Changes to Working Connections Child Care subsidy eligibility

Additional reductions are being made to the WorkFirst budget (which includes child care subsidies) to balance it for the current fiscal year (which ends June 30, 2011) and the 2011-2013 biennium. This is in addition to $51 million in cuts to WorkFirst announced last August, which at that time included moving from 200 to 175 percent federal poverty level for Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) subsidies eligibility.

These new reductions are needed in part because assumed emergency Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding was not appropriated by the federal government, and in part because of increased caseloads.

Here is what the new reductions mean for WCCC (information clarified on Jan. 10). 

• Families who currently pay a monthly copayment of $50 or more will see a $10 increase in their copayment. 
• All new families applying for WCCC must also receive a TANF grant or be determined eligible for TANF to be eligible for WCCC.  
• All eligible families who currently receive WCCC are income eligible until their income is more than 175 percent of federal poverty guidelines. For example, a family of three can’t earn more than $2,671 a month.

Please note: Families must reapply for WCCC before their current eligibility period ends or they will need to meet the new WCCC eligibility requirement.


As part of the August 2010 cuts, on Jan. 1, anyone receiving WCCC subsidies who is above 175 percent FPL will no longer receive the benefit. The 1,112 families affected by this, and the child care providers who serve them, have been notified.

All the WorkFirst reductions will be posted online next week at www.dshs.wa.gov/TANFimpacts.shtml.
We at DEL know that these are tough messages for families and providers. We must keep working to come out of this economic situation stronger than before, and smarter about leveraging every available resource. DEL is participating in an effort to put forward to Gov. Chris Gregoire a set of recommendations around redesigning WorkFirst, and will share more information about that when it is available.

Early learning in the Governor’s proposed 2011-2013 budget

When releasing her proposed 2011-2013 budget this morning, Governor Chris Gregoire said the single most common denominator of individuals in state prisons is not drugs or alcohol, but lack of education. Her proposed budget tries to protect education, she said, especially in children’s earliest years.

Still, Washington faces a $4.6 billion shortfall in the coming biennium due to the national economic downturn. The Governor’s proposed 2011-2013 budget includes many difficult choices. It is one that reflects the fact that demands and costs for state services are up when revenues are down.

You can find the Governor’s entire budget proposal here. This is the budget for the biennium that begins on July 1, 2011. Her proposal goes to the Legislature as a “blueprint” for budget deliberations during legislative session.

Specific to our state’s youngest learners, the proposed budget:

• Increases enrollment slots for 4-year-olds in the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, while reducing slots for 3-year-olds. (Total of 460 slots cut from ECEAP, and a proportional cut to DEL ECEAP administration, for $9 million savings)
• Eliminates the Career and Wage Ladder program ($3 million savings)
• Reduces funding for administration for Seasonal Child Care subsidies ($2 million savings)
• Does not carry forward Reach Out and Read literacy funding, and does not fund Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS)
• Suspends planned increase of state-funded all-day kindergarten—continuing to fund the program for lowest income schools ($57 million savings)
• Suspends the smaller class size and employee salary increase initiatives under Initiatives 728 ($860.2 million savings) and 732 ($253.3 million savings).
• Eliminates K-4 class-size reduction funds ($216 million savings)
• Eliminates the Children’s Health Program, which provides medical coverage for 27,000 children whose citizenship has not been documented ($59 million savings) and eliminates the Basic Health Plan ($230.2 million state fund savings; $117.3 million federal savings)
• Proposes a new public/private partnership focused on reducing the impact of toxic stress and trauma (adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs), building on the success of the Family Policy Council and the Community Public Health and Safety Networks.

We at DEL are still looking at the entire proposed budget and will provide more information as we have it.

Legislature wraps up assembly days: What was the early learning conversation?

The Legislature finished up a week of committee meetings today. During these “assembly days,” lawmakers get updates on key issues that they’ll likely focus on during the upcoming legislative session (the 2011 session starts Jan. 10).

 

Our state’s youngest learners continued to be a hot topic on Capitol Campus. DEL updated legislators on several initiatives:

• On Monday, we and our partners at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction updated the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee on the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) pilot, currently under way in 115 classrooms around the state. Click here to watch that presentation, which includes a “real world” view from a kindergarten teacher participating in the WaKIDS pilot.
• On Thursday, we shared information with the House Education Appropriations Committee on the progress of the preschool work group established in Senate Bill 6759. The work group is charged with creating a plan that looks at what a “voluntary program of early learning” might look like in Washington. (You can read more about this on the preschool work group web page.) Click here to watch that presentation.
• And earlier today, DEL Director Bette Hyde updated the House Early Learning & Children’s Services Committee on DEL’s accomplishments and next steps. Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn and Thrive by Five Washington President & CEO Nina Auerbach joined Bette to talk about our strong Early Learning Joint Resolution Partnership, and the key priorities from the Early Learning plan we are focused on implementing in 2011. Video of that work session will be online at www.tvw.org soon.

