Prepared by:

Louise Stoney and Carolyn Drugge

Early Care and Education

Strategic Planning in Maine

A Summary of Current Activities

January, 2004Prepared by:

Louise Stoney Technical Assistance Specialist,

National Child Care Information Center

And

Carolyn DruggeDirector, Office of Child Care

Maine Department of Human Services

Early Care and Education

Strategic Planning in Maine

A Summary of Current Activities

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Table of ContentsIntroduction and Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

I. Systemic Planning: Overall Structure of the System

Child Care Advisory Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Children’s Cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

The Task Force on Early Childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Maine Maternal and Child Health Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Infant/Toddler Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

ACCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Maine Children’s Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

II. Data Collection: Outcomes, Indicators, Benchmarks

Early Childhood Learning Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Maine Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

School Readiness Indicators Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

ACCESS Benchmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Maine Child Care Data Analysis and Research Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

III Professional Development

Maine Roads to Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Early Childhood Higher Education Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Head Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Credentialing Task Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

IV. Finance

Business Commission Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The Maine Child Care Market Rate and Workforce Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Economic Impact of the Child Care Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Conclusion/Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

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Many public and private organizations inthe State of Maine are concerned about earlycare and education and have engaged inplanning and research to strengthen the sys-tem.This report represents an effort to sum-marize the results of these plans in a singledocument. Information was obtained byreading all relevant reports and, where nec-essary, conducting interviews with keyinformants from relevant agencies.

While multiple planning efforts haveoccurred, in most cases those efforts do notappear to be duplicative. Organizations tend-ed to address a particular sector or “slice” ofthe issue. However, in the course of prepar-ing this summary it became clear that therehas been a lack of coordination among theplanning efforts and a failure to utilize priorplanning to build a system of early care andeducation. It is hoped that this report willbegin a new process of collaborative plan-ning, and help to fill gaps in information.

Common ThemesSeveral key themes emerged, time and

again, in the early childhood planning initia-tives summarized for this report.These

include the following:

➽ Maine Needs to Focus onCross-system Planning andImplementation

There appears to be fairly consistent agree-ment that early childhood services crossmultiple systems and that the State needs aclear plan for how that work can be coordi-nated.At the heart of this issue are common,cross-system: standards, outcome measuresand data collection strategies, support sys-tems, eligibility levels and administrative/fis-cal policies.

Standards - Several of the planning effortsrecommended early childhood programaccreditation as a desired standard, andMaine has made accreditation one of thebenchmarks for “Certified Quality ChildCare” designation.1 However, quite a fewplanning efforts suggested or implied thatearly care and education program and practi-tioner standards be established at multiplelevels and with varying points of entry.Thismight include a “star” quality rating systemprograms, and a credentialing system forpractitioners, that would apply to early child-hood services in all domains. Guidance ondeveloping these systems could grow from

Introduction & Summary

1 Maine doubles the state dependent care tax credit for parents who use “certified quality child care providers”. Certified providersinclude those that: have current accreditation by one of the following agencies: NAEYC, NAFCC, NSACA; or, meet the Head Start per-formance Standards for Programs of Excellence or Quality; or, a family child care provider with a CDA or an AA, Bachelors, Masters, orPhD in ECE, child development, or related degree. (Providers with a related degree need at least 12 credits in Early Childhood Education.Providers with degrees will also need to complete a 3 credit course or 45 hours of Core Knowledge training every 3 years.) In 2003,approximately 266 programs had quality certificates. For more information go to: http://www.state.me.us/dhs/taxcredits.htm#Dependentor http://www.state.me.us/revenue/incomeestate/homepage.html

work completed by the Credentialing TaskForce (pg 20), the Early Childhood LearningResults Task Force (pg 10) and the MaineRoads to Quality Professional Developmentsystem (pg 17).These efforts appear to haveengaged practitioners and stakeholders frommultiple systems, although increased involve-ment from K-12 and Higher Education maybe needed in future work.

Outcome Measures - Maine has engaged inseveral initiatives aimed at establishing earlychildhood outcomes and indicators.The rec-ommendations of each effort are summa-rized in this report on pages 10-16. Futureefforts could focus on reviewing and align-ing the various initiatives so that a commonset of outcome measures can be establishedand used to measure the impact of earlychildhood services in multiple domains.

Support for Practitioners (professionaldevelopment) – The need to build and nur-ture a well-qualified early childhood work-force was a theme that resonated throughoutthe planning efforts described in this report.Recommendations were fairly consistent,and focused on increased training and educa-tion, credentialing, financial support forobtaining advanced training and education,and increased compensation linked toincreased training.This work is summarizedon pages 17-20.

Support for Programs (technical assis-tance) - While many planning effortsaddressed supports for practitioners, supportsystems for early childhood programs wererarely mentioned.The Maine Roads toQuality (MRTQ) Advisory Board 2003-2004Work Plan and the ACCESS Blueprint bothmentioned the need for program technicalassistance and supports. ACCESS did not rec-ommend specific strategies. MRTQ focusedon increasing the number of accredited early

childhood programs.The BusinessCommission report, the Economic Impact ofthe Child Care Industry report, and theMarket Rate and Workforce study all recom-mended that a facilities fund be established.The Business Commission also suggestedexploring ways to help early childhood pro-grams reach some economies of scale.Amore thorough look at what program sup-ports are currently available in the State andwhat approaches could most effectively helpprograms meet and maintain quality stan-dards might be a helpful next step.2

Administrative/Fiscal Policies – The MaineChildren’s Alliance planning effort recom-mends that the State develop a single pointof entry for families that seek assistance fromthe state and reduce the need for multipleassessments, treatment plans and case man-agers.This will require common (or coordi-nated) policies regarding eligibility determi-nation, service delivery, and other case man-agement issues.The ACCESS Blueprintappears to echo this sentiment.The TaskForce on Early Childhood developed a planfor coordinated family support services.

➽ A Financing Plan Should beDeveloped

The need to adequately fund children’sservices in general, and the early care andeducation system in particular, was noted byalmost all of the planning efforts.The ChildCare Advisory Council and the Task Force onEarly Childhood recommend increased fund-ing (or at least level funding in years of budg-et cuts), and most others suggest thatexpanded funding is needed and recommendthat a committee or Task Force be estab-lished to develop a financing plan.

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2 MRTQ currently provides technical assistance to early childhood programs, and starting in January 2004, they will conductenvironmental assessments (using ECERS, ITERS and FDCRS) and then use the results to help determine the type and frequency ofon-site services provided to programs.

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Only a few of the planning efforts includedspecifics regarding how increased fundscould be secured.ACCESS, the MaineChildren’s Alliance and the Economic Impactof the Child Care Industry study all suggestthat the state strengthen its capacity to man-age and leverage federal funds for children’sservices.The reports also encourage theState to restructure administrative systems sothat the subsidy system is seamless and easi-ly accessible for families.The Market Rateand Workforce study, the Economic Impactstudy and the Business Commission reportall recommend increasing financial contribu-tions from employers through information

and targeted tax policy

➽ Consumers – and the Publicat Large – Need to beEngaged

Nearly every plan noted the importance ofincreasing parent and public awarenessaround the importance of early care andeducation and what constitutes quality. Manyplans recommended public awareness cam-paigns using various media outlets. Otherswere more specific and suggested strategiessuch as instituting a quality rating system(count the stars) for early childhood pro-grams (Infant/Toddler Task Force), informa-tion on the importance of quality training(MRTQ), and the current state dependentcare tax credit benefits for higher qualitycare (Market Rate Survey report).

➽ The Private Sector Needs tobe Engaged

Several reports stressed the importance oftargeted outreach to businesses and other

private sector leaders.The BusinessCommission specifically recommended cre-ating a business advisory committee.Exploring the feasibility of establishing newtax policies that encourage private sectorinvestments in child care was suggested in areport on the Economic Impact of the ChildCare Industry in Maine.

The Market Rate and Workforce study alsorecommended that Maine take steps toencourage employers to become partners inthe child care system. Suggested next stepsincluded disseminating information onemployer-supported child care options andexisting tax incentives.

Engaging the private sector in early careand education is a key step. It will, however,be difficult without clear incentives. Nationalresearch has indicated that state tax creditsfor employer-supported child care have notbeen effective incentives.3 What, then, mightbe effective next steps? A more careful lookat the way that other states have successfullyengaged private sector partners might be inorder. Colorado, North Carolina and Floridaare three states that have actively engagedthe private sector in early childhood systemreform.

Summary of Early Care andEducation Strategic Planning inMaine

In recent years Maine has been involved ina number of planning initiatives aimed atimproving the early care and education sys-tem. Each of these efforts is summarized inthe following chapters, and grouped intoone of four broad categories.

3 FitzPatrick, C. and Campbell, N. The Little Engine that Hasn’t: The Poor Performance of Employer Tax Credits for Child Care.Washington D. C.: National Women’s Law Center. November 2002.

Child Care Advisory Committee The Child Care Advisory Council (CCAC)

was established, in law, to advise theLegislature and the Department of HumanServices regarding child care services in thestate; encourage coordinated policy that pro-motes quality, uniformity and efficiency; andfacilitate communication among state gov-ernment, providers and the public. Each yearthe CCAC submits an annual report to theLegislature.The report includes a summary ofCCAC activities and recommendations.The2002 report included the following recom-mendations:

• Keep early care and education fundingintact.

• Encourage cross-system approaches toserving children with special needs.Thisshould include: expanding Child Care+ME to provide behavioral and healthconsulting regionally; revising MaineCareregulations to allow more services to bedelivered in child care placements ratherthan only in the home; and, increase flexi-ble funding to support books and assis-tive/therapeutic equipment.

• Ensure that the DHS Data Capacity grantidentifies an established data set that cantrack trends and measure the effects ofinvestments in early care and education.This should include data on: needs ofchildren and families; current financialsupport (including tax credits); ECE pro-gram capacity and quality; ECE workforcecompensation and qualifications; and,inclusion of children with special needs.

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I. SystemicPlanning:Overall Structure of SystemThe following initiatives focused on

planning/revising the overall early

care and education, or early child-

hood services, system in the State

of Maine.

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CCAC Early Childhood Systems Committee - Inthe summer of 2003, an ad hoc committeeof the CCAC was formed to help define theearly care and education “system” in Maine.The purpose of this effort is to guide policythat will enable and encourage coordinationacross all early care and education services,including public pre-K programs.This grouphas just begun it’s work, and will bring areport to the Child Care Advisory Councilfor further discussion.

