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Council on Children and Families
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Greetings!
Check out the progress made in QUALITYstarsNY implementation and related activities to help improve quality early care and education in New York State. Whether you have been a subscriber from the beginning, or are receiving this newsletter for the first time, we look forward to having you as our reader. As always, please send comments and concerns to ecac@ccf.ny.gov. |
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Financing Strategies Forum
December 14, 2012
There will be a Financing Strategies Forum on Friday, December 14, 2012 in Albany at the Empire State Plaza from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm. This forum is presented by the ECAC Finance Work Group as a way to gather information on various aspects of financing strategies that will support early childhood services within New York State. The forum will be webcast and available for viewing after the event on the ECAC website. If you are interested in attending the forum in Albany or viewing the webcast, please contact Stephanie Woodard (518-486-4690 or stephanie.woodard@ccf.ny.gov) no later than November 26, 2012.
The day will be structured with three presentations on the following financing strategies:
- Social Impact Bonds: A way to identify private/public financing options that will support proven and rigorous measurement of outcomes associated with early learning programs and services.
- Federal Waivers: A review and discussion regarding the New York State's Medicaid Waiver amendment and the maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting component of the waiver.
- Braiding and Blending Funds: A way to consider alternative funding sources to bring comprehensive services into early childhood settings.
In addition to gathering information regarding the three pre-identified financing strategies, there will be a presentation by Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, Inc. (APA). APA is the consultant group developing the ECAC Early Childhood Cost Estimation Model and will be developing a Return on Investment component as an addition to the model. A representative from APA will present on the importance of knowing the Return on Investments of various programmatic options as a way to provide decision makers and stakeholders with useful information. This analysis will expand the ECAC cost model by reporting the economic and non-economic benefits of specific investments.
At the conclusion of the forum, the ECAC Finance Work Group members hope to have enough information to make decisions regarding the type of financing strategies they should pursue to support early childhood programs and services. |
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School Age Child Care Program Standards Approved
by Quality Improvement Work Group
The Quality Improvement Work Group of the ECAC recently approved draft standards for programs serving school-age children. The initial drafting of the standards was overseen by the New York State Afterschool Network (NYSAN) Quality Assurance committee. The work group used the early childhood standards for the basis of the school-age standards, modifying, adding and removing as needed to ensure that all of the standards were relevant to programs serving children of school-age. Other standards, including current Afterschool Works NY accreditation standards, were carefully reviewed to maximize alignment.
We are seeking feedback on the draft in two ways - first, a small number of programs will be selected to provide practical reviews of the standards and help leaders anticipate potential obstacles for programs serving older children. Second, electronic feedback will be accepted via the QUALITYstarsNY website. The draft School-Age Child Care Program Standards will be posted to the QUALITYstarsNY website soon. Check here .
QUALITYstarsNY Implementation
Moving Forward
QUALITYstarsNY is moving forward on schedule:
- QUALITYstarsNY is currently recruiting public school-operated Universal Prekindergarten programs in targeted zip codes. More information can be found at www.qualitystarsny.org
- Participants are also engaged in the standards self-study process where they are able to indicate the standards they meet and submit documentation. Participants are also completing self-assessments using the Environment Rating Scales and developing Quality Improvement Plans based on the results.
- Current participants are engaged in Aspire, New York's Registry for Early Childhood Professionals. Staff are completing professional profiles and submitting education and training documentation for verification. This information will inform a program's rating in QUALITYstarsNY.
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Member Corner
Cindy Lamy, member of multiple ECAC work groups, has recently written a book, American Children in Chronic Poverty: Complex Risks, Benefit-Cost Analyses, and Untangling the Knot.
A description of the book reads:
"Why is it so difficult for some people to escape poverty? Cynthia Esposito Lamy answers that question in American Children in Chronic Poverty: Complex Risks, Benefit-Cost Analyses, and Untangling the Knot by describing the complex and interacting "knot" of problems that children face as they grow up in poverty. Through a vast store of research on topics related to children, families and poverty, and methods to estimate "social return on investment," Lamy determines which programs and policies produce benefits that exceed costs, providing evidence for an efficient fight against poverty.
"Specific expert policy recommendations for keeping poverty from ruining children's potential are described within three broad themes: bringing equity to our educational system, supporting families as they transition through difficulties, and making work pay. Lamy concludes with foundational concepts for building an overarching model of poverty-fighting to bring separate, narrowly defined programs and policies together. Benefit-cost analysis confirms what the great religions have been trying to tell us for millennia: when we respect and care for the most vulnerable members of our society we create a strong, successful society in which everyone prospers."
Ordering information can be found here.
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Thank you for your interest in the Early Childhood Advisory Council. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact me at: ecac@ccf.ny.gov.
Sincerely, |
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