Child Care Resource & Referral Annual Report- 10/1/11-9/30/12

Child Care Resource & Referral Making a difference one child at a time A Program of Community Action or Orleans & Genesee

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CCR&R Coordinator: Lisa M Friesen Child Care Specialist-Genesee County: Judy Martino Child Care Specialist-Orleans County: Taryn Moyle Child Care Trainer: Kari Powers Health Care Consultant: Cheryl Cotton Director of Children & Youth Services: Bonnie Malakie

Genesee County 5073 Clinton St Rd Batavia, NY 14020

Phone: 343-7727 Fax: 343- 4063

Orleans County 113 East State Street Phone: 589-5088 Albion, NY 14411 Fax: 589-5321 Email: [email protected]

(CCR&R) is a program of Community Action of Orleans & Genesee (Community Ac-

tion). CCR&R offers services to parents by providing information on child care issues, parent education, and child care referrals. Child care providers receive technical assistance, trainings, and grants. CCR&R also processes and completes Legally Exempt Provider applications, enrollments and inspections. CCR&R’s main goal is best described by its tagline:

Making a difference one child at a time. CCR&R also offers services to community agencies and businesses. These services are presentations to staff, and providing staff or clients information on child care issues, and referrals. At CCR&R, we strive to offer the services in a kind, respectful an efficient manner.

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Community Action is a non-profit agency that offers many programs to the residents of Genesee and Orleans Counties. Programs such as HEAP, Weatherization, ACT, Emergency Services, CATS, and Head Start offer a wide array of services for senior citizens, families, children and citizens with disabilities. Community Action’s mission statement: is: To Provide Services, with Dignity and Respect, that help People

In 2010, CCR&R developed an Advisory Board for the purpose of discussing child care issues, making decisions on the way CCR&R operates its program, and taking part in the strategic planning. Members of the Advisory Board are the following:  Shelly Thompson, Orleans County: Child Care Provider  Sabrina Campbell, Orleans County: Child Care Provider  Marsha Coy, Genesee County: Child Care Provider  Staci Williams, Genesee County: Child Care Provider  Lisa Miller: Parent  Deb Zaremski, Genesee County: Department of Social Services  Cheryl Mills, Orleans County: Public Health Nurse, Department of Health  Annette Zobel, Genesee County: Department of Health  Mary Kroldart, Community Action Board Member The Advisory Board meets once every quarter; an agenda is written and minutes are taken and sent to all members. The meetings are conducted by the Director of Children & Youth Services, Bonnie Malakie and the CCR&R Coordinator, Lisa M Friesen.

In the contract year 10/1/11 - 9/30/2012, each CCR&R staff member completed training according to their Professional Development Plans.  The CCR&R Coordinator has completed 39 hours of training. These trainings included Computer Skills, Customer Outreach and Resource, Child Development and participated in the NYS NAEYC Training Conference.  The Genesee County Child Care Specialist attended 35 hours of training. These trainings included Multiple Intelligence, Data Collection, Analysis and Reporting and others.  The Orleans County Specialist completed at 30 hours of training. The Trainings included LE Exempt Enrollment, LE Inspection, Financial Vouchering Training.  The Child Care Trainer attended 6 hours of training. The Trainer also completed her Master’s of Science Degree in Early Childhood Special Education. She graduated in December. 3

Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) Staff provides services to the families and Child Care Providers in our two county area, based upon milestones defined by our major funder, the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). The CCR&R Coordinator tracks the milestones using Milestone Charts.  In the contract year, 10/1/2011 to 9/30/2012, CCR&R met or exceeded all the milestones in both counties including:  The Child Care Specialists completed 349 child care referrals for parents in our community. These numbers exceeded the milestone target for that year  CCR&R Staff responded to 451 technical assistance (TA) requests from child care providers. These TAs included assistance with program, documentation, trainings, and issues with children and/or parents (exceeded the expected milestone target.)  CCR&R Coordinator and Child Care Trainer provided 269 Intensive Technical Assistance Hours (ITA). This ITA involves face-to-face assistance with a provider. ITA may include observation, development of a quality improvement plan, training, modeling, demonstrations and post assessment (exceeded the expected milestones)  The CCR&R Coordinator completed 71 Quality Stars ITA. ITA may include observation, development of a quality improvement plan, training, modeling, demonstrations, FCCERS assessment and provider evaluation of services.  The CCR&R Coordinator fulfilled the grant milestones of 6 start-up grants, 10 compliance grants, and 4 quality stars grants given to child care providers in the two counties.  The Health Care Consultant completed 64 heath care plans.  The Child Care Specialists enrolled 126 Legally Exempt (LE) providers  The Specialists and the Coordinator inspected 9 LE Family Care Homes  The Child Care Trainer held 29 training classes covering all 9 OCFS required topics  The Child Care Chronicle and The Parent Press newsletters were developed and distributed throughout the year

CCR&R completed the process of Quality Assurance governed by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (Naccrra). This comprehensive process, which took three years to accomplish, has improved the CCR&R program, the Staff and the policies and procedures . These policies and procedure include the following:

 Referrals: the Referral Script was written and is used by the Child Care Specialists. The script is reviewed and revised on a yearly basis and offers the parents information on the provider, training, parent engagement, health and safety procedures and financial assistance. The Consumer Education Packet has increased in size and contains information on child care issues, public policy issues, new laws, and parent education. This packet is also reviewed and revised on an annual basis.  On- Line Referrals: Online Referrals are now available via a direct internet link or a referral form on the website. Last contract year, CCR&R received 86 online referrals, 25% of all referrals.  Trainings and ITA: The Child Care Professional Development Plan is created each year, keeping the providers choice of topics, locations and times in mind. The Child Care Trainer receives training each year on important topics that will benefit the providers in our counties. The Trainer also analyzes the training /ITA evaluations in order to improve the trainings or ITA projects and makes every effort to meet the needs of the providers.  Technical Assistance: The Coordinator and the Specialists have strived to improve this service to providers. We receive training on customer service, communication and computer skills.

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CCR&R works closely with several partner agencies for a variety of reasons. The first set of agencies is for the purpose of obtaining referrals and providing education and information on child care to their employees :  Orleans County Job Development Placement Center  Genesee County Career Center  Kelly Services  Adecco  Community Action Main Street Store  Community Action Head Start  United Memorial Hospital  Medina Memorial Hospital  Community Partners  ARC of Genesee The next set of agencies assist CCR&R in the Legally Exempt Enrollment process, by enrolling parents in the subsidy program for child care payments:  Genesee County, Department of Social Services  Orleans County, Department of Social Services During the last contract year, CCR&R Child Care Specialists from both counties have communicated with their DSS contact on numerous occasions, either via email, phone calls or face-to-face meetings.

The last set of partner agencies provides information that is valuable for the Child Care Providers in the two counties:  Genesee County, Department of Health  Orleans County, Department of Health  Medina Memorial Hospital  United Memorial Medical Center During 2011-12, the CCR&R Coordinator has communicated with the Public Health Nurse of both Departments of Health. Topics vary from vaccinations, services to citizens of the county and events. Both Public Nurses are members of the CCR&R Advisory Board. During the last contract year, the following referrals were obtained by the these agencies:  Job Development/ Career Center-32  Department of Social Services-238  Community Action - 15  GCASA- 2  Ministry of Concern- 1 All communications, meetings and events are recorded inNaccrraware.

CCR&R is a member of the New York State Early Care & Learning Council (ECLC). ECLC is the network for all CCR&Rs located in New York State. During the last contract year, the CCR&R Coordinator attended three membership meetings, the ECLC leadership summit and participated in two membership meetings via conference call. ECLC staff are extremely efficient and supportive and have been very helpful in the Naccrra Quality Assurance certification. 5

During the 2011-2012 contract year, the CCR&R staff participated in many marketing activities:  Ads were placed in the Penny Saver, twice in Orleans County and three times in Genesee County.  Distribution of the CCR&R Brochures to businesses and agencies throughout the counties  Participation in Fairs or Events such as: Job Fair, Health Fair, Parent Orientations and Surplus Food  Networking at various meetings or committees The pie chart to the left denotes the marketing activities for the year. The numbers are percentages.