The Children’s Cabinet Former Governor Angus S. King, Jr. estab-

lished the Children’s Cabinet in 1995 tooversee and coordinate the delivery of serv-ices to children in Maine. It is composed ofthose state departments directly related tochildren and families: the Department ofCorrections; Department of Education;Department of Human Services; Departmentof Behavioral and Developmental Services(formerly the Department of Mental Health,Mental Retardation and Substance AbuseServices); and the Department of PublicSafety.The Cabinet crafted the followingvision:

• Every child has the opportunity to be achild and the education, resources andsupport to become a healthy and produc-tive adult.

•Every family recognizes the responsibilityand rewards of raising children and isprovided the support necessary to fulfilltheir role.

• Raising children is a shared communityresponsibility which includes a processof establishing and modeling clear stan-dards of behavior.

• State agencies collaboratively supportfamilies and communities, keeping familyand children at the heart of all decisions.

Using this vision as a guide, the Children’sCabinet established 13 specific outcomesand identified specific indicators of Maine’sprogress toward achieving each outcome.These are the Maine Marks (see DataCollection, page 11, for more information.)

The Task Force on EarlyChildhood

The Task Force on Early Childhood wasfirst established in the mid-1990’s as a sub-group of the Children’s Cabinet to work onthe coordination of home visiting programsinto a statewide home visiting system. Itbecame the Task Force to Study Strategies toSupport Parents as Children’s First Teachersthrough a Legislative resolve in 1997. Morerecently, the group further evolved into theTask Force on Early Childhood and hasfocused on “strengthening and coordinatingsystems that reach to achieve the vision of astate in which all children live, grow, andlearn in safe, nurturing, healthy, and stimulat-ing environments.”

Active members of the Task Force includerepresentatives from: the Office of ChildCare and Head Start, Home VisitationNetwork, Family Resource Centers,Communities for Children, Department ofEducation, Bureau of Health Title V Program,Public Health Nursing, Maine HumanitiesCouncil, Maine Children’s Alliance,Department of Behavioral andDevelopmental Services, Children’s Cabinet,and the School Readiness Indicators Project.

Over the past five years, partners from theTask Force on Early Childhood have:

• Helped create a home visiting system forall first time parents.

• Increased resources for quality child care.

• Carried out a study of current family sup-port programs in Maine.

• Developed a plan to create a statewidesystem of family support programs.

In October 2002 the Task Force convenedmore than 80 diverse stakeholders in a“Children’s Forum” to begin developing aMaine-specific plan based on the four keyrecommendations from the NationalAcademy of Sciences report, From Neuronsto Neighborhoods.

Maine Maternal and ChildHealth Early ChildhoodComprehensive Systems Grant

The federal Maternal and Child HealthBureau’s (MCHB) has made funds availableto states to “plan, develop, and ultimatelyimplement collaborations and partnershipsto support families and communities in theirdevelopment of children that are healthy andready to learn at school entry.” The MaineDivision of Family Health has proposed thatPhase I of the grant support a Future SearchConference as the key component of theplanning process.The overall planningprocess will be coordinated by staff in theTitle V MCH program, in collaboration withthe Task Force on Early Childhood. (SeeAppendix A, page 27, for this group’s workplan.)

Infant/Toddler Initiative In February, 2003 leaders of Maine Infant

and Toddler provider network came togetherto create a comprehensive list of needs andgoals for the system.The primary purpose ofthis meeting was to prepare an applicationfor technical assistance from Zero to Three(a national organization focused on

infant/toddler care). Unfortunately, the appli-cation was not funded. However, the groupbelieves that the goals identified in thisprocess are significant and is determined tocontinue this important work. Consensuswas reached on four priority goals thatwould constitute the work of the partner-ship. These goals are as follows:

• Increase quality, affordable, accessibleinfant/toddler care. Strategies for achiev-ing this goal include: providing moreoptions of care, providing support forkith & kin care, continuing to look atratio and group size, providing mentalhealth support for caregivers and admin-istering attachment assessment invento-ries to help determine quality.

• Increase professional developmentopportunities for providers resulting ina more qualified credentialed work-force. Strategies for achieving this goalinclude: offering additional courses spe-cific to infants and toddlers, creating aninfant/toddler credential, providing train-ing on topics such as: Early Literacy,Attachment Assessment Inventory,Supporting Parents, and Diversity.

• Work towards attaining a more stable,consistent work force by decreasing staffturnover. Strategies for achieving thisgoal include: increasing professionaldevelopment opportunities (see goal 2),improving wage scales, offering benefits,and providing mental health support forcaregivers.

• Increase parent and public awarenessaround what constitutes qualityinfant/toddler care. Strategies for achiev-ing this goal include: utilizing the mediato bring information to families andchange public consciousness, and institut-ing a star-rating system.

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ACCESS The Alliance for Children’s Care, Education,

and Supporting Services (ACCESS) is analliance of early care and educationproviders and advocates whose mission is toensure the availability of family focused serv-ices through collaborative relationships withtraditional and non-traditional partners.ACCESS members include:

• Maine Association for Child CareResource Development Centers

• Maine Child Care Directors Association

• Maine Family Child Care Association

• Maine Head Start Directors Association

• Maine School Age Care Alliance

• Maine Division of Early Childhood

In early June 2000, the ACCESS SteeringCommittee brought together a cross sectionof the field to look at the big picture—toidentify the early care and education land-scape and suggest next steps for moving for-ward and improving the system.At a retreatsetting the group spent two days working toidentify the overarching issues and compo-nents within the early care and educationsystem.The result of that work was identifi-cation of 11 areas that address the interwov-en aspects of the early care and educationsystem, and include the following categoriesfor planning:

• To develop capacity and ability to man-age/re-engineer effective resources atFederal, State, and Local level.

• To re-engineer the RDC system to bemost effective

• To ensure a systematic inclusion andempowerment of parents at all levels ofthe system.

• To support and advocate for the integra-

tion of governmental systems/services forchildren, youth, and families.

• To build a system of supports for individ-ualized formats of quality child care,informal to formal arrangements.

• To identify, access and/or developresources to ensure adequate wages, ben-efits, and working conditions that createa climate that ensures that Early Care andEducation becomes a desirable occupa-tion.

• To build the most effective financial sys-tem to pay for quality childcare (parentalchoice, regardless of income).

• To market the concept of quality childcare as “merit good” at local, state, andFederal levels to consumers and commu-nity.

• To develop a system at the local levelresponsive to the individual needs ofgrowing children and their families.

• To build/integrate the unique needs ofschool age children systematically.

• To require a review of the definitions ofcommon standards and best practicesand guarantee sufficient resources to pro-vide enforcement of minimum standardsand rewards for best practices.

ME Children’s AllianceThe Maine Children’s Alliance recently

launched a new planning initiative aimed atoutlining the structural changes needed tocreate a unified system of services forChildren and Families.While acknowledgingthat structural change (moving the boxesunder one roof) will not automatically resultin an integrated system, the Alliance believesthat reorganization can:

• Support development of a single point of

entry for families seeking services;

• Reduce or eliminate the need for multipleassessments, treatment plans and casemanagers

• Provide unified information about thechildren and families being served, theeffectiveness of those services and fami-lies and children’s continuing needs;

• Reduce or eliminate administrative dupli-cation in regulation, licensing, contracts,data management, planning and fiscaladministration, saving millions of dollars;

• Simplify cost allocation for federal financ-ing purposes and increase Maine’s drawof federal dollars;

• Provide accurate information about whatMaine actually spends on services forchildren and families;

• Expand federal dollars for developmentof critically needed human resources.

To this end, the Alliance recommends thatservices be organized in the following func-tional units:

Case Management – responsible for coor-dinating access to services via unified assess-ment and treatment plans. Case Managementincludes outreach and other efforts to assureaccess to services, such as the EPSDT pro-gram (“Early Periodic Screening Diagnosisand Treatment”, an outreach program withinMedicaid) via administrative agreement with

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the Medicaid agency. Case Managers withspecial training may manage safety assess-ment and protective action on behalf of thechild.

Community Support Services – responsi-ble for managing all direct services availablein the community, including those provideddirectly and under contract or provideragreement. Crisis services should be an inte-grated community service, closely coordi-nated with direct care/treatment providers.

Out of Home Services – responsible formanaging all residential services for chil-dren in voluntary arrangements or State cus-tody, including in-patient, group treatment,residential treatment, foster care and out ofState placement.

Prevention and Early InterventionServices – responsible for management ofall pre-school services, such as child care,Head Start, Child Development Services, andrelated units of the Bureau of Maternal andChild Health.

Family Independence Services – responsi-ble for administering financial resources forfamilies.

The Alliance also recommends that theseunits be guided by a unified mission, basedon a set of core values and guiding princi-ples.

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Early Childhood LearningResults

The State of Maine Early ChildhoodLearning Results Task Force began meetingin Fall 2002 in response to federal initiativesencouraging states to develop early learningguidelines that focus early childhood profes-sionals on preparing young children to suc-ceed in school. National legislation and initia-tives—No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; theGood Start, Grow Smart Initiative; Head StartChild Outcomes Framework—point to theneed to strengthen school readiness effortsacross local, state, and federal early care andeducation systems.The Task Force prepareda draft document that underwent rigorousreview by a panel of experts with knowl-edge of early childhood development andteaching practice. In addition, a forum wasconvened to solicit input from nearly 200early childhood practitioners. Suggestionsfrom each of these groups were incorporat-ed into the final document.

One of the most important considerationsin the development of the Early ChildhoodLearning Results was ensuring that it wouldapply to all children from three years of ageto their entrance into kindergarten.TheseLearning Results establish goals and a contin-uum for what all children—including youngchildren with unique learning needs andthose with disabilities—should be able todo.The Early Childhood Learning Resultswere designed to align with the State’s K-12learning results, and therefore include similar

II. DataCollection:Outcomes,Indicators,BenchmarksThe following initiatives focused on

identifying outcomes, indicators or

benchmarks for early childhood servic-

es in general and/or early care and edu-

cation services in particular, in the State

of Maine.

content areas, standard labels and perform-ance indicators. But they also include uniqueaspects of development that are critical toyoung children’s learning—the buildingblocks for all the other content areas.

