TehamaCounty Local Child Care Planning Council

Tehama County Department of Education

1135 Lincoln Street, Red Bluff

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 – 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.

MINUTES

In attendance were: Lisa Matheson, Paula Brown-Almond, Cynthia Cook, Stacy Burgess, Violet Espinosa, and Valerie Orner

Guests: Brian Heese, Irma Cuadro

Absent: Sandy Burkett

1) Call to Order and Introductions

Cynthia Cook called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. Introductions were omitted.

2) Approval of Minutes

Stacy Burgess moved that minutes be approved; Violet Espinosa seconded. Motion was carried.

3) Council Business and Action Items

Paula Brown-Almond, Administrator, reported the following:

Paula spoke about CDD contractors not earning their contracts and those monies being redistributed to contractors who had enough children to serve, offsetting the first round of budget cuts called trigger cuts. It is disturbing that centers went unfilled due to doubt about the monies being available. Trigger CutReductions in the budget go into effect July 1, with further cuts on the horizon. No one knows for sure which of the Governor’s budget proposals will go through and which will not. Stacy stated that her agency will see drastic cuts next year.Income ceilings will be lowered, as well as reimbursement rates if the Governors proposed budget goes through.

Child Care Needs Assessment: Just a few small things left to do; the report will be submitted by June 30, 2012. Assessment Document will be reviewed and approved for submission at the Strategic Planning Meeting on May 8, 2012, held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Council Applicants: Five people have applied -- two are signing up for another term and three applicants are new. Applicants’ names will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors in April.

4) Other Business and Action Items:

AB212: Cynthia Cook and Heidi Mendenhall have been presenting workshops regarding how people work with children. Last night was “Attachment Matters.” Attendance has been good, from 14 to 18 per workshop. Suggestion for next year, same model. Paula asked for everyone to look at the proposed plan in their folders. Lisa motioned that we go with the same plan, Stacy seconded. Motion passed.

Provider Recognition: Last year was a little different, featuring an open house setting at the Department of Education rather than a big event. This year’s celebration will be held on Thursday, May 10, possibly 4 to 8 p.m., with dessert and coffee. Evaluations of last year’s event were positive. The subcommittee will meet before the next meeting in March to discuss the details.(Scheduled for Tuesday, March 13 at 12:pm) at TCDE. Subcommittee members: Lisa, Paula, Stacy will chair. First Five Tehama funded last year’s event, First Five Commissioners were invited and enjoyed the event.

Correspondence Folder:There is quite a bit of information regarding the budget cuts. If you want copies of anything, let us know.

Administrator’s Report: CDD is reacting to Governor’s proposal. There is a possibility that there will be no Child Development Division in 2013-2014. Camille Maben is putting together a White Paper regarding the impact of the governor’s proposal. She talked about the need for diversity in California’s system of early childhood education and child care. Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson, took a stand regarding value of early childhood programs, letting the governor know how valuable it is. Torklason is rejecting the Governor’s proposal to disband the current child care programs and move the funding over to Department of Social Services.

5) Community Reports

Upcoming events:

April is month of the Young Child. Children’s Fair will not happen in April. The Education Foundation is hoping the Children’s Fair may be combined with St. Elizabeth’s Health Spree. The Health Spree is always in October. Paula is hoping the event can happen before October, maybe during the spring or summer, as the parents use the Children’s Fair information to enroll their children during the spring into Fall ECE Programs.

May 8 is annual LPC training day, open to the public also.

Legislative Updates: Cynthia composed letter to Darrell Steinberg, which is in your packet for review. It is important to emphasize the number of children who are losing slots, mentioning something about TehamaCounty specifically. “In our county alone, over 1,500 children are being served. Currently we are serving this many kids, with proposed changes, this many children will be left without services.”

Chart showed proposed cuts in funding over the next two years. Bring it back to the tax base, if parents cannot get into subsidized child care, parents quit their job, thereby reducing the tax base and increasing dependence on cash aid and unemployment benefits.

Brian will review the letter and provide some additional facts that should be included as far as projections.

A motion was requested that we send the letter: Stacy so moved, Violet seconded. No further discussion. Motion carried.

Migrant Head Start E center:Irma Cuadros informed the Council regarding refunding proposals and their five-year cycle. Issues with Community Care Licensing included possible over-reporting of minor incidents. ECenter must now compete for funding with other organizations. From 2007 to 2010, the agency was on probation. They received anoutstanding federal review last year. ECenter is applying for more grants for Early Migrant Head Start and Migrant Head Start.

ECENTER has ten to twelve staff members as staff to the Migrant Head Start Program in TehamaCounty even though they are on unemployment right now. ECenter has ImplementedCLASS across 9 counties, and ECERS, FCCHEN ECERS, and Infant Toddler. ECenter is working with CSEMPLE. ECenter has very positive, and a good turnout of letters from other counties. E Centers are open during the hours parents need services, but no more than 12 hours a day. They are adding head teachers and bus drivers, reducing management.

Irma is looking for a letter of support by the end of February and provided Kathy Davidson’s letter as a sample. Motion to send a letter in support of E-Migrant Head Start, by Lisa, seconded by Stacy. No further discussion. Motion carried.

Center Based:

State Preschool is fully enrolled.

Head Start:

Head Start received a cost of living increase of 7.2 percent. Head Start received notification from CDE that they have approved move of 24 children from Corning to Red Bluff. Full day center in Corning for fours won’t have the state strings attached. They are fully enrolled.

FCCHEN

Report by Cynthia Cook

The program is enrolling, as some children have aged out and we are replacing those children, possibly as many as 10.

Home Visiting

Report by Cynthia Cook

School Readiness may be receiving additional funds. We are planning two sessions of Kindercamp in Red Bluff, two in Corning, one in Gerber and one in Los Molinos. Transportation provided also. NCCDI will put out flyer to their wait listed families. SR is funding just Kindercamp this year. Hope is to expand county-wide in the near future.
CCRE

Report by Stacy Burgess

Flyers available for March conference, Children in Balance. This is the result of a collaboration of several organizations. CCRE is holding holding off on replacing recently vacated spot, depending on budget. Susan is only specialist in the office at this time.

AOT/ Office of Social Services

Report by Lisa Matheson

ShastaCollege is having some major cuts, changing what qualifies for financial aid. Less than 12-unit program will not qualify. Social Service office’s new WorkFirstCenter is very busy. In January more than 500 hours were logged with people coming and going. Department of Social Services is getting ready to do interviews for a driver. Applications are screened by an outside company and potential applicants are selected from a list as positions open. Refer to website for employment help, they are hiring lots of new people.

First Five:

Report by Denise Snider

Denise updated Cares Plus. A total of 53 applied, 35 of those applicants are fully participating. The participants include a team from Migrant Head Start, Family Child Care and State Preschool.

Monterey First 5 is working with Monterey Rotary to bring Prof. James Heckman’s YouTube presentation on early childhood, in an effort to apply research to advocacy efforts.

Child Abuse Prevention Council:

Report by Paula Brown-Almond

The organization is currently recruiting new members.

Professional Development Opportunities:

March 20 CPIN Network Meeting introducing Foundations’ Health Module.

-AB212: Next month is Memory Matters. April is Culture Matters.

-UC Davis Workshops: March 10 and 31, 2012 both are in Redding.

-March 22, Transitional Kindergarten for Administrators.

Next meeting will be held March 13, 2012, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Meeting was adjourned at 2:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Valerie Orner

LPC Secretary