FALL/2013

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President Bonnie Buchanan

Greetings and Happy Holidays!

This time of the year everyone is getting excited and very busy preparing for the upcoming holidays.  THSA Board has also been very busy meeting and making plans.  The THSA Board held its last meeting on November 1, 2013 at Head Start of Greater Dallas.  Mr. Patrick Sanders, THSA Parliamentarian, swore in all the new Board members elected at the summer training conference held July 20-24th in Sugar Land, Texas.  Ms. Joyce Hayes was appointed as the $2 per Child chairperson and Mr. Sanders was appointed as the By Laws chair.  We welcome our new THSA Board members and look forward to working with them.   Harris County Department of Education will host the first THSA Mini-Conference in April 2014.  Details will be coming soon.

 

We are proud to announce that the 2013 THSA Conference was successful, well attended and a great kick-off for the $2 per Child campaign.  The $2 per Child campaign specifically supports THSA and NHSA advocacy activities.  The funds are used to maintain high media visibility on Head Start issues that impacts public policy and legislation.  When programs donate to the $2 per Child campaign, $1 is allotted to the THSA and the other $1 is allotted to the NHSA.                 

The online membership for 2013 went well for the first year.  However, some changes will be initiated to make it a much smoother process.  Membership enrollment and renewals will begin January 2014.  Your continued support of THSA is highly appreciated as we do our best to educate our colleagues and provide significant information to the Head Start community.  Enjoy the newsletter. 

 

Bonnie Buchanan
THSA President

Office of Head Start Latest News... 
  
 

Five Year Grant Periods and Requirements

The Office of Head Start (OHS) is moving from indefinite project periods to definite project periods of five years (60 months) for all Head Start grantees as part of the Designation Renewal System (DRS). The DRS ensures that organizations of the highest quality continue to provide Head Start services and opens the service areas of others to competition. This renewed commitment to quality provides an opportunity to implement changes in OHS funding practices and oversight of Head Start programs.

 

Information Memorandum (IM) ACF-IM-HS-13-02 discusses the key elements of five year project periods for all Head Start grantees and how they will strengthen quality services in the program.

 

In keeping with the renewed commitment to quality, all Head Start grants have new terms and conditions attached to the Notice of Award (NoA) in the areas of Health and Safety, Governance, School Readiness, and Audit Training.

 
Grantees who receive a five year project period are asked to refer to their NoA, Attachment 2, for their unique requirements. Each grantee is required to complete these activities. Where required, the results must be submitted to the Regional Office within the identified time frames. Regional Office staff will discuss and validate these conditions and certifications with the grantee. For more info: Click here.
  

President Obama's Early Learning Proposal: "Preschool for All"

  

 

The President is proposing a new federal-state partnership to provide all low- and moderate-income four-year-old children with high-quality preschool, while also expanding these programs to reach additional children from middle class families, and make full-day kindergarten available. "Preschool for All" will help close America's school readiness gap and ensure that all children have the chance to enter kindergarten ready for success. Providing a year of free, public preschool for every child is an important investment in our nation's future, providing our children the best start in life while helping hard-working families save thousands each year in costs associated with early care and education. This proposal would invest $75 billion over 10 years without adding a dime to the deficit.

 

TEXAS PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL

Under the President's proposal, Texas is estimated to receive $308,000,000 in the first year it participates in the Preschool for All program. This funding, combined with an initial estimated state match of $30,800,000, would serve about 37,644 children from low- and moderate-income families in the first year of the program alone. Read more.....

 

 

  

Early Care and Education Workforce Info

 

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) studies Administration for Children and Families (ACF) programs and the populations they serve through rigorous research and evaluation projects. Recently, the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) released a new brief, titled "Number and Characteristics of Early Care and Education (ECE) Teachers and Caregivers: Initial Findings from the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE)."

