Child Care Aware of Kansas

Sustainability grants (funded by american rescue plan act (arpa) of 2021 through Kansas department for children and families), in response to the covid-19 pandemic, provided the following financial support services to provide relief to Child Care providers throughout the state of kansas:sustainability grants these grants, available to eligible programs, provide financial and technical assistance to help offset the realized negative impact on the structural layers of operating a Child Care business due to the covid-19 pandemic. Programs must use a portion of the grant funds to continue to pay the salaries/wages of staff employed through the licensed Child Care facility. During 2023, 3,867 Child Care programs were awarded sustainability grants.

Child Care health consultant (cchc) network. Funding for this program began on 9-1-2020 and continues. The Child Care health consultant (cchc) network supports high quality Child Care services and promotes healthy development for children in kdhe licensed Child Care facilities. Cchc's provide consultations, training, information, and technical assistance to Child Care providers in the state of Kansas. Cchc's offer critical services to Child Care programs by reviewing policies, offering developmental expertise, completing assessments of Child, staff, and family health needs, and connecting to community resources. In addition, cchc's collaborate with an interdisciplinary team of early childhood consultants, such as, early childhood education, mental health, and nutrition consultants. Various grant opportunities have been available for licensed Child Care programs through the cchc network.october 1, 2021, to june 30, 2024, american rescue plan act (arpa) of 2021, funding awarded through Kansas department of health and environment. From january 1, 2023 to december 31, 2023, the cchc network implementation, cchc provided 465 start-up stipends ($1,128,015) and 115 health & safety grants ($597,571) to new providers. In addition, the cchc network served/engaged 2,006 Child Care programs. of the 2,006 programs, 155 potentially new providers, 1,482 home Child Care providers, 266 Child Care centers, and 103 school age programs received direct service, including nets, recruitment contacts, and consultations. of the 2,006 programs, 816 accepted Kansas department for children and families subsidy payments.child Care workforce appreciation bonuses were for early Child Care professionals to show appreciation and thank them for their commitment and dedication. These bonuses were provided in collaboration with Kansas department for children and families, Kansas department of health and development, and university of Kansas center for public partnerships and research. Unlike the previous grants, these bonuses were made directly to individuals employed in the field rather than to the facility. Kansas Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (kaccrra) provided technical assistance for incomplete applications and status of bonus payments. From july 18, 2022, to february 17, 2023 there were 23,308 technical assistance requests completed. Kaccrra's costs associated with this work were covered under the cchc contract. Bonus amounts were paid through one of the other partnering Agencies.

Dcf enrolled Child Care provider incentive payments (funded by american rescue plan act (arpa) of 2021 through Kansas department for children and families) financial assistance to dcf enrolled Child Care providers based on the findings of the difference from current subsidy rates to the increased subsidy rates from the narrow cost analysis completed by prenatal to five fiscal strategies in july 2022. These funds are also intended to help offset the cost of enrolling with dcf as a provider who can accept Child Care assistance for newly enrolled providers. 1,140 providers received payments in 2023.

Child Care quality improvement and support services (ccqis)/links to quality (l2q) is providing program administration support to assist providers in improving business practices. L2q consultants provided 2,209 coaching, mentoring, and technical assistance, visits to programs across Kansas as they continuously work to ensure their business has a strong foundation. During 2023, the project focused on helping programs recover from the financial effects of the pandemic. There are currently 595 programs who have participated in the program administration support service. In 2023, 225 quality awards were granted to all types of licensed Child Care facilities through this service. In the grant with Kansas department for children and families beginning on october 1, 2022, this project expanded to include creating learning communities based upon a provider lead and focused community of learning model, establishing shared services network to help streamline processes for Child Care providers, establishing procedures and criteria for a financial incentive program, establishing and facilitating a quality improvement and support advisory group of early childhood professionals, and implementing a Child Care management system available to Child Care programs in kansas.shared services is a simple idea: organizations can reduce costs and improve the strength of management and the quality of services by sharing administrative functions with other organizations that provide the same types of services.in Kansas, 5 shared services network hubs (hubs) were created to serve providers located in all 105 Kansas counties. Hubs have the responsibility of managing provider-driven services to a group of Child Care programs. The hubs are based locally, serving a network of providers in the same community or region.