It is important to note that the LearningResults document is not designed as a cur-riculum.A full curriculum contains detailabout what children should know as well asapproaches and sequences to helping chil-dren gain skills and knowledge.A curriculumoften prescribes materials and methods.Learning Results, on the other hand,describe child outcomes for all young chil-dren for professionals to draw on as theydesign and shape curriculum and childassessment approaches.

The State of Maine Early ChildhoodLearning Results includes twelve contentareas, which are as follows:

• Personal and Social Development – emo-tional development, self concept, socialcompetence;

• Approaches to Learning – curiosity, risktaking, invention and imagination, persist-ence, reflection;

• Career Preparation – preparing for thefuture, education/career planning andmanagement, integrated and appliedlearning;

• English Language Arts – the process ofreading, literature and culture, languageand images, informational texts, processesof writing and speaking;

• Health and Physical Education – healthconcepts, healthinformation/services/products, healthpromotion and risk reduction, influenceson health, communication skills, physicalfitness, motor skills, personal and socialinteraction;

• Mathematics – numbers and numbersense, computation, data analysis and sta-tistics, geometry, measurement,patterns/relations/functions, discretemathematics, mathematical communica-tion/language;

• Modern and Classical Languages – person-to-person communication, reading/listen-ing and viewing for understanding, oraland written presentations, workings oflanguage, cultural practices, products andperspectives;

• Science and Technology – classifying lifeforms, ecology, cells, continuity andchange, structure of matter, the earth, theuniverse, energy, motion, inquiry andproblem solving, scientific reasoning,communication, implications of scienceand technology;

• Social Studies – civics and government,history, geography, economics;

• Visual and Performing Arts – creativeexpression, cultural heritage, criticismand aesthetics.

Maine MarksThe Children’s Cabinet shaped an overall

vision for the well-being of children, familiesand communities.With the vision as theguide, the Cabinet then established specificoutcome statements, which were designed asa way to think about and work on the visionin 12 manageable pieces.To help determineif Maine was achieving the outcomes, 80indicators – or specific sets of data – wereidentified to help assess progress. Each yearMaine Marks updates the indicators, addsdata from the prior year, and analyzes trends.

The outcome and indicators identified byMaine Marks are as follows:

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Outcome: Children respected, safe and nur-tured in their communities.

• Youth Feeling Important • Youth Opportunity For Community

Involvement • Youth With Caring Neighbors • Youth Respecting Others • Child Abuse & Neglect • Prohibited Behavior In Schools • Youth Feeling Safe To/From School • Unintentional Injuries • Youth Suicide Attempts • Youth Illicit Drug Use • Youth Obesity • Youth Physical Activity • Children And Youth With Health

Insurance • Low Birth Weights Infants • Young Children Immunized • Youth Pregnancy • Children And Youth In State Care Or

Custody • Home Care Of Youth With Severe

Behavioral Health Problems • Families Learning And Cultural Activities • Youth Mentored • Youth With Positive Adults In Their Lives

Outcome: Children ready to enter schooland schools ready for children.

• Children With Special Education NeedsEntering School

• Reading To Children • Children Showing Appropriate Progress • Opportunities For Expanded Day

Kindergarten • On-Site Before Or After School

Programming • Teachers With Early Childhood

Certification

Outcome: Children succeeding in schooland schools succeeding for children.

• Youth Achieving Learning Results

• High School Completions • High School Drop-outs • Youth Planning To Attend College • Youth At-Risk With Supportive Service

Plan • Coordinated School Health Programs • Parent Involvement In School

Outcome:Youth succeeding in higher edu-cation.

Indicators:• Youth Satisfaction With

Colleges/Universities • College/University Retention • Bachelor’s Degree Attainment • Outcome:Youth prepared to enter the

work force.• Indicators:• Businesses’ Need To Provide Training • Businesses’ Satisfaction With

Colleges/Universities • Youth In Apprenticeship/Internships • Schools With Career Preparation Learning

Results Standards

Outcome: Families having opportunities towork and play.

Indicators:• Jobs That Pay A Livable Wage • Children Living In Female-Headed

Households Below the Poverty Level • Gender Income Disparity • Family Housing Costs • Family Time For Leisure And Recreation • Parents’ Satisfaction With Youth

Recreational Programs

Outcome: Families recognizing the rewardsand responsibilities of raising children.

Indicators:• New Family Stability

• Youth Not In School And Not Working

• Youth Arrests

• Youth Success After Leaving JuvenileJustice System

• Youth Feeling Supported In Their Family

Outcome: Families living safe and healthylives.

Indicator of Safe Families:• Domestic Violence • Housing Problems • Food Insecurity • Prenatal Care • Newborns Receiving Home Visits • Health Care Coverage

Outcome: Communities capable of meetingthe needs of children and families in all oftheir diversity.

• Health Care Providers • Employment • Leaving Welfare • Leaving Welfare To Jobs That Pay A Livable

Wage • Youth Living In Homeless Or Emergency

Shelters • Youth In Poverty • Satisfaction With State Government • Hate Crimes • Employment Rates Of The Disabled • Outcome: Communities Creating

Collaborative Partnerships• Communities In Partnership With State

Government • Businesses’ Involvement With Community • Youth In Community Service

Outcome: Communities Promoting andModeling Clear Standards of Behavior

• Crime • Community Safety • Factors Promoting Drug Abuse• Voter Turnout • Volunteerism

Outcome: Communities Keeping Childrenand Families at the Heart of All Decisions

• Perception Of Youth As Community Assets • Youth Who Feel Cared For In Their

Community • Perception Of Communities As A Good

Place To Raise Children • Access To Child Care • Satisfaction With Child Care

School Readiness IndicatorsProject

The School Readiness Indicators Initiative isa multi-state initiative aimed developing a setof child outcome and systems indicators forchildren from birth through the fourth-gradereading test.The Initiative involves 17 states,including Maine. (Other participating statesinclude:Arizona,Arkansas, California,Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky,Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire,New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island,Vermont,Virginia, and Wisconsin.) Each state teamdeveloped a comprehensive set of measuresto monitor school readiness and service sys-tem outcomes for children and families andparticipated in four national meetingsbetween October 2001 and May 2003.Twomore national meetings are planned for Fall2003.The Maine team included representa-tion from: Department of Education: DHSBureau of Health and Office of Child Careand Head Start; Success by Six, and the MaineMarks Initiative. Maine’s team built on theindicators in Maine Marks, and added newmeasures as needed. PreliminaryRecommendations for Core School ReadinessIndicators are summarized below.At present,a report that summarizes the school readi-ness indicators is being prepared, and thegroup plans to report on progress each year.

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I. Family EnvironmentFamily Support for Learning

• Education level of the mother, father

• Percentage of 3-5 year old children partic-ipating in home literacy activities

• Percentage of families who read to theirchildren

• Number of families receiving greater thanone home visit in the first year of life

Stable Homes/Environment• Number of moves within foster care sys-

tem

Health Status of Family• Percent of mothers who receive prenatal

care in the first trimester

• Number of Low Birth Weight Infants byPlurality

• Number of Very Low Birth Weight Infants

II. Early Care and EducationTrends in Early Childhood Education

• Higher Education Enrollment

• Child Care Center Staff Average Salaryand Average Hourly Wage

• Turnover During the Past 12 Months inMaine Child Care Centers

• Number of Quality Certificates Awarded

• Number of Accredited Child CarePrograms

Availability of Early Childhood EducationPrograms

• Number of Licensed Child Care Facilitiesin Maine

Family support services• Number of libraries offering preschool

reading sessions

• Number of communities with FamilyResource Centers

• Number of parks and rec.programs/hours of operation

School Conditions• Number of schools with full day kinder-

garten

• Number of public 4 year old programs

• Number of teachers with 0-5 282endorsement, K-3 282 endorsement

III. Effective Services: Health and ChildDevelopmentPercentage of Insured Children

• Childhood Lead Analysis

Effective Services: Early Intervention• Number of children in Early Intervention

Programs

• Number of children entering kinder-garten who exited special education toregular education

Effective Services: Child Welfare• Children who receive a developmental

screen upon entry into foster care

• Follow-up services as a result of referralto CDS

Effective Services: Income Supports (such asTANF, Food Stamps, etc.)

• The percentage of children under age 5living in poverty

• The percentage of jobs that pay a livablewage

IV. Ready Child—Physical Well-Beingand Motor Development

• % of children entering kindergarten withuntreated vision problems

• % of children entering kindergarten withuntreated hearing problems

Ready Child—Social and EmotionalDevelopment

• Substantiated cases of child abuse andneglect. (DHS)

• Percentage of kindergarten students whocan establish and maintain positive rela-tionships with peers and adults

Ready Child—Early Literacy and GeneralKnowledge

Percentage of increase by Head Start chil-dren in the following indicators

• Understands an increasingly complex andvaried vocabulary

• For non-English-Speaking children, pro-gresses in listening to understandingEnglish

• Develops increasing abilities to under-stand and use language to communicateinformation, experiences, ideas, feelings,opinions, needs questions and for othervaried purposes

• Uses an increasingly complex and variedspoken vocabulary

• For non-English—speaking children, pro-gresses in speaking English

• Associates sounds with written words

• Recognizes a word as a unit of print

• Identifies at least 10 letters of the alpha-bet, especially those in their own name

• Knows that letters of the alphabet are aspecial category of visual graphics thatcan be individually named

Percentage of children experiencing difficul-ties in language development when arrivingat kindergarten

Percentage of children experiencing difficul-ties in basic academics when arriving atkindergarten

ACCESS Benchmarks During it’s retreat,ACCESS also developed

recommended benchmarks for the Maineearly care and education system as a whole.These include the following

Accreditation

• By 2005, 20% of all programs will beaccredited (as defined)

• By 2010, 50% of all programs will beaccredited (as defined)

ACCESS believes that, over time, every familyhave access to accredited childcare programand that support should be provided to allprograms seeking accreditation.

Business Involvement:

• By 2002, brochures will be available to allchildcare providers outlining businesssupport available.

• By 2005, the childcare industry in Mainewill have made significant strides towardsbridging existing cultural differencesbetween the business and childcare com-munities.

• By 2004, 3 State Collaboratives will havedeveloped/created a system for imple-menting administrative efficiencies (costsaving structures)

• By 2005, partnerships with the businesscommunity that develop childcare qualityand increase the childcare supply inMaine will double.