   

The brief reports that the early care and education workforce directly responsible for children age birth through five years (not yet in kindergarten) in 2012 was large, comprised of about one million teachers and caregivers in center-based programs, 830,000 paid home-based teachers and caregivers and about 2,300,000 unpaid home-based teachers and caregivers.  The educational attainment, experience, and wages of center-based teachers and caregivers varied considerably by the sponsorship and funding of center-based programs and by the ages of children served.  A majority (53%) of center-based teachers and caregivers reported having college degrees - an AA or BA - and almost a third reported BA or graduate/professional degrees, higher than found in prior studies. A greater share of home-based teachers and caregivers - about 30 percent - reported college degrees than estimated in prior studies.

 

The brief includes estimated counts of teachers and caregivers in all types of settings and their education, experience, wages, health insurance and other characteristics.  Future briefs will use the NSECE to present data on predictors of ECE quality, to describe children's time in non-parental care and parental employment schedules, and to provide a profile of center-based early care and education. Read more...  

  

The Affordable Care Act: What It Means for Children, Families, and Early Childhood Programs   

 

Beginning in 2014, 48 million uninsured Americans will have new opportunities for health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

 

Health and school readiness begin long before a child enters a classroom. Health is a foundational aspect of children's ability to develop, learn, and thrive. No one plans to get sick or hurt, but most people need medical care at some point. Children who have health insurance generally have better health throughout their childhood and into their teens. They are less likely to get sick and more likely to: 

  • Get the treatment they need when they are sick or injured;
  • Receive needed shots that prevent disease;
  • Get treatment for recurring illnesses such as ear infections and asthma; and
  • Get preventative care, like immunizations and comprehensive screenings to keep them well.    

Early Head Start, Head Start, and child care programs can play a vital role in making sure people learn how to get coverage and how to get help applying. Many more family members - including parents, older siblings and grandparents under age 65 - may qualify for coverage. Find out resources are available to early care and education providers support the children and families they serve. Read more...

 

 

 

10 Ways Your Head Start Program Can Promote New Insurance Opportunities

Head Start programs play an important role in making sure families learn how to find and apply for affordable health insurance. Access to affordable health insurance is vital to ensuring that children are healthy and ready to learn. Likewise, healthy parents and families are better able to support their children's school readiness and meet their own goals. Ten Ways Your Head Start Program Can Promote New Health Insurance Opportunities offer strategies Head Start leaders and partners can use when planning outreach efforts.

 
For Families
  

  • Find more information about how to apply for coverage at Healthcare.gov
  • Call (toll-free) 1-800-318-2596 with questions. English and Spanish speaking customer service representatives are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Interpreters in 150 languages, such as Chinese and French, are also available.

For Programs

  • The Health Insurance Marketplace offers widgets, badges, and other resources, staff can use to help families find and apply for health insurance.
  • For more information on how the Affordable Care Act will affect your program, staff, and children and families, visit the Administration for Children and Families website.
  • Know what parts of the law apply to you and where you can find support.

 

Texas News 

  
Texas Early Learning Council (TELC) Update
The TELC has developed a Train the Trainer series for the new Texas Infant, Toddler, and Three-Year-Old Early Learning Guidelines. This series includes PPT presentations and facilitator and participant guides for each module. Trainers can download these training tools and use them to help professionals and parents know what young children should know and be able to do at different ages. Click here to download a copy of the guideline.
  
The Children's Learning Institute (CLI) is offering printed copies of these resources for purchase. Order your copies of the Guidelines and the parenting resources while supplies last! To order your copies, click here.
  
Little Texans Big Futures
Little Texans Big Futures is a website intended to support parents, caregivers, and anyone interested in promoting the healthy development of young children.  It started as a project of the Texas Early Learning Council, as part of its promise to bring new, voluntary, infant, toddler, and three-year-old early learning guidelines to Texas.  Under the leadership of LaShonda Brown, Texas Head Start Collaboration Office Director, the Texas Early Learning Council embarked on a two-year process to develop the guidelines through a collaborative process involving many different types of experts and participants in early childhood services in the state.  The final guidelines were reviewed and approved by hundreds of state and national leaders, and they are endorsed by the Texas Pediatric Society. The information found on this website will help you understand more about how young children grow and build skills, how you can support their growth, and it provides you with great resources to use and share with others. Read more...
  

