Winter 2014 | An educational eNewsletter for Rhode Island-based licensed child care providers and non-profit organizations

In This Issue

Rhode Island Early Learning Facility Needs Assessment

Natural Playground Under Construction!

Education Week details need for preschool facilities funding

Emergency Preparedness

Indoor Air Quality

How often do you think about the air quality inside your child care facility? In the busy, fast-paced child care environment, it is easy to take clean air for granted, but indoor air pollutants can be harmful to staff and children. Learn more about the effects of air quality on children's health and examine ways to improve the quality of air in your facility at the following sites:

Healthy Child

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

Seventh Generation

Need to raise or borrow money for your facility project?

LISC's Guide on Child Care Facilities Development and Financing contains a whole chapter on this topic.

Need to have an Asbestos Inspection Conducted?

DCYF's new child care regulations that went into effect in November of 2013 require you to demonstrate that your facility is asbestos free or asbestos safe. If you have not done so already you will need to have an inspection completed to get this documentation. You can find a listing of state licensed asbestos inspectors HERE.

RICCFF

The Rhode Island Child Care Facilities Fund (RICCFF) is an innovative public-private partnership dedicated to expanding access to quality child care and early education in low-income communities throughout Rhode Island. Launched in 2001, the RICCFF provides the capital and technical expertise that child care centers need to improve the quality and capacity of their physical space. The Fund can provide a combination of training, technical assistance and flexible, affordable financing for a wide range of projects including minor renovations or construction of a new, state-of-the-art child care facility. Click the logo below to learn more about what the RICCFF can offer your program.

Rhode Island Early Learning Facility Needs Assessment

The Rhode Island Department of Education, in partnership with the Department of Human Services, has contracted with the LISC Child Care Facilities Fund to conduct an Early Learning Facility Needs Assessment as part of its Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge efforts. We know you care about ensuring that adequate financial and technical resources are dedicated to helping early learning centers meet the many challenges programs are facing today. We know that facilities are creating barriers to programs moving up the quality ladder and in some cases even to maintaining its current child care license. We are asking for your help as we work to gather honest and detailed data that paints an accurate and complete picture of the facility challenges facing programs across the state. If you are an early childhood center director, owner, or administrator please take our survey today by clicking the button below.

We will be selecting 50 early childhood centers to receive on-site facility assessments as well. If you are an early childhood center administrator you may be contacted to arrange this visit. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in making this assessment a success!

To learn more about the survey, we encourage you to read about it HERE.

Natural Playgrounds Under Construction!

We are very excited to report that all five of the playgrounds funded under our natural playgrounds initiative are currently under construction and in many cases nearly complete! All of the centers used a very different approach, but in each case the result for children will be a wonderful new outdoor environment where they can play, learn and explore! We invite you to take a visual tour of the sites under construction by viewing the slideshows posted HERE.

Education Week details need for preschool facilities funding

Amy Gillman, senior program director at LISC, calls for increased funding for basic infrastructure and facilities at preschools in an article featured in Education Week. The article discusses the nationwide challenges and strategies for funding preschool facilities. Convincing lawmakers of the importance of high-quality facilities is not difficult, according to Gillman, but "what it comes down to is resources and where is the funding going to come from." (Read the full text here).

Emergency Preparedness

Need help developing an Emergency Preparedness Plan for your child care facility? Here are some great resources to get you on your way!

Download the GSA Child Care Emergency Preparedness Toolkit HERE.

View a video of the Child Care Emergency Preparedness Symposium held in Washington, DC in November of 2012 by clicking HERE.