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 The Compass
Pointing the Way to the Stars |
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NC Division of Child Development
& Early Education |
Fall/Winter 2011
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From the Director's Desk
When I last wrote to you in the August newsletter, we faced quite a few big changes. In the months since then, we've made amazing strides in tackling those changes. Take a look at what's been accomplished:
We've learned to think of ourselves as DCDEE and embraced the "Early Education" in our name, although we've been engaged in the work of early education all along! Our new logo and letterhead show how our programs - the Star Rated License, SEEK, and NC Pre-K - all fit together to serve children, families and providers of early care and education and school-age care.
NC Pre-K has settled in as part of the DCDEE family, with a fairly smooth transition. We developed and submitted the NC Pre-K Compliance Plan requested in Governor Perdue's Executive Order 100. This outlines a five-year plan to serve all eligible four year olds. There's a new NC Pre-K tab on our website where you will find program information, forms, resources and other NC Pre-K program links.
In August, SEEK (Subsidized Early Education for Kids) was not yet underway. Now all 100 counties are using attendance capture and reporting through the SEEK system. POS machines are installed in child care facilities and also available on school buses and vans, which lets parents use their swipe card during pick-up and drop-off. We expect to pilot the SEEK payment component in March 2012, with implementation in all 100 counties by July 1, 2012. Ron Byrd (Subsidy Section Chief) and I will be visiting several child care facilities in Salisbury on December 21st to observe parents swiping their SEEK cards as they drop-off their children. We hope to discover any issues that exist for parents with the new automated attendance and record-keeping system.
We completed the Cultural & Linguistic Competence survey of our staff, child care providers, and other early childhood partners. Many thanks to everyone who took the survey last spring. Early analysis and a committed work group are identifying strategies to improve the ways we work with each other and interact with our customers, to help us become a more inclusive and effective agency. Look for more about this in future issues.
And last but most definitely not least, DCDEE worked very closely with the Governor's Early Childhood Advisory Council to develop North Carolina's proposal for the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge Fund. On December 16 we learned that North Carolina was one of nine states to win these funds! This grant brings 70 million dollars to the state early childhood system and we are thrilled at the wonderful things this will provide for our youngest citizens. We will bring you many more details in the future, but you can read the Governor's press release to learn about some of what was in the proposal.
Please know how much I appreciate the work that you all do every day to improve the lives of children and families in North Carolina.
All the best,
Deborah Cassidy, PhD
Director |
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Early Education and Child Care MATTERS
"Positive early language and literacy development can give children a window to the world, helping to ensure that each child can seize his or her potential for future success." This is the subject of A Window to the World from Zero to Three, a non-profit whose mission is to promote the health and development of infants and toddlers.
A Window to the World explores early literacy - "all of a child's experiences with conversation, stories . . ., books and print" before they can actually read and write.
Read the policy brief to learn about how the wiring in babies' brains is built through interactions with their caregivers, and see Zero to Three's policy recommendations to make sure that the youngest children are included in state literacy systems.
Be sure to watch the video A Window to the World: Promoting Early Language and Literacy Development. It beautifully demonstrates the many opportunities to communicate and build connections through everyday activities with infants and toddlers. After watching it, you just might want to go find a baby and a board book! |
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In Memoriam: Honoring the Life of Delia Allen
A Healthy Social Behaviors Specialist at Child Care Services Association, Delia Allen worked to teach young children non-violent solutions to their problems. She hoped that all young children could learn the skills to solve problems peacefully, so they would not grow up to become violent adults.
Tragically, Delia Allen's life was taken in a senseless, random act of violence on October 8, 2011. Her death is a tremendous loss for the early childhood community, as it is for her family and friends.
In honor of her life and hard work, the Delia Allen Early Childhood Education Fund on Teaching Non-Violence was created by Child Care Services Association. Learn more about the fund and how to donate to it, to support Delia's hopes for young children.
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Tips about Criminal Record Checks for Child Care Providers
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Criminal Record Check Unit
is located in the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE). As we close out 2011 and look forward to a productive and safe 2012, we offer some helpful hints about criminal record check requirements. These will help keep child care providers in compliance and will help protect the children in their care.
Read more to learn the most important things to know about submitting CRC packets, how to figure out an applicant's date of hire, and what other services DCDEE performs for providers when we conduct a criminal record check.