Texas School Ready! (TSR!) is a comprehensive early childhood teacher training program that combines a research-based, state-adopted curriculum with on-going professional development, coaching, and child progress monitoring tools to help early childhood teachers improve their practice. This fall the TSR Project is scaling-up Remote Coaching with hopes to reach many more early childhood teachers. The remote coaches will be providing individualized online coaching and feedback with early childhood teachers using video recordings of their classrooms submitted through an online system. Teachers will receive online coaching and feedback on their video recordings based on the unique needs of the teachers and the children in their classrooms. The teachers will also receive access to the self-paced eCIRCLE professional development system that provides in-depth information on child development and classroom practices to support optimal development in children. Read more...

 

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In This Issue
Texas News
Office of Head Start News
Upcoming Events
THSA Membership
 UPCOMING TRAINING EVENTS & CONFERENCES 

 


New HS Director Coaching Initiative
 

   

30th Annual Parent Conference & Family Engagement Institutes

Dec 9 - Dec 13

Atlanta, GA

The Westin Peachtree Plaza

210 Peachtree St.

Atlanta, GA 30303

Event Details 

 

 

Early Literacy Summit

Their Futures ... Our Future

Saturday, January 18, 2014

8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Rice University Campus

Houston, Texas

 

Dr. Patsy Cooper, Queens College, University of New York, and SLC's Founding Director
Keynote: "What is an Early Childhood Education For?"
  
  
 
Texas Head Start Association Mini-Conference
April 24-25, 2014

Harris County Department of Education will host the first THSA mini conference for the Central area. Please save the date: April 24-25, 2013. It will be held at the Harris County Department of Education Conference Center, 6300 Irvington Blvd, Houston, Texas. The two days of training ($200) will include lunch, free parking and 12 hours of training. The workshops geared toward managers, coordinators and early childhood educators include parent engagement, school safety and step inside poverty. The THSA website and conference page will be updated as information becomes available.

 

Texas Early Childhood Professional Development System

Calendar of upcoming Training Events

 
 

THSA Logo  

Become a Member January 2014!

 

The Texas Head Start Association (THSA) is excited to announce that agencies and individuals can now complete their THSA membership application online at www.regonline.com/thsa.  

 

Here are the benefits for 2014!

 

 

Individual dues for Director, Staff and Friends are $45. Parent dues remain the same at $5.

 

Agency will pay membership based on their program budget. An immediate benefit is all employees become members of the THSA!
  

Automatically makes you a member of the Region VI Head Start Association!

 

Gives you reduced registration fee for the state conferences!

 

Entitles you to receive updates on the latest legislative news regarding Head Start!

 

Entitles you to apply for Head Start Association scholarships from the National, Regional and Texas Associations!

 

Entitles you to vote for candidates for the THSA Board and THSA officers!

  

2013 THSA Board of Directors 



Officers
  
Bonnie Buchanan
President
  
Weldon Beard
Vice President

 

Kenneth Gilbert
Treasurer
 
Pamela Williams
Secretary

Earrick Stigall
Parliamentarian

 

Director Caucus
Helen R. Wright 
Venetia Peacock
Irma Guerra
Billie Sue Williams
Madeline Savoy
Tiamoiya Lee
Kenneth Gilbert
Laureen Holmes
Nori Colecio
Lenola Wyatt-Tutt
Sharon Small
Weldon Beard
Rebecca Ramirez
Aoinette Montgomery

 

Staff Caucus
Diana Sneed
Michelle Lockwood
Lorraine Washington
Juan Rodriquez
Connie Garza
Pamela Arnold
Elena Esquivel
Mary Rose Cox
Cinithia Melton
Patrick Sanders
Irma Gomez
Tomas Gonzalez
Earrick Stigall
Pamela Williams

 

Friend Caucus
Bonnie Buchanan
Genevieve Burrell
Ella J. Vargas
Roger Cox
Evelyn Burleson
Arnold Vargas
J.B. Gordon
Roszeta Norris
Anton Staff
Mildred Hawkins
Maxine Ross
Joyce Hayes

 

 

Parent Caucus

Heather Williams

Jeanne Kom
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