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  • Dawn Alexander
    • Nov 16, 2023
    • 5 min read

11/17/23 ECEA Child Care Update

Updated: Nov 21, 2023



Members of the ECEA Board Standing Up

for UPK Direct Enrollments Year Round!


 

Stakeholder Engagement Opportunity before New Rules are approved by Dr. Lisa Roy, Executive Director of CDEC. They will stay on this meeting as long as it takes for EVERY PERSON to have their say about the proposed rule sets. Remember, these are the regulations your program will have to abide by for the next 5 years. This is the last chance for you to raise any of your concerns!


Friday, November 17, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.

Zoom Meeting ID: 813 5922 6253


Members of the public can provide general comments. Comments are

limited to two (2) minutes. Please submit written comments to

comments/testimony by Thursday, November 16, 2023.




 
 


Change doesn't happen without real effort. You don't have time to do the advocacy work yourself but we will do it for you! JOIN NOW to strengthen our impact!!


Membership Dues are Changing in 2024.

Join now for your 100% tax deductible business expense.


Large Center License: $250 (option for $25/month)

Small Center License: $200 (option for $20/month)

Family Child Care Home: $50

School Age Programs: $60

 


 

Pyramid counts as 2 formal education points to help you get your staff qualified quickly with strong social emotional skills! Each training only has 10 spaces left. Sign up now to reserve your space!


 

Access Materials: All rulemaking material received and collected will be publicly


accessible and stored in the UPK Quality Standards Public Folder. This includes the


draft UPK Quality Standards rules, webinar recordings, and public comments.


Are you concerned about 4 year old UPK classrooms being limited to at 1:10 ratio?? This is the time to speak up. CDEC has indicated that, "There are not many programs that will be affected by that." And before you ask....NO there will not be additional compensation for the 4 children that can no longer be in that classroom! So much for quality funds supporting the program. It's simply not the case for programs that have had a 1:12 ratio in your 4 year olds classrooms.

 

Overview of Major Proposed

Federal Head Start Changes


OHS is proposing that the HSPPS be updated in areas including workforce supports, mental health, and quality improvement in the following ways.

Workforce Supports

To improve staff wages, the NPRM proposes the following:

  • All staff must receive competitive wages with an updated salary scale that applies to all positions. Programs must make progress toward achieving pay parity for Head Start education staff with kindergarten through third grade teachers in local elementary schools. As a first step in achieving this broader goal, programs must pay annual salaries to these staff that are at least the same as preschool teachers in public school settings.

  • Wages must be comparable across Head Start Preschool and Early Head Start programs.

  • Minimum pay in programs must be sufficient to meet basic cost of living in the local area.

To improve staff benefits, the NPRM proposes the following:

  • Provide or facilitate access to health insurance

  • Paid sick, personal, and family leave for full-time staff

  • Free or low-cost short-term mental health services for full-time staff

  • Facilitate connection to:

    • Child care subsidies for any eligible staff

    • Public service loan forgiveness for eligible staff


To enhance staff wellness and engagement, the NPRM proposes the following:

  • All staff must receive regularly scheduled breaks during their work shifts

  • Classroom staff must have access to brief unscheduled wellness breaks as needed

  • Management style that positively promotes high-quality job performance

Mental Health

Addressing mental health supports, the NPRM proposes the following:

  • Require a multidisciplinary mental health team responsible for program-wide activities, including coordinating wellness supports and annual review of mental health consultation services

  • Clarify expectations for program-wide wellness supports

  • Provide mental health consultation services at least monthly

  • Allow programs to work with mental health consultants who are providing services under the supervision of another licensed mental health professional

  • Integrate mental health into support services for families

  • Facilitate proactive screening and follow-up for children’s mental health needs

  • Incorporate strengths-based language throughout the HSPPS

  • Provide clearer requirements for suspension and expulsion, including definitions of these terms

Other Quality Improvements

To better engage with families, the NPRM proposes the following:

  • Establish a maximum caseload of 40 families per family service worker to facilitate delivery of high-quality family support services, including health, parenting, and economic support, which requires a dedicated, individualized approach

  • Require the use of effective, accessible forms of communication in all interactions with families

  • Streamline enrollment processes to minimize burden on families

To improve child health and safety, the NPRM proposes the following:

  • Clarify which safety incidents should be reported to OHS

  • Enhance prevention of safety incidents

  • Protect children from exposure to lead in the water and paint of Head Start facilities through regular testing and, if needed, remediation

To identify and meet community needs, the NPRM proposes the following:

  • Identify and, if possible, resolve barriers to enrollment and attendance

  • Streamline the process and frequency of the community assessment

  • Ensure responsive, high-quality services for expectant families

  • Revise definition of ‘income’ to provide a clear, finite list of income sources that should be counted for eligibility determination

  • Adjust a family’s gross income to account for excessive housing costs in their community, for eligibility determination purposes

Regarding program structure, the NPRM proposes the following:

  • Require that Early Head Start center-based services be provided across at least 46 weeks per year

  • Encourage lower teacher to child ratios for Early Head Start classrooms serving the youngest children

  • Clarify the requirements for:

    • Maximum group size in family child care settings for infants and toddlers and mixed aged preschool groupings

    • Provider qualifications in family child care settings

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the HSPPS will be open for public comment in the Federal Register on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023.

 

Small Business


Child Care






 

Paid Sick Leave under the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA)

Just a reminder:

  • Effective Aug. 7, 2023: Bereavement, or financial/legal needs after a death of a family member; or

  • Effective Aug. 7, 2023: Due to inclement weather, power/heat/water loss, or other unexpected event, the employee must

    1. evacuate their residence, or

    2. care for a family member whose school or place of care was closed.

Employers can require documentation for accrued paid sick leave (not for COVID-related public health emergency (PHE) leave), but only for absences of four or more consecutive days — and employees can provide the documentation after the leave ends.


Since January 1, 2022, all employers in the state, regardless of size or industry, are fully covered by HFWA.

 


 



 

CDEC Data Plans

 

ANNUAL ECEA MEMBERSHIP MEETING

MEMBERS: Membership Annual Meeting is 12/12/23 from 10-10:30 (virtual). Email Dawn@coloradoecea.org for an invitation link!


 

 

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