Capacity:

• By 2005, 50% of eligible children will beserved in the setting of their choice andevery community with an elementaryschool will have a school age program.

• By 2010, Maine will be able to serve 100%of the eligible children.

Education and Training:

Specific percentages have yet to be agreedupon for the following benchmarks:

• By 2005, a (to be determined) % of ECEproviders will have a CDA or higher in arelated field. 50% of caregivers will beregistered.

• By 2010, a (to be determined) % of ECEproviders will have a CDA or higher in arelated field. 80% of caregivers will beregistered.

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Parent Involvement:

• By 2005, every ACCESS collaborative willhave active parent participation.

Caregiver Wages:Specific percentages have yet to be agreedupon for the following benchmarks:

• By 2005, a (to be determined) % of staffwill earn a (to be determined minimum)salary with (to be determined minimum)benefits.

Maine Child Care DataAnalysis and ResearchPartnership

Last year Maine received a grant from thefederal Child Care Bureau to create astatewide research infrastructure to betterunderstand child care needs, services, andoutcomes for families in the context ofsocial, economic and cultural change. Firstyear activities focused on building a newcentralized data base that can maintain dataon the families, children and providers whoparticipate in Maine’s child care subsidy con-tract and voucher programs. Phase I of thedatabase work includes all contracted childcare agencies, who will connect and enterdata through a web-based application. It isanticipated that this new system will beready to begin testing in February 2004 andwill “go live” with all agencies in April 2004.The next phase will focus on the vouchersystem.

In addition to generating more reliable andavailable data for reporting purposes (includ-ing the federal 800 and 801 requirements) itis anticipated that the new data collectionsystem will provide greater security, easierdata maintenance and greater flexibility.Once the database is operational the projectwill focus on other research needs.To date,the following areas of potential researchhave been identified:

Program EvaluationChild Care Plus ME

• Effectiveness data

• Descriptive data (those served andexpelled)

Maine Roads to Quality• Impact of professional development on

children

• Impact of accreditation project on pro-gram development

Infant Toddler Training and Support• Implementation, process and outcomes

data

School Age Care• Availability, effectiveness/outcome meas-

ures

Evaluation of Policy ImpactTax Credits

• Study of impact of two tax credits onquality

Quality Certificates• Number of quality programs developed,

funding effects on numbers of childrenserved

Regulation Changes• Effects of state regulation changes on

availability, price and quality of care

Research to Inform Policy DevelopmentParent Survey

• Survey of parents with children ages 0-12to determine availability of child care,types of child care being used and acces-sibility of quality child care

Mapping Project• Mapping location of contracted centers

and family homes in relation to numberof low-income children in the area.Mapping location of licensed child carecenters and homes in relation to num-bers if children in an area of the state.

Maine Roads to Quality(MRTQ)

Ten years ago, the Maine Office of ChildCare and Head Start convened 100 child careand early education stakeholders to developrecommendations for a career developmentsystem.The recommendations were pub-lished in 1994 in a document entitled,Pathways to Quality: Toward theDevelopment of a Comprehensive TrainingPlan for Child Care Practitioners in Maine.

A great deal of progress has been made inimplementing this plan.The 16 recommenda-tions of this group are summarized below,followed by a brief summary of what hasbeen accomplished thus far. Last year, theMRTQ Advisory Board developed a 2003-2004 work plan.The goals identified in thisplan are noted as well.

Recommendation on Public Outreach –Develop a public awareness campaign toeducate parents, employers, early care profes-sionals and the community about how quali-ty training related to the provision of qualitychild care.

Progress to date: A public education cam-paign has begun but needs to be expandedand targeted to specific needs and issues.The2003-2004 MRTQ Advisory Board Work Planmade expanding membership in the publicawareness committee, and developing target-ed public awareness presentations andresource materials, key goals.

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III. ProfessionalDevelopment

The following initiatives focused on

planning, establishing, or revising a

system of professional development

for practitioners in early care and edu-

cation programs in the State of Maine.

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Recommendation on Core KnowledgeAreas – Maine’s career development systemshould include the eight common coreknowledge areas established by the NationalAssociation for the Education of YoungChildren (NAEYC).

Progress to date A 180 hour CoreKnowledge Curriculum, based on theNAEYC core knowledge areas and alignedwith higher education standards, has beendeveloped.As of September 30, 2003, nearly3,300 care and education providers haveparticipated in this training.

Recommendation on Types of Training –The career development system should con-tain 3 training categories: orientation, pre-service, and on-going inservice training. Allthree categories should be based on thecommon core of knowledge identifiedabove.

Progress to date: The Core KnowledgeTraining (noted above) includes orientation,pre-service and some on going training.Providers are encouraged to participate incredit courses from the Community Collegesor the University to meet their trainingneeds for advanced courses. A scholarshipprogram to help practitioners obtain neededtraining and education has been established.

Recommendation on Distribution ofOngoing Training Time – Distribution guide-lines should be developed around the exist-ing licensing requirements: 30 hours annual-ly for staff training in centers and 6 hoursannually for family child care providers.

Progress to date The Maine Roads CoreKnowledge Training Program consists of 14modules that range from 3 to 30 hours inlength.

Recommendation on Training DeliveryMethods – A plan should be developed to

help ensure that training is accessible toproviders in all regions of the State. Existingresources should be used and collaborationencouraged to avoid duplication. New waysof delivery training via technology shouldalso be explored.

Progress to date The ResourceDevelopment Centers currently offer CoreKnowledge Training in 39 sites across thestate. One RDC relies on videoconferencingto promote greater access. MRTQ will ensurethat at least one of the modules will beoffered on the web within the next year.

Recommendation on Ongoing TrainingHours – Additional training should be avail-able and accessible in all areas of the statefor providers who choose to participate.

Progress to date The Community Collegesand the University System now offer coursesin many areas of the state, through theInstructional Television (ITV) System andthrough web based courses.

Recommendation on NeedsAssessment/Gap Analysis – A uniform needsassessment instrument should be developedand used by each of Maine’s RDCs to deter-mine what training providers in each regionwant and need.

Progress to date Implementation pending

Recommendation on Needs AssessmentProcess – Uniform needs assessment shouldbecome part of the existing RDC systemresponsibilities and appropriate public andprivate financial resources should be identi-fied to carry out this function.

Progress to date Implementation pending

Recommendation on Regional TrainingCoalitions/Needs Assessments – Each RDCshould convene regional training coalitionsto help determine training needs.

Progress to date Implementation pending.

Recommendation on Data Collection – Astatewide clearinghouse should be estab-lished for training resource data collection,storage and dissemination.This informationshould be made available in a “user friendly”format and organized by geographic area,training topic and level of training.

Progress to date A list of core knowledgetrainings being offered around the state isavailable on the web.

Recommendation on CareerDevelopment System/Compensation – A sub-committee should examine the results ofMaine’s salary survey and evaluate theNAEYC salary guidelines and formulas forpossible adaptation to Maine.

Progress to date Implementation pending

Recommendation on CareerDevelopment System/Registry – A voluntaryregistry to document the individual practi-tioner training records should be estab-lished. A committee should be created to:oversee the establishment of the Registry;review and adapt the Wisconsin model;determine the location and oversight; identi-fy funding; and, develop guidelines foraccess.

Progress to date The Maine RoadsRegistry, a computerized data system, hasbeen developed to collect data on the train-ing, education and employment history ofearly childhood practitioners. Records of allindividuals who participate in MRTQ train-ing are maintained by the Registry, and par-ticipating practitioners receive a certificateindicating their level on the state’s career lat-tice. As of September 30, 2003, the Registryincluded 2,031 members, or about 23% ofthe early care and education practitioners inthe state.4

Recommendation on Training AssessmentQualifications/Training Content – Develop aprocess to review trainer qualifications andtraining content to ensure quality training.

Progress to date A Maine Roads TrainerRegistry has been developed to ensure thattrainers who deliver the core knowledgetraining meet certain standards and highereducation requirements.To date, over 200trainers are included in the Registry.

Recommendation on Formal Recognitionof Training – A subcommittee should beestablished to review and improve communi-cation and articulation among higher educa-tion institutions in early care and education.

Progress to date:Articulation agreementshave been developed and signed among theDepartment of Human Services (as a funderof the Core Knowledge Training), MaineRoads to Quality (as system manager), theResource Development Centers (as trainingdelivery systems) and the Maine CommunityCollege System.The Maine Roads CoreKnowledge Training Program is articulatedfor nine college credits.A number of articula-tion agreements have also been developedbetween the two-year and four-year collegeearly childhood education programs.

Recommendation on Funding – A sub-committee should be assigned to investigateand identify potential public and privatefunding sources for the professional develop-ment system.

Progress to date:A number of ACCESSgroups have acquired funding to expand thework of the professional development sys-tem through the federally funded EarlyLearning Opportunity Grants.

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4 This estimate is based on data from a June, 2003 report by Alex Hildebrand, entitled The Economic Impact of the Child CareIndustry in Maine. This study estimated that the early care and education industry employed 8,824 individuals.

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The MRTQ Advisory Board 2003-2004 planincluded several new goals that were not inthe 1994 document.These include the fol-lowing:

• Increase the number of accredited pro-grams by 25 percent. MRTQ intends todevelop a strategic plan to expand accredita-tion on a statewide basis, develop newresources to support programs pursuingaccreditation, and develop training and infor-mation resources to raise awareness of thebenefits of accreditation.

• Promote diversity in all services, productsand partners. This includes recruiting mem-bers from culturally diverse populations,defining culturally responsive practice, andcompiling an inventory of culturally respon-sive resource in Maine.

• Promote director and teacher credential-ing through legislation and research on bestpractices in other states.

Early Childhood HigherEducation Committee

The Early Childhood Higher EducationCommittee was created in 1992 to facilitatecommunication and promote articulationand transfer agreements between programsthat offer two and four year early childhoodeducation programs and the state policymakers. The Committee is currently staffedby Maine Roads to Quality staff. One of themajor accomplishments of the committeehas been the articulation agreementsbetween the Maine Community CollegeSystem, Maine Roads to Quality, the RDCsand the State Department of HumanServices. The committee is also used as aforum to discuss transferability of courses,standardization of practicum experiencesand issues of concern to the field. Currentconcerns are the high faculty/student ratios,

the lack of a teaching certification specifical-ly for public pre-K programs and the short-age of four-year Early Childhood Educationdegree programs to meet the needs of stu-dents. In the Fall of 2003, 927 students werematriculated in associates degree programsin Maine out of a total of 1,540 studentsenrolled in Early Childhood Education andEarly Childhood Special Education degreeprograms throughout the State.

