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PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS
There are two primary efforts underway that are leading to strategic recommendations for early education and care in our community. One is the Community Action Network, Child Care Task Force, "Ambassadors for Children," created in March 1999 as recommended by the Austin Child Care Council. The other is the Success by Six Planning Task Force, led by the UnitedWay/Capital Area. Each initiative has led to sets of recommendations that can serve as a starting point for the community to address some of the barriers identified in the area of early education and care.
The committees of the Community Action Network Child Care Task Force reviewed best practices around the country, considered strategies currently in place, and made recommendations for both immediate and long term action. The Fund for Child Care Excellence was created as a result of a recommendation from the Austin Child Care Council to address issues of child care quality, accessibility, and affordability. The Fund will serve as a vehicle for acquiring and distributing funds to local organizations and programs and has a goal of raising $5 million in the next five years.
The Fund for Child Care Excellence is working to make child care better, more affordable, and easier to find. They are working to achieve this by:
- Increasing the number of available child care workers
- Improving teacher training and teacher wages
- Increasing public awareness of early education and development issues
- Expanding materials/resources for child care centers
- Providing scholarships to families for child care
The Task Force's key recommendations for investment by the Fund for Child Care Excellence and for consideration by other community funders are shown in Table 13. The City of Austin included funding for a number of the recommended items in its 1999/2000 budget (as listed in Table 12, Section VII).
Table 13
Child Care Task Force, Ambassadors for Children Recommendations
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RECOMMENDED FOR IMMEDIATE AND ONGOING IMPLEMENTATION:
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1. Teacher T.R.A.C. Program (Training, Retention, and Compensation) - program paying for tuition, books, and bonuses to teachers in child care centers who in turn promise to continue working with that center for at least one year. Participating centers pay a portion of the costs.
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2. Watson Fellowships (formerly Salary Incentive Project) - builds on Teacher TRAC, provides low paid preschool teachers with salary supplements tied to their level of education. This program is based on North Carolina Smart Start model and aims to increase retention, lower turnover of teachers or family child care providers.
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3. Fix it! Problem Solving for Child Care Programs (formerly Mentor Teacher Program) - qualified child care consultants are available to any center or family day home provider as a means of receiving consultation for a particular problem or issue.
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4. Family Scholarships - to subsidize child care for those not eligible for other benefits, with a special emphasis on infant care.
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5. "Family-Friendly Business" Designation - businesses receive gold, silver, or bronze seals indicating its level of family-friendly policies and practices.
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6. Business-to-Business Mentoring Initiative on Child Care - a program implemented by the Women's Bureau, Dept. of Labor, emphasizing awareness of child care as a family concern It functions by connecting employers who offer effective child care programs with other employers who are considering offering options to employees.
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RECOMMENDED FOR FUTURE COMMUNITY CONSIDERATION:
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1. Master Teacher Program (Pilot Project)- increases the quality and efficiency of child care centers. Uses matching funds to provide salary supplements to a Master Teacher who runs a model classroom part of the day and mentors and assists the Director and staff during the rest of the day.
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2. Benefits Pool - creates a benefites pool for child care employees to increase the affordability of medical insurance, life insurance, and retirement plans.
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3. Satellite Learning Locations - locations in neighborhoods accessible to child care providers become sites for training and resources for centers and their staff.
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4. Consultant - to provide technical assistance to child care programs for activities such as grant writing and accreditation preparation.
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5. Public Awareness - develop and submit Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and create bulletin boards with child care oriented information; develop a distinguished lecture series, bringing in recognized experts to speak on issues of young children; form a Speakers Bureau to be available to talk to parents and providers about various issues relevant to child care and parenting; and create training modules from these activities.
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6. Ombudsman - lobbies for broad-based legislation and awareness of city and county officials.
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7. Resource Kits - compile resource files for the use of employers, funders, and the community with helpful information regarding child care administration, development, and improving quality.
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While the Child Care Task Force has made recommendations focused primarily on child care, Success by Six has worked under a somewhat broader charge. Led by the UnitedWay/Capital Area, representatives from the local community with experience and expertise in the area of early development and care came together to identify barriers to optimal early childhood development and to propose a plan to address these barriers. Focus groups with providers and experts were conducted to ensure that the concerns identified and the plan included input representative of the full community.
Table 14
Success by Six Planning Task Force Recommendations
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PARENTS/FAMILIES
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Increase access to services for young children and families through a coordinated system of care.
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Increase the quality of early childhood education and care.
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COMMUNITY-AT-LARGE
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Conduct a coordinated public education and awareness effort reaching 50% or 500,000 of 1,008,000 Central Texans to increase the community's knowledge of the importance of early childhood development and to inform families about resources that support their efforts in caring for young children.
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Work with other organizations to inform Central Texas families whose children are uninsured about health insurance coverage available through the Children's Health Initiative Program (CHIP) and/or Texas Healthy Kids/Medicaid.
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Work with existing organizations that are focused on early childhood development to develop a Central Texas legislative agenda.
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Work with local legislators to pass appropriate legislation.
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A broad theme common to most recommendations for new strategies was the need for a coordinated continuum of services. Outreach, media campaigns, workplace programs for parents, a directory of parenting services, as well as more comprehensive and less restrictive services were also recommended.
As a part of this assessment, a Parenting Resources Survey was submitted to local parenting providers requesting their input on aspects of the current service system. Respondents noted that many of the existing services are working well, including several of the home-based and center-based programs. Most respondents noted that additional services are needed, especially for fathers, couples, teens, recent immigrants, non-traditional parents (such as grandparents) and those needing home-based services. In order for more parents to be reached, it was recommended that existing models that have been proven to be successful be replicated. It was also recommended that services be placed in the neighborhoods where they are needed most, that they be conducted in language of the parents needing services, and that transportation, child care, and working parents' needs be addressed so that more parents can attend parenting education and support programs. In addition, respondents recommended that parenting education be better promoted and advertised with care taken to dispel the stigma attached to taking parenting classes.
An example of a model that has been adopted on a community-wide basis is San Antonio's Practical Parent Education Program. This curriculum is funded by and implemented throughout the largest school district and offered in each elementary school. Parents who complete the entire 8-class series are given attractive incentives. If a parent is unable to attend a particular session, he or she can make it up at another school in the district as all sites offer the same class at different times and days each week.
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