For more information about criminal record checks and available forms, please go to www.ncchildcare.net, DHHS Criminal Record Checks - Child Care.
Contact us at DHHS.CRC.Unit@dhhs.nc.gov or (919)773-2856.
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Highlighting Healthy Early Care and Education
In our last issue of The Compass we introduced Let's Move! Child Care, a website full of resources and inspiration to improve the nutrition and healthy weight of America's children. Now they've issued a Start Early challenge. States are competing to see who can get the most child care providers signed up.
Sign up now to participate. Here's what you'll get:
A checklist quiz will help you assess how your program is doing in child health and nutrition. You'll be able to create a customized action plan. There's a certificate
for participating that you can display, and there will be recognition awards for successes. You can submit success stories to share with others; some of these may be highlighted on the White House blog! Not convinced? Read these reasons to participate. You'll see that this is a win-win for you, your kids and their families.
To help you make the most of outdoor activities, we have an amazing resource in North Carolina. The Green Desk, part of the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI), is an online site to find ideas, ask questions, and have discussions about high quality, healthy outdoor environments for young children. You can sign-up to receive their
e-newsletter by submitting your email address from their website.
Finally, don't forget to regularly check out the Healthy Child Care Standard of the Month for tips about best practice and practical ideas from your peers. December's tip will help you transition young children to new indoor and outdoor environments.
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Be on the Safe Side
What happens when child abuse or neglect occurs in a child care facility?
When you think of child abuse and neglect, typically you think of parents or guardians abusing their children at home, right? Did you know this can also occur in child care settings? In North Carolina, any caretaker in child care can be investigated when there has been a report of child abuse or neglect. A caretaker includes child care teachers, administrators, family child care home operators and anyone else who cares for children in a child care setting.
Unfortunately, many situations in child care settings can lead to incidents that may be reported as child abuse and/or child neglect. These incidents are almost never intentional, but they do happen and must be investigated. Read about what happens in an investigation . . .
So what can you do to prevent these incidents? Look for Be On The Safe Side in future editions of The Compass. In this feature we'll describe typical situations that could result in harm to children - some obvious, others less so - and provide resources you can use to protect children and avoid the potential risks. |
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Annual Childcare Immunization Reports 
The North Carolina Immunization Law requires child care programs to file an annual immunization report with the NC Division of Public Health (NC DPH) by November 1. This year, due to a delay in sending out the Annual Immunization Report, programs have until January 13, 2012 to submit the forms.
This NC DPH Women's and Children's Health web page has the report form, an interactive training module on how to complete the form, a printable guide to immunizations required for children in child care, and other resources.
Note: Although the Annual Immunization Report Memo says the due date is December 15, 2011, this has been changed to January 13, 2012.
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Child Care Provider's Guide to Crib Regulations
in English and Spanish |
Reminder:
New Crib Standards
By December 28, 2012,
child care facilities must use only compliant cribs that meet the new federal safety standards.
Healthy Child Care America has information, Crib Rules and Frequently Asked Questions to help you learn everything you need to know to be in compliance with the new standards. |
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Will the Next Generation Have a Steve Jobs?
You know who the late Steve Jobs was - the father of Apple computers and the iPod, iPhone, iPad - a tremendously creative guy. What made him that type of person? ChildCareExchange.com thought this was an important question to ask
when thinking about how we raise children today. They recently featured an opinion piece on Huffington Post by Darell Hammond, the CEO of KaBOOM!, a non-profit that helps communities build playgrounds. Mr. Hammond asks "If We Don't Let Our Children Play, Who Will Be the Next Steve Jobs?"
Read Mr. Hammond's piece and think about whether we are doing all we can to inspire children's curiosity, creativity, and imagination.
Need ideas to help you do better at this? One great resource - The Green Desk - was mentioned in another article in this newsletter. It's a great place to start. |
 Parting Thoughts "The United States invests relatively little at the starting point - in early childhood development -
and as a consequence pays dearly for this neglect
at every point thereafter." Economist James Heckman,
Letter to U.S. Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, September 21, 2011 "The question isn't whether we can afford early childhood education, but whether we can afford not to provide it." Nicholas Kristof, Occupy the Classroom, New York Times, October 19, 2011 |
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