Head Start Head Start has a strong set of performance

standards that have been included in Maine’sQuality Early Care and Education programstandards.Additionally, the federal Head Startstatute requires that, no later thanSeptember 30, 2003, at least 50 percent of allHead Start teachers nationwide in center-based programs must have an associate, bac-calaureate, or advanced degree in early child-hood education; or an associate, baccalaure-ate, or advanced degree in a field related toearly childhood education, with experiencein teaching preschool children. Head Startfunds have been made available to assist pro-grams in securing college education oppor-tunities for their staff and in compensatingstaff who attain degrees.

Credentialing Task Force In January 2002 the Maine Child Care

Advisory Council authorized a task force toconsider the feasibility and desirability ofinstituting a credentialing system for EarlyChildhood Education (ECE) in Maine.TheTask Force included representatives from:the Office of Child Care and Head Start/DHS,the Maine Child Care Directors’Association,the Maine Family Child Care Association, theHead Start Directors’Association, Maine

Resource Development Centers, MaineRoads to Quality (MRTQ), and the HigherEducation Committee.The group met month-ly through most of 2002, gathered informa-tion on the legal prerequisites for the regula-tion of professions in Maine and also exam-ined the structures of other occupationswithin Maine, including: lawenforcement/public safety, electricians, nurs-ing, dieticians, public school education,speech pathology, and child life.The TaskForce also sponsored a conference to discusscredentialing with ECE practitioners fromaround the state and to collect their input.

The Task Force concluded that Maineshould establish a system of credentialingbased on certificates (with endorsementsand authorizations) rather than licenses andthat, over a period of time, the ECE traininginfrastructure be revised to support the cre-dentialing system. Specific recommendationsinclude:

• Credentialing should be systemic, i.e.applying to all facets of the field (center-based, family care, Head Start, nurseryschools). It may not be necessary tohave a credential for every job, but eachposition should be addressed.

• The credentialing system should buildupon the successful and familiar infra-structure currently in place, i.e. MaineRoads to Quality, Resource DevelopmentCenters, the technical college system, and

four-year degree programs, but also con-sider common features of other occupa-tion structures in Maine.

• Credentials should reflect these qualities:challenging, achievable, rewarding, com-petency-based, flexible, respectful, inform-ative, complementary, continuing, andtiered.

• Credentialing should be implementedwhen it can fulfill the following fivepoints of potential benefit: inform andprotect the public and employers;improve ECE quality; enhance practition-ers’ self-image and public esteem;improve compensation.

• The ECE community should be providedample notice prior to implementation ofrequired credentialing. A period of volun-tary credentialing to test the capacity ofthe ECE community and its educationand training infrastructure to support cre-dentialing should be considered.

• Credentialing administration should bepaid for primarily by fees.

• Where to administer credentialing wasthe most difficult question the Task Forceconfronted, and it could reach no consen-sus on the issue. The complicating factoris that there is overlapping involvementin ECE by two State departments, HumanServices (DHS) and Education (DOE).

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Business CommissionReport

In 1999, Maine created the BusinessAdvisory Commission on Quality Child CareFinancing to analyze the effectiveness of eco-nomic development incentives to encouragethe development of quality early care andeducation services in the state. TheCommission met four times and developedthe following recommendations:

Promote Accreditation – Expand theaccreditation facilitation project at theMuskie School of Public Service, using thefirst accredited centers as mentors for newproviders going through the process. Createa linked investment program through theFinance Authority of Maine and theTreasurer’s office to improve the availabilityof affordable loans to upgrade facilities andequipment needed for accreditation.

Strengthen Data Collection – Make fundsavailable to collect annual data to accuratelyaccess the availability, cost and quality ofchild care services.Ask the Maine EconomicGrowth Council to include child care as aneconomic development measure and estab-lish benchmarks for early care and educa-tion. Request the Economic DevelopmentIncentives Commission to assess the effec-tiveness of incentives for child care andreport their findings to the business subcom-mittee of the CCAC.

IV. FinanceThe following initiatives focused

on planning/revising financing

strategies and/or specific funding

approaches for early care and

education services in the State

of Maine.

Establish Regional Collaborations –Award 3 to 5 regional incentive grants aimedat encouraging partnerships among earlycare and education providers to model inte-gration of administrative and businessesfunctions.The pilots would create replicablemodels to achieve economies of scale inadministrative services.

Improve Caregiver Wages and TuitionAssistance – The CCAC should pay specialattention to compensation and develop rec-ommendations on ways to increase wages asprograms move toward accreditation.Additionally, data collection efforts shouldinclude comprehensive wage information.The Child Development Associate (CDA) cer-tification tuition assistance program shouldbe non-lapsing.

Business Involvement – Create a BusinessAdvisory subcommittee of the CCAC todevelop a statewide business and child careconference, workshops and the Blaine Houseconference, and a focus on child care at theMaine Development Foundation Measures ofGrowth conferences.The subcommitteeshould also monitor the child care industry’sprogress toward accreditation and track theeffectiveness of child care tax credits.Additionally, the DHS Office of Child Careshould develop a brochure outlining thebusiness support available and distribute toproviders applying for a license.

Facilities – Create a linked child care facili-ty investment program through the FinanceAuthority of Maine and the Treasurer’s office(see above). Direct the State Fire Marshall towork with the Joint Standing Committee onEducation on fire code issues as they relateto school facilities.

The Maine Child CareMarket Rate and WorkforceStudy

In the fall of 2002, the ME Office of ChildCare and Head Start contracted with MillsConsulting Group, Inc. to conduct an analysisof the state’s child care markets that couldhelp guide recommendations regardingissues of rate setting, workforce, accessibili-ty, and quality.The report included the fol-lowing recommendations:

Improve the compensation of child careworkers in Maine through: education, pro-fessional development program awards andbonuses, and wage supplements based onlevels of education and experience.

Mobilize public support and awareness ofthe benefits of quality child care programsthrough: a public relations campaign withmultiple prongs, a diverse constituency, par-ent education via RDCs, and publicizing thestate Dependent Care Tax Credit benefits forhigher quality child care.

Encourage employers to become partnersin the child care system through: disseminat-ing information on employer-supported childcare options and existing tax incentives.

Increase child care provider access tohealth insurance through: exploring the fea-sibility of child care worker access to thestate health insurance plan, other subsidizedhealth insurance options, or a purchasingpool sponsored by the RDCs; and, publicizingthe availability of MaineCare for low-incomestate residents.

Revise child care subsidy rates by: adjust-ing rates to recognize additional hours incare and increasing the percentage of sub-sidy.

Increase and diversity child care staffrecruitment and retention efforts through:

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hiring a recruitment and retention specialistfor the RDC system, working with collegeplacement offices, encouraging high schoolsto offer early care and education classes,establishing a director credential, andincreasing public awareness as well as linksto TANF recipient training.

Increase opportunities, access and sup-port for provider education and trainingthrough: closer links between RDCs andlocal colleges, encouraging more colleges tooffer BAs in early childhood, establishing astatewide mentoring program, creating asubstitute program linked to professionaldevelopment, and developing classes onbusiness skills for child care providers.

Increase financial support and incentivesfor more child care education including: aloan forgiveness program, increased scholar-ship opportunities, salary increases linked toincreased education, incentives for child careprograms to offer paid release time to attendtraining, financial support for providers toattend the Infant/Toddler Institute.

Encourage providers to offer infant/tod-dler care or to expand their existing capac-ity for care through: additional financial sup-port for infant/toddler care, a facility loan orgrant program.

Increase financial support for accredita-tion through a higher reimbursement ratefor accredited programs.

Increase demand for accredited programsthrough: heightened awareness of the finan-cial advantages of becoming accredited, thefinancial and technical supports availablethrough Maine Roads, and the state incometax benefits for families that choose accredit-ed care.

Economic Impact of Child CareIndustry

The federally-funded Cumberland CountyELOA (Early Learning Opportunities Act)Project recently commissioned a study of theeconomic impact of the child care industryin Maine.The study revealed that licensedchild care establishments generate over $180million in gross receipts and employ over8,800 Maine residents each year. (The indus-try is comparable in size to farming and fish-ing.) In addition to it’s direct employmentand purchases, child care makes a significantcontribution to the state economy byenabling parents to enter and remain in theworkforce.Working families who rely onchild care earn $854 million annually. Inaddition to quantifying the financial contri-butions made by the child care industry, thereport makes the following recommenda-tions:

•Integrate child care into economic devel-opment planning.

•Reduce land use and zoning barriers tochild care facility development.

•Ensure that Maine leverages all availablestate and federal funds to supportaffordable child care.

•Explore new tax policies that encourageprivate sector investment in child careor make child care more affordable forworking families.

•Develop a child care facilities fund tooffer low-interest loans and grants tochild care providers.

Next Steps Maine continues to strive toward coordi-

nated early childhood services. Planninggroups continue to evolve. The Department

of Education is beginning to work towardthe goal of making pre-kindergarten servicesuniversally available to all four-year old chil-dren through early childhood programs inschools and community-based organizationssuch as Head Start and child care centers.Across-department task force will begin workon details of this goal shortly.The vision forthe future is that all children enter kinder-garten ready for school.

The Bureau of Health within theDepartment of Human Services is about toembark on another early childhood servicesplanning process with funds from the feder-al Maternal and Child Health Bureau.TheBureau of Family Health has proposed thatPhase I of the grant support a Future SearchConference.

The Child Care Advisory Council will con-tinue to discuss system integration betweenall types of child care and public school pro-grams.

The Office of Child Care and Head Startwill develop a strategic plan to guide itswork in the next two to five years.

Hopefully this summary of early care andeducation planning efforts can serve as aspringboard for that work. Based on theanalysis completed for this report, next stepsinclude the following:

• Develop common standards for allearly care and education programs andpractitioners in Maine, regardless of aus-pices or funding stream. Explore the feasi-bility of implementing these standards in theform of a “star” quality rating system for pro-grams, and a credentialing system for practi-tioners, that applies to early childhood serv-ices in all domains (e.g. child care, HeadStart, pre-kindergarten, etc.) Ensure thatthese standards link to the Maine EarlyLearning Results as well as: the Maine Roadsto Quality career lattice, Head Start perform-

ance standards, and pre-kindergarten teacherrequirements and program guidelines.Wherever possible, link standards to financialincentives such as the DHS subsidy systemand the current dependent care tax creditfor higher quality programs.