Child Care consumer education and Referral services is funded by the Kansas department for children and families (dcf) through Child Care development fund. The statewide network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies work together to connect families across Kansas to Child Care in their area. The Child Care Aware of Kansas Resource center provides Child Care referrals and shares resources with families seeking Care. In 2023, 13,996 Child Care referrals were made to families searching for Care. Through this contract, Child Care Aware of Kansas maintains and manages a secure, web-based system to provide information and Child Care referrals, that consumer education resources are available for families, and that parent Referral follow-up is in place. Real time data, by county, is available on demand for communities, partners, and others, on our website, www.ks.childcareaware.org. Annual Child Care supply demand reports are created using data collected from this project.july 1, 2022 to june 30, 2024, Child Care consumer education and Referral services is funded by the Kansas department for children and families (dcf) through Child Care development block grant (Child Care development fund) in addition to coronavirus response and relief supplemental appropriations act (crrsa). During this period community engagement services are enhanced to help build Child Care capacity by targeting relationships with early childhood and Child Care champions in local communities including, but not limited to, families, home and center-based Child Care providers, local businesses, economic development, community members, and community champions.community partnership grants are awarded to community-led coalitions doing work to increase Child Care capacity in their community. Coalitions define the geographical region of their work, usually by zip code, county, city, school district, etc. Sixty-seven coalitions, representing 61 Kansas counties received awards to support coalition building activities and/or to build Child Care capacity by opening slots in new programs or expanding slots in existing programs. In total 90 awards were funded (31 coalition building grants-2k, and 59 capacity building grants-45k).

Accounting services for Kansas parents as teachers Association (kpata) on october 1, 2019, kaccrra entered into an agreement with kpata to provide accounting services.arpa start young wage bonuses are offered in partnership with the family conservancy for Child Care providers in wyandotte county. The overall goal is to create a systemic approach to early childhood education that will improve the access and quality of Child Care, in wyandotte county and beyond. Bonuses are given out 4 times over 2-years to Child Care workers employed for at least one month to incentivize employee retention.baby steps is an innovative pilot that seeks not only to offset the revenue lost by caring for infants and toddlers, but also to bring family Child Care providers' incomes closer to what might be considered a "livable" wage. Participating Child Care programs receive support from Kansas' infant toddler specialist network and services aimed at improving the quality of Care for young children. In order to increase the likelihood that a Child Care provider will accept one or more infants, baby steps offsets the difference in potential annual salary earned plus an increase of 23% in order to approach what might be considered a livable wage. In 2023, 59 Child Care providers were served by this program.child Care go team was initiated in 2022 in an agreement with university of Kansas center for public partnerships and research. The Child Care go team consists of representatives from kdhe, ksde, ksfm, dcf, ccpc, Kansas chamber of commerce, Kansas children's cabinet, and more. This team collectively works together to address Child Care barriers and challenges across the state.common measures assessments and coaching for Child Care environments in saline county through a partnership with saline county school readiness program.disaster preparedness in partnership with Child Care Aware of america. This work is to enhance community resilience through disaster preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives, leading to a disaster ready Child Care system.grow ece offered in partnership with the family conservancy: this program provides salary supplements to eligible Child Care professionals in wyandotte county. Child Care professionals must meet educational, experience, and/or length of service criteria to be eligible. Healthy kids healthy future technical assistance program in partnership with the nemours foundation: the initiative focuses on improving the health of children in early Care and education settings. This initiative supports capacity building strategies to enhance services available to Child Care programs. Pediatric first aid and cpr certifications - helping Child Care providers learn lifesaving skills and meet Child Care licensing requirements. During 2023, 23 first aid/cpr trainings were held for 252 individuals.professional development and educational services: this initiative provides ongoing approval of ccr&r professional development, and guidance and support through the application process. Face-to-face learning: instructor-led training events, offered in various locations across the state, typically during evenings and weekend hours to meet the unique scheduling needs of Child Care providers. Delivery of kdhe-approved training, offered in partnership with Kansas Child Care training opportunities, inc. (Child Care development grant funding (ccdf)): this training is to provide a positive, seamless experience for Child Care providers by delivery of kdhe-approved training. In 2023, 68 in-person trainings were held with 689 providers in attendance. 4 trainings were offered as live-virtual events with 48 providers attending. Early childhood scholarships: educational scholarships to increase the education level of Child Care providers through continuing professional development and continuing education opportunities. Kansas Child: a quarterly magazine that provides a forum for the discussion of Child Care and early education topics and ideas. The magazine provokes thoughtful discussions within the field and helps those outside the field gain a better understanding of priorities and concerns in early childhood.the organization is involved in various other programs that help to enhance the quality of Child Care in Kansas and beyond.