The Fund Development Plan for 2012-2017 has been developed and approved by the Executive Director and Community Action’s Board of Directors. The plan outlines the different procedures to secure funds for CCR&R. The procedures are the following:  Grants- Federal, State and Local  Fees for Service- Trainings, HCC, ITAs  Contributions- Fund Raising Events, Donations The Fund Development Plan will be reviewed and revised at the beginning of every contract year..

CCR&R is a member of Child Care Aware of America, (CCAA) the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. CCAA mission is to promote national policies and partnerships to advance the development and learning of all children and to provide vision, leadership, and support to community Child Care Resource and Referral. CCAA supplies CCR&R with the Naccrraware Database, where CCR&R Staff input the Child Care Providers in their counties, and data into the database, information on national trends and needs of quality assurance.

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Childcare is a major part of families becoming self sufficient. It is our belief that all families should have access to affordable, quality child care. Through membership in different organizations, we have current up‐to‐date information and opinions on many important issues. We work with state and national organizations to advocate for quality child care. The CCR&R Coordinator shares with our families and providers specific laws and regulations that effect the children they care for. These laws have been posted on our web site, such as the following:  Megan’s Law  Anti- Domestic Violence Law  Kiernan's Law  Amanda’s Law  Anti- Bullying Law Pertinent information is also place in Parents Referrals Packets, most recently information on Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). CCR&R has a commitment to stay well-informed on issues pertaining to children and families and to keep our families and providers informed as well.

CCR&R is committed to providing quality services to parents, child care providers, businesses and agencies around our two county region. Quality customer satisfaction is CCR&R highest priority. We achieve this goal by continuously improving our procedures’ effectiveness and performance levels of all our services and processes, as well as focusing on the feedback we receive from our clients. This feedback helps us to measure the effectiveness of our services and the efficiency of our staff. The CCR&R Needs Assessment is also crucial to the expertise of our services. Understanding our customers' needs and requirements enables us to build long-term, successful partnerships. 7

CCR&R works to increase public awareness and influence policies through our collaborative leadership practices. In the contract year 20112012, CCR&R participated in numerous community outreach events and staff served on various local and state-level committees. We bring our knowledge of parent, provider and children’s needs to create better informed decision-making and to help create a strong movement on behalf of the field. Some examples:  Helping Hands- developing training events for Orleans County providers and organizing Provider Appreciation Night  Genesee County Interagency Coalition- offering scholarships to graduating high school students who demonstrate commitment, motivation and passion  Women’s Initiatives Coalition- development of programs which will aid women and children in having a better future  Public Health Committee, Orleans Countydevelopment of services for working mothers throughout the county  Infant toddler Resource Network Advisory Board- develop plan for educating providers and parents who have infants and toddlers  Genesee Community College Orleans Advisory Board  Batavia Business and Professional Women Club, Genesee Countydevelop scholarships for high school students and service organiza-

Making a difference one child at a time! Photo Credits: Page 1- Carrie’s Weis, Life Little Stages; Page 2- Top: Eagle’s Pride; Page 2- bottom: Mary Adams Child Care; Page 3- top: Community Action- Head Start Batavia; Page 3, bottom- Margaret Wrights, Kids R Special Child Care; Page 4, top- Batavia ABCD Child Care Center; Page 4, bottom- Jennifer Hughes, Jen’s Precious Gems; Page 5-top: Wendy Scharlau, The Sunflower Patch; Page 5bottom: YWCA; Page 6-Middle, Robin Gangarossa Child Care; Page 6- bottom, P. Raising Kids; Page 7- top, YWCA; Page 7bottom- Sabrina Campbell, Campbell’s Lil Angels; Page 8- YMCA 8