• Establish a set of common early careand education outcomes and indicatorsthat are used by all funders and systemadministrators.A first step would be to“cross-walk” the outcomes and indicatorsestablished by the planning efforts describedin this report (ME Early Learning Results,School Readiness Indicators Project, andACCESS) to identify common elements.Based on these common elements, compareoutcomes and indicators to the standards MEhas currently established for early care andeducation programs and practitioners toensure that current accountability measureswill lead to the desired outcomes.

• Compare the new Learning Results withearly childhood courses taught at the com-munity colleges, the university system, andthe RDCs to determine if practitioners arebeing prepared to implement the EarlyChildhood Learning Results. Career develop-ment efforts, and credentialing in particular,will not be effective unless the course con-tent effectively prepares practitioners to helpchildren achieve the desired outcomes.Tothis end, it will be necessary to “cross-walk”college course content — and well as thecore knowledge, career lattice and registryrequirements used by Maine Roads toQuality — with the new Learning Resultsand other desired outcomes to ensure thatpractitioner training is linked to learning out-comes.

• Review the State’s current data collec-tion capacity and plans to ensure that thedata needed to track progress in achievingoutcomes and evaluating programs areavailable. Cross-system data collection, using

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common data elements, is an essential com-ponent of a comprehensive early care andeducation system.At present, the variouscomponents of the system gather data in dif-ferent ways, using different automated sys-tems and different data sets.

• Review the technical assistance andsupport services that are currently avail-able to early childhood programs in theState of Maine.The goal of this inquiry isthreefold: 1) to document what is currentlyavailable; 2) to determine if current effortssufficiently prepare programs to operate effi-ciently and also meet the quality standardsdefined by the new Learning Results; and 3)to identify approaches that could most effec-tively help programs meet and maintainquality standards.

Review current home visiting and familysupport services to strengthen coordinationamong these efforts. If school readiness is agoal for home visiting, research indicatesthat strong linkages between home visitorsand classroom teachers in center-based earlylearning programs and schools are an essen-tial step. For children enrolled in family childcare options, it will be important to buildlinkages between home visitors and home-based child care providers.

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lyen

viro

nm

ents

Eva

luat

ion

• N

eed

s A

sses

smen

ts/R

evie

w o

f G

aps

and

Res

ou

rces

• B

asel

ine

dat

a co

llect

ion

• P

roce

ss e

valu

atio

n

• D

evel

op

Rep

ort

s o

n P

rogr

ess

• R

esea

rch

on

th

e im

pac

t/im

plic

atio

ns

of

the

No

Ch

ild L

eft

Beh

ind

Act

Sho

rt

• Pa

ren

ts g

ain

new

/en

han

ced

kn

ow

l-ed

ge o

f ch

ild d

evel

op

men

t

• Pa

ren

ts a

nd

ch

ild i

nte

ract

po

siti

vely

Pare

nts

pro

vid

e al

tern

ativ

e to

med

iaan

d p

rovi

de

op

po

rtu

nit

ies

for

con

-st

ruct

ive

pla

y

Inte

rmed

iate

• C

om

mu

nit

y le

ader

s an

d p

olic

y m

ak-

ers

con

sid

er i

mp

acts

of

fam

ily-fr

ien

d-

ly p

olic

ies

and

th

e w

ork

forc

e

• A

lign

men

t b

etw

een

ear

ly c

hild

ho

od

syst

em a

nd

sta

te s

tan

dar

ds

for

earl

ygr

ades

in

sch

oo

ls

Lon

g-te

rm

• C

han

ge i

n c

ult

ura

l n

orm

;ch

ange

in

wo

rkp

lace

ben

efit

s,et

c.

• C

hild

ren

are

nu

rtu

red

by

hea

lth

y,lo

v-in

g p

aren

ts

• In

fras

tru

ctu

re o

f se

rvic

es t

o s

up

po

rtp

aren

ts a

nd

car

egiv

ers,

hel

pin

g to

imp

rove

or

enh

ance

par

ent

skill

s

• C

hild

ren

mee

t d

evel

op

men

tal

mile

-st

on

es o

r ar

e re

ferr

ed f

or

serv

ices

,re

sult

ing

in g

reat

er s

cho

ol

read

ines

s

• Lo

wer

rat

es o

f b

ully

ing,

sch

oo

l vi

o-

len

ce,c

hild

ab

use

an

d n

egle

ct

• Im

pro

ved

ava

ilab

ility

of

qu

alit

y ch

ildca

re

• Su

stai

ned

bu

sin

ess

com

mit

men

t to

Pre

-K –

12

edu

cati

on

A.C

hild

ren

will

be

nu

rtu

red

by

hea

lth

y lo

vin

g p

aren

ts w

ho

hav

e a

sou

nd

kn

ow

led

ge b

ase

of

child

dev

elo

pm

ent

and

wh

o h

ave

dev

el-

op

ed a

bro

ad r

ange

of

skill

s es

sen

-ti

al f

or

par

enti

ng

B.F

amily

Res

ou

rce

Cen

ters

are

est

ab-

lish

ed a

nd

uti

lized

,ser

vin

g as

th

eh

ub

of

com

mu

nit

y se

rvic

es d

esig

-n

ated

to

im

pro

ve f

amily

lif

e

C.Y

ou

ng

child

ren

will

be

pro

tect

edfr

om

ex

po

sure

to

vio

len

ce a

nd

trau

ma

by

thei

r fa

mili

es a

nd

co

m-

mu

nit

ies

D.M

ain

e m

en a

nd

wo

men

will

he

sup

po

rted

in

th

e w

ork

fo

rce

inth

eir

role

s as

par

ents

;em

plo

yers

will

su

pp

ort

fam

ily p

arti

cip

atio

nin

Ear

ly C

are

Pro

gram

s

Task

Fo

rce

on

Ear

ly C

hild

ho

od

Wo

rk P

lan

– S

ept.

2003

*Fo

ur

Ho

mes

:Fam

ily,E

du

cati

on

al/C

hild

Car

e,M

edic

al/H

ealt

h C

are

and

Co

mm

un

ity

GO

ALS

/ O

BJE

CT

IVE

SIN

PU

TS

OU

TP

UT

S/A

CT

IVIT

IES

OU

TC

OM

ES

and

(R

eso

urc

es &

Ass

ets)

To

ach

ieve

th

e G

oal

s/

IND

ICA

TO

RS

Peo

ple

,pro

gram

s,p

olic

ies

and

Ob

ject

ives

giv

en t

he

reso

urc

es

fun

ds

that

ex

ist

in o

ne

or

and

ass

ets

in o

ne

or

mo

re o

f m

ore

“H

om

es*”

the

fou

r “H

om

es*”

I.

Gre

ate

r C

om

mit

men

ts t

o A

ssis

t P

are

nts

of

Yo

un

g C

hil

dre

n

Appendix A

Fam

ily H

om

e•

Pare

nt(

s),S

ign

ific

ant

Oth

ers,

• Ex

ten

ded

Fam

ily

• Ed

uca

tio

nal

/Ch

ild C

are

Ho

me

• H

om

e V

isit

ing

Pro

gram

s

• Ea

rly

Hea

d S

tart

/Hea

d S

tart

Med

ical

/Hea

lth

Car

e H

om

e•

Hea

lth

Car

e p

rofe

ssio

nal

s,M

enta

lH

ealt

h,S

ub

stan

ce A

bu

se

• Fe

der

al M

ater

nal

an

d C

hild

Hea

lth

Co

mm

un

ity H

om

e•

Loca

l C

om

mu

nit

y R

eso

urc

es

• Lo

cal

Res

ou

rce

Dev

elo

pm

ent

Cen

ters

• Lo

cal

Co

op

erat

ive

Exte

nsi

on

Off

ices

• C

om

mu

nit

ies

for

Ch

ildre

n

• C

hild

Dev

elo

pm

ent

Serv

ices

• G

ove

rno

r

• C

hild

ren

’s C

abin

et,

• R

egio

nal

Ch

ildre

n’s

Cab

inet

• Tr

i-bra

nch

Co

un

cil

on

Ch

ildre

n a

nd

Fam

ilies

• Le

gisl

atu

re

• O

ffic

e o

f Ec

on

om

ic D

evel

op

men

t

• D

om

esti

c V

iole

nce

an

d V

iole

nce

Pre

ven

tio

n P

rogr

ams

• A

dvo

cacy

Org

aniz

atio

ns

• M

ain

e C

hild

ren

’s A

llian

ce

• M

ain

e C

hild

ren

’s T

rust

• A

CC

ESS

• St

art

Me

Rig

ht

• P

roce

ss I

mp

rove

men

t m

od

el

• Fe

der

al G

ran

t O

pp

ort

un

itie

s

• C

hild

ren

’s C

abin

et a

nd

Ear

lyC

hild

ho

od

Tas

k Fo

rce

iden

tify

co

m-

mo

n w

ork

pla

n

• Id

enti

fy s

tate

bu

dge

t fo

r ea

rly

child

-h

oo

d

• Id

enti

fy c

om

mu

nit

y b

ased

ear

lych

ildh

oo

d r

eso

urc

es

• Li

tera

ture

sea

rch

on

pro

mis

ing

pra

c-ti

ces

• A

lly w

ith

new

Hea

lth

Ex

ecu

tive

Leve

l H

ealt

h P

olic

y.

• A

lly w

ith

Mai

ne

chap

ters

of

Am

eric

an A

cad

emy

of

Ped

iatr

ics

and

Fam

ily P

hys

icia

ns

• Im

ple

men

t p

roce

ss i

mp

rove

men

tm

od

el t

o r

evie

w r

eso

urc

e al

loca

tio

nan

d m

ake

reco

mm

end

atio

ns

for

real

ign

men

t

• D

evel

op

man

agem

ent

and

ove

rsig

ht

mec

han

ism

.

• Su

bm

it g

ran

t fo

r Ea

rly

Ch

ildh

oo

dC

om

pre

hen

sive

Sys

tem

s

Sho

rt-t

erm

Ou

tco

mes

• St

aff

sup

po

rt

• Ev

eryo

ne

wo

rkin

g o

ff t

he

sam

e p

age

to i

ncr

ease

lik

elih

oo

d o

f ac

hie

vin

glo

ng-

term

ou

tco

mes

.

