were family child care homes. 80% of programs were 5-star facilities, and 34% had 7 program standard points. Programs served an average of 15 children 0-5 years old on wake county human services (wchs) subsidy, and received an average monthly supplement of $1,129.