Thrive by Five Washington President & CEO Nina Auerbach, DEL Director Bette Hyde and Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn present to the House Early Learning & Children's Services Committee on Friday, Dec. 10.

Also this week: Both House and Senate committees heard updates on an effort to create recommendations to redesign WorkFirst, Washington’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The WorkFirst program includes Working Connections Child Care subsidies.

 

Recommendations for how to redesign WorkFirst as a sustainable program that helps vulnerable residents on the path to self-sufficiency are expected to be delivered to the Governor in January. Watch the Senate Human Services & Corrections Committee work session here and the House Health & Human Services Appropriations Committee work session here.

Resources from early learning symposium now available online

Earlier this month, scientists, early learning leaders and others met together in Seattle for a symposium highlighting the newest research on children’s brains and development and how to use that knowledge across Washington. Participants heard from:

• Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University 
• Dr. Robert Anda, consultant with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Dr. Patricia Kuhl, the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington

The event was sponsored by Casey Family Programs, who made the symposium resources and presentations available online. Click here to check them out.

The first video includes Department of Social and Health Services Secretary Susan Dreyfus, Department of Early Learning Director Bette Hyde and Department of Health Secretary Mary Selecky who have committed to working together to improve outcomes for Washington children.

“The three of us put our hands on the table together, and we made a pledge,” Dreyfus said. “We made a pledge of a commitment to early childhood in the state of Washington.”

The three agencies recognize early childhood spans physical health, mental health and every development milestone, Dreyfus said. The new state Early Learning Plan aims to tie together all these efforts into a cohesive approach to support children and families, said Hyde, who followed Dreyfus at the podium.

“We are looking at partnerships in a whole new way,” she said.

Seattle Times columnist Jerry Large also attended the symposium, and you can read what he took away.

DEL boosts child care licensing performance, earns applause from Governor

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) child care licensing team got kudos and applause this morning during the Government Management Accountability and Performance (GMAP) forum on vulnerable children.

GMAP is Governor Chris Gregoire’s tool to hold government accountable for performance. DEL is involved in two GMAP areas: vulnerable children (for our child care licensing) and education (for our Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, or ECEAP).

We are proud of the incredible effort our team has made to improve timely monitoring visits, licensing complaint inspections and inspections involving allegations of abuse or neglect. These GMAP measures are tied to child health and safety in licensed child care. We had work to do to make sure we were focusing on and meeting these measures.

Our entire agency, especially our licensing team, worked together over the past months to:

• Increase our performance on timely monitoring visits of licensed facilities by 33 percent
• Exceed our target for closing complaints that do not involve allegations of child abuse or neglect.
• Decrease the average time it takes to close licensing complaints involving allegations of child abuse or neglect.

You can watch the forum shortly on http://www.tvw.org/ by going to “Media Archives.” More information on DEL’s GMAP measures can be found at http://www.accountability.wa.gov/. Learn more about DEL’s child care licensing work and why it matters by reading You Have a Choice! A Guide to Finding Quality Child Care.

We are proud of this hard work to make sure licensed child care facilities are safe, healthy, nurturing places for children in Washington!

Give your input on the draft policy recommendations for Washington's Birth to 3 Plan

The Legislature passed a bill last session (House Bill 2687) asking DEL to create a plan for how to ensure a "robust continuum of services" for parents and caregivers of children birth to 3. The plan is to look at education and support around healthy child development.

DEL and Thrive by Five Washington have led the drafting of the plan, which will be delivered to the Governor and Legislature in December. We need your input on the draft policy recommendations in the plan!


Click here to read the draft policy recommendations, and then click here to take a brief survey to give your input.

DEL's agency strategic plan now online

So what exactly is the Department of Early Learning's mission, and how do we know whether our work is having a positive impact on outcomes for children in Washington?

Our 2011-2014 Agency Strategic Plan is now online. Click here to read about our work and how it aligns with our state's Early Learning Plan.

Our vision: Our state offers world-class, developmentally and culturally appropriate early learning opportunities for all of Washington’s youngest learners, so each child enters kindergarten with a solid foundation for success in school and life.


Our mission: The Department of Early Learning develops, implements and coordinates system oversight to early learning policy and programs that create safe, healthy, nurturing learning experiences for all Washington children.

Our strategic goals:

• Provide high-quality, safe, and healthy early care and education opportunities for all children.
• Partner with and inform parents, families and communities about early learning.
• Support early learning professionals with professional development and technical assistance.
• Promote excellence and hold the system accountable for results.