• B

asel

ine

Kn

ow

led

ge o

f re

sou

rces

bas

e

• Im

pro

vin

g co

mm

un

icat

ion

s b

etw

een

stat

e an

d c

om

mu

nit

y fo

r p

rogr

amim

ple

men

tati

on

.

• P

rom

ote

pro

mis

ing

pra

ctic

es

• P

urs

ue

un

iver

sal

pri

mar

y ca

re

• C

oo

rdin

ate

effo

rts

wit

h h

ealt

h c

are

com

mu

nit

y

• M

axim

ize

the

effe

ctiv

enes

s o

f o

bta

in-

ing

and

pro

vid

ing

the

reso

urc

es;t

om

on

ito

r th

e p

erfo

rman

ce o

r m

ake

alte

rati

on

s w

hen

nee

ded

? (

Kin

d o

flik

e Se

lf p

olic

ing

the

pro

cess

)

Lon

ger-

term

Ou

tco

mes

• Fa

mili

es r

ecei

ve n

eed

ed s

ervi

ces

that

are

tim

ely,

app

rop

riat

e an

d c

on

nec

t-ed

to

co

mm

un

ity

reso

urc

es.

• In

crea

se t

he

% o

f ch

ildre

n i

n M

ain

ew

ho

hav

e ac

cess

to

a M

edic

al H

om

e

• St

ate

and

co

mm

un

itie

s h

ave

a p

lan

of

acti

on

th

at c

an b

e b

uilt

up

on

fo

rco

nti

nu

ou

s im

pro

vem

ent

bas

edu

po

n i

np

ut

and

dat

a fr

om

ch

ildre

nan

d f

amili

es

A.R

efo

rm t

he

hea

lth

care

sys

tem

to

tap

curr

ent

un

pro

du

ctiv

e h

ealt

hca

reex

pen

dit

ure

s in

ord

er t

o f

un

d a

nd

mak

e u

niv

ersa

lly a

vaila

ble

:P

reve

nti

ve,d

evel

op

men

tal

and

evi

-d

ence

-bas

ed a

lter

nat

ive

serv

ices

wh

ich

op

tim

ize

the

ph

ysic

al,m

enta

lan

d s

oci

al h

ealt

h o

f ev

ery

wo

man

of

child

bea

rin

g ag

e,ev

ery

child

an

dth

e m

en i

n t

hei

r liv

es

B.E

very

co

mm

un

ity

is m

oti

vate

d t

od

edic

ate

qu

alit

y,ac

cess

ible

,aff

ord

-ab

le,a

nd

co

mp

reh

ensi

ve c

are

of

all

child

ren

in

a t

imel

y m

ann

er,b

ased

on

th

e u

nd

erst

and

ing

of

fin

anci

alan

d h

um

anis

tic

ben

efit

s

C.H

ealt

hy

earl

y ch

ildh

oo

d d

evel

op

-m

ent

is e

stab

lish

ed i

n s

tatu

te a

s a

civi

l ri

ght

wit

h a

go

vern

men

t en

tity

hel

d a

cco

un

tab

le.

Req

uir

ing

this

to

hap

pen

will

fo

rce

mo

ney

to

co

me

do

wn

(b

e ap

pro

pri

ated

) to

mee

t th

en

eed

s

GO

ALS

/ O

BJE

CT

IVE

SIN

PU

TS

OU

TP

UT

S/A

CT

IVIT

IES

OU

TC

OM

ES

and

(R

eso

urc

es &

Ass

ets)

To

ach

ieve

th

e G

oal

s/

IND

ICA

TO

RS

Peo

ple

,pro

gram

s,p

olic

ies

and

Ob

ject

ives

giv

en t

he

reso

urc

es

fun

ds

that

ex

ist

in o

ne

or

and

ass

ets

in o

ne

or

mo

re o

f m

ore

“H

om

es*”

the

fou

r “H

om

es*”

II. S

ecu

rin

g N

eed

ed R

eso

urc

es f

or

Yo

un

g C

hil

dre

n

Fam

ily H

om

e•

Pare

nt(

s),S

ign

ific

ant

Oth

ers,

• Ex

ten

ded

Fam

ily

Ed

uca

tio

nal

/Ch

ild

Car

e H

om

e•

Ho

me

Vis

itin

g•

Earl

y H

ead

Sta

rt•

Earl

y St

art

CD

A•

Lib

rari

es•

Succ

ess

by

Six

•

Hea

lth

y Le

arn

ers

• H

ealt

hy

Ch

ild C

are

Am

eric

a

Med

ical

/ H

ealt

h C

are

Ho

me

• M

edic

al H

om

es/M

H/

Pu

blic

Hea

lth

Nu

rsin

g•

On

e M

E Su

bst

ance

Ab

use

Pre

ven

tio

n

• C

hild

ren

wit

h S

pec

ial

Hea

lth

Nee

ds

Pro

gram

Co

mm

un

ity H

om

e •

DH

S/ B

DS

• D

OE,

Hig

her

Ed

uca

tio

n,P

erso

nn

elP

rep

(te

ch/c

om

mu

nit

y &

sta

te c

ol-

lege

s)•

Mai

ne

Ro

ads

to Q

ual

ity

• M

ain

e Pa

ren

t Fe

der

atio

n•

ME

Ass

oc.

Infa

nt

Men

tal

Hea

lth

• C

ente

r fo

r C

om

mu

nit

y In

clu

sio

n•

Ch

ild A

bu

se C

ou

nci

ls•

Task

Fo

rce

Pare

nt

Han

db

oo

k •

Mai

ne

Earl

y C

hild

ho

od

Res

ult

s•

Rai

sin

g R

ead

ers

• M

ain

e H

um

anit

ies

Co

un

cil’s

Bo

rn t

oR

ead

• W

IC•

Mai

ne

Cen

ter

of

Pu

blic

Hea

lth

• C

om

mu

nit

ies

for

Ch

ildre

n a

nd

Yo

uth

• St

ren

gth

en m

enta

l h

ealt

h c

om

po

-n

ent

of

ho

me

visi

tin

g sy

stem

• Ex

pan

d h

om

e vi

siti

ng

to p

regn

ant

wo

men

bey

on

d f

irst

bir

ths

• St

atew

ide

med

ia c

amp

aign

ref

lect

ing

rese

arch

on

em

oti

on

al i

nte

llige

nce

• In

tegr

ate

trai

nin

g o

n b

alan

cin

g em

o-

tio

nal

,so

cial

,co

gnit

ive

dev

elo

pm

ent

• Id

enti

fy e

xis

tin

g fa

mily

res

ou

rces

• Id

enti

fy a

ll in

fan

t to

dd

ler

trai

nin

gp

rogr

ams

& c

urr

icu

la•

Iden

tify

ear

ly c

hild

ho

od

sp

ecia

l ed

pro

gram

s &

tra

inin

g o

pp

ort

un

itie

s•

Dis

sem

inat

e Pa

ren

t h

and

bo

ok

• St

ren

gth

en l

iter

acy

com

po

nen

t o

fH

om

e V

isit

ing

• Ea

rly

liter

acy

trai

nin

g o

f ch

ildca

rep

rovi

der

s an

d p

re s

cho

ol-

teac

her

s•

Invo

lve

fam

ilies

in

all

pla

nn

ing

pro

cess

es.

• M

ain

e C

ente

r o

f P

ub

lic H

ealt

h G

ran

tto

str

engt

hen

cap

acit

y o

f p

rim

ary

hea

lth

car

e p

rovi

der

s to

det

ect

men

-ta

l h

ealt

h p

rob

lem

s

• A

ll ch

ildre

n b

irth

to

th

ree

will

dem

on

stra

te h

ealt

hy,

secu

re a

ttac

h-

men

t to

car

egiv

ers

• R

edu

ce r

ates

of

low

bir

th w

eigh

tan

d p

rem

atu

re b

irth

s

• R

edu

ce t

ob

acco

an

d a

lco

ho

l u

se b

y15

% f

or

Mai

ne’

s fu

ture

par

ents

• D

ecre

ase

rep

ort

ed c

hild

ren

’s m

enta

lh

ealt

h d

ysfu

nct

ion

:an

ti-s

oci

al a

nd

aggr

essi

ve b

ehav

iors

,etc

• R

eso

urc

es w

ill b

e re

adily

acc

essi

ble

to f

amili

es:c

ult

ura

lly s

ensi

tive

wri

t-te

n m

ater

ial;

web

res

ou

rces

;par

ent

han

db

oo

k d

isse

min

ated

to

all

firs

t-ti

me

fam

ilies

pri

or

to b

irth

• Tr

ain

ing

and

co

nfe

ren

ces

for

pro

vid

ers

and

fam

ilies

on

so

cial

dev

elo

pm

ent

are

wid

ely

off

ered

• Pe

rso

nn

el p

rep

arat

ion

cu

rric

ula

an

dm

eth

od

s w

ill p

rom

ote

hea

lth

y so

cial

& e

mo

tio

nal

dev

elo

pm

ent

that

is

inlin

e w

ith

Neu

ron

s to

Nei

ghb

orh

oo

dre

sear

ch

• In

crea

se s

cho

ol-r

ead

ines

s

• In

crea

se l

iter

acy

skill

s P

re-K

• R

edu

ce n

um

ber

o

f ch

ildre

n i

n s

pe-

cial

ed

uca

tio

n

A.T

o e

nsu

re t

hat

all

child

ren

hav

e re

la-

tio

nsh

ips

and

en

viro

nm

ents

th

atn

urt

ure

hea

lth

y an

d c

on

sist

ent

soci

al,e

mo

tio

nal

,ph

ysic

al,a

nd

co

g-n

itiv

e d

evel

op

men

t.P

rom

ote

ALL

child

ren

’s h

ealt

hy

atta

chm

ents

B.T

o e

nsu

re t

hat

all

fam

ilies

,ear

ly c

hild

-h

oo

d p

rogr

ams,

and

sch

oo

ls h

ave

the

kno

wle

dge

an

d u

nd

erst

and

ing

to f

ost

er a

nd

pro

mo

te h

ealt

hy

atta

chm

ents

an

d s

oci

al e

mo

tio

nal

dev

elo

pm

ent

for

all

child

ren

C.T

o e

nsu

re t

hat

all

par

ents

an

d c

are-

give

rs h

ave

nec

essa

ry s

kills

to

pro

-vi

de

all

you

ng

child

ren

wit

h d

aily

lit

-er

acy

exp

erie

nce

s

GO

ALS

/ O

BJE

CT

IVE

SIN

PU

TS

OU

TP

UT

S/A

CT

IVIT

IES

OU

TC

OM

ES

and

(R

eso

urc

es &

Ass

ets)

To

ach

ieve

th

e G

oal

s/

IND

ICA

TO

RS

Peo

ple

,pro

gram

s,p

olic

ies

and

Ob

ject

ives

giv

en t

he

reso

urc

es

fun

ds

that

ex

ist

in o

ne

or

and

ass

ets

in o

ne

or

mo

re o

f m

ore

“H

om

es*”

the

fou

r “H

om

es*”

III.

Ba

lan

ce C

ogn

itiv

e D

evel

op

men

t w

ith

th

e E

mo

tio

na

l a

nd

Ph

ysic

al

Nee

ds

of

Yo

un

g C

hil

dre

n

Fam

ily H

om

e

• Pa

ren

ts,S

ign

ific

ant

Oth

ers

• Ex

ten

ded

Fam

ily

Ed

uca

tio

nal

/Ch

ild

Car

e H

om

e

• D

evel

op

men

t o

f st

atew

ide

sys-

tem

fo

r h

om

e vi

siti

ng

Med

ical

/Hea

lth

Car

e H

om

e

• B

ure

au o

f H

ealt

h

• P

rim

ary

Car

e P

rovi

der

s

Co

mm

un

ity H

om

e

• Lo

cal

Bra

nch

es o

f st

ate

syst

ems

• En

gage

d f

amili

es

• G

ove

rno

r

• Ea

rly

Ch

ildh

oo

d T

ask

Forc

e

• C

hild

ren

’s C

abin

et

• C

om

mu

nit

ies

for

Ch

ildre

n a

nd

Yo

uth

• R

egio

nal

Ch

ildre

n’s

Cab

inet

s

• Tr

i-bra

nch

Co

un

cil

on

Ch

ildre

nan

d F

amili

es

• O

ffic

e o

f Po

licy

and

Leg

alA

nal

ysis

• R

eau

tho

rize

th

e en

ablin

g le

gisl

atio

n f

or

the

Earl

y C

hild

ho

od

Tas

kFo

rce

• Su

pp

ort

th

e G

ove

rno

r an

d F

irst

Lad

y to

tak

e a

lead

ing

role

in

the

dev

elo

pm

ent

of

a m

ore

co

llab

ora

tive

ser

vice

sys

tem

,in

clu

d-

ing

lead

ersh

ip o

f th

e Ea

rly

Ch

ildh

oo

d T

ask

Forc

e an

d C

hild

ren

’sC

abin

et/C

ou

nci

l o

n C

hild

ren

an

d F

amili

es (

CC

/CC

F)

• C

reat

e co

mm

on

vis

ion

/go

als

un

der

dir

ecti

on

of

the

CC

/CC

F th

atar

e sh

ared

wit

h a

nd

by

all

leve

ls o

f th

e sy

stem

(st

ate,

regi

on

,lo

cal

con

trac

tin

g ag

enci

es)

• D

efin

e co

mm

on

co

mp

eten

cies

,sta

nd

ard

s an

d c

erti

fica

tio

ns

for

the

care

an

d s

up

po

rt o

f yo

un

g ch

ildre

n a

nd

fam

ilies

• D

evel

op

tra

inin

g at

th

e u

niv

ersi

ty,s

tate

an

d l

oca

l le

vels

th

at s

up

-p

ort

s th

e d

evel

op

men

t o

f co

mm

on

co

mp

eten

cies

an

d c

ross

-dis

-ci

plin

ary

and

rel

atio

nal

pra

ctic

es

• D

efin

e,m

on

ito

r an

d e

nfo

rce

colla

bo

rati

ve b

ehav

iors

th

rou

ghC

abin

et l

ead

ersh

ip,i

ncl

usi

on

in

age

ncy

jo

b d

escr

ipti

on

s an

dco

ntr

acts

wit

h o

uts

ide

agen

cies

• In

crea

se t

he

amo

un

t av

aila

ble

fo

r p

oo

led

,fle

xib

le f

un

din

g

• Se

ek g

ran

ts f

or

no

n-c

ateg

ori

cal,

colla

bo

rati

ve,c

ross

-age

ncy

fu

nd

-in

g;

• In

crea

se a

war

enes

s o

f th

e C

C/C

CF

and

dia

logu

e w

ith

all

stak

e-h

old

ers

• N

eed

s as

sess

men

ts w

ill b

e d

on

e to

id

enti

fy u

nm

et n

eed

s

• W

aiti

ng

lists

res

ult

ing

fro

m c

ou

rt o

rder

s w

ill b

e ta

rget

ed f

or

elim

inat

ion

• Ea

rly

Ch

ildh

oo

d T

ask

Forc

e w

ill i

den

tify

“ef

fect

ive”

or

“b

est

pra

ctic

es”

syst

ems

• In

th

e H

om

e V

isit

ing

pro

gram

s,st

aff

will

hel

p p

aren

ts a

nd

fam

ilym

emb

ers

wit

h s

uch

lif

e sk

ills

as t

o q

uit

sm

oki

ng,

con

tin

ue

edu

-ca

tio

n,m

ove

to

im

pro

ved

ho

usi

ng,

• D

evel

op

un

ifie

d p

erfo

rman

ce m

easu

res

acro

ss d

epar

tmen

t fo

rsh

ared

go

als

• D

evel

op

in

tegr

ated

in

form

atio

n s

yste

ms

acro

ss d

epar

tmen

ts

• R

evie

w l

on

g-te

rm c

ost

an

d b

enef

its

and

un

inte

nd

ed a

nd

in

ten

d-

ed c

on

seq

uen

ces

on

ch

ildre

n a

nd

fam

ilies

of

po

licie

s th

atim

pac

t ch

ildre

n a

nd

fam

ilies

• D

evel

op

im

pac

t st

atem

ents

• T

imel

y ac

cess

to

ser

vice

s b

y fe

wer

per

son

nel

an

d m

ore

co

mp

reh

en-

sive

ser

vice

s

• A

ll p

arts

of

the

stat

e an

d a

ll ag

en-

cies

use

In

tegr

ated

Cas

eM

anag

emen

t,an

d o

ther

bes

t p

rac-

tice

s,ef

fect

ivel

y

• Fa

mili

es f

eel

sup

po

rted

by

the

sys-

tem

• C

hild

ren

an

d f

amili

es w

ith

nee

ds

will

hav

e ea

sy a

cces

s to

ser

vice

syst

ems

to m

eet

thes

e n

eed

s

• Pa

ren

t’s

abili

ties

as

the

pri

me

mo

ver

in a

ch

ild’s

lif

e w

ill b

egi

ven

in

crea

sed

vis

ibili

ty

• Im

pro

ved

ser

vice

s an

d l

ess

tim

esp

ent

on

rep

ort

ing

mu

ltip

le m

eas-

ure

s fo

r sh

ared

go

als

• Su

cces

sfu

l p

iloti

ng

of

inte

grat

edca

se m

anag

emen

t

• Po

ole

d f

lex

ible

fu

nd

ing

• D

epar

tmen

ts a

re a

ll u

sin

g p

er-

form

ance

bas

ed c

on

trac

tin

g

• D

ata

syst

ems

dev

elo

pm

ent

gran

tat

Off

ice

of

Ch

ild C

are

and

Hea

dSt

art

• C

om

pre

hen

sive

dat

a av

aila

ble

fo

rp

olic

y d

evel

op

men

t

• Po

licie

s th

at n

egat

ivel

y im

pac

tfa

mili

es a

nd

ch

ildre

n w

ill b

eav

oid

ed a

nd

ch

ange

d•

• Se

rvic

es n

ot

emp

loyi

ng

bes

t p

rac-

tice

s w

ill b

e as

sist

ed b

y th

e Ea

rly

Ch

ildh

oo

d T

ask

Forc

e

• In

pro

gram

s/se

rvic

es e

mp

loyi

ng

“tea

m p

lan

nin

g”fo

r a

child

,th

ep

aren

ts w

ill b

e a

lead

mem

ber

A.

All

syst

ems

(or

un

its

of

gove

rnm

ent)

will

co

ord

i-n

ate

and

co

llab

ora

te t

ob

enef

it c

hild

ren

an

d

fam

i-lie

s,d

evel

op

ing

and

en

act-

ing

an

eff

ecti

ve s

yste

m t

hat

sup

po

rts

and

nu

rtu

res

all

child

ren

an

d f

amili

esth

rou

gho

ut

child

ho

od

B.

Effe

ctiv

e se

rvic

e sy

stem

san

d i

nte

rven

tio

ns

for

you

ng

child

ren

will

hav

e fa

mili

esat

th

e ce

nte

r an

d a

cces

sib

leto

all

C.

Shar

ed a

cco

un

tab

ility

fo

rsh

ared

go

als

wit

h u

nif

ied

mea

sure

s

GO

ALS

/ O

BJE

CT

IVE

SIN

PU

TS

OU

TP

UT

S/A

CT

IVIT

IES

OU

TC

OM

ES

and

(R

eso

urc

es &

Ass

ets)

To

ach

ieve

th

e G

oal

s/

IND

ICA

TO

RS

Peo

ple

,pro

gram

s,p

olic

ies

and

Ob

ject

ives

giv

en t

he

reso

urc

es

fun

ds

that

ex

ist

in o

ne

or

and

ass

ets

in o

ne

or

mo

re o

f m

ore

“H

om

es*”

the

fou

r “H

om

es*”

IV.

Gu

ara

nte

ein

g E

ffec

tive

Ser

vice

Sys

tem

s fo

r Y

ou

ng C

hil

dre

n

Supported by the Maine Department of Human Services,through the Child Care Development Fund

Administration For Children, Youth and FamiliesU.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

015-10A-8713-012

Maine Office of Child Care and Head StartMaine Department of Human Services

Community Services Center221 State Street

11 State House StationAugusta, Maine 043333Phone: 207-287-5060Fax: 207-287-5031TTY: 207-287-5048

Maine Department of Human Services221 State Street

11 State House StationAugusta, Maine 04333-0011