Suffolk Early Childhood Development Commission Meetings

Date: May 05, 2021 Time: 2:00 to 4:00pm Location: City of Suffolk Health & Human Services Building 135 Hall Ave Suffolk VA 23434 3RD Floor Conference Room May 2021 Commission Meeting Members Present Members Absent Mark Furlo Gail Harrison Marie Baker Henry Dixon Saniyyah T. Manigault Carol Wilson Shawna LoMonaco Bonnie Maki Tamie Rittenhouse Lori White Gin Staylor Dr. Okema Branch Megan Mulvey Guest- Melvin Bradshaw Visitors I. Welcome–Tamie Rittenhouse called the meeting to order. A quorum was present. Introductions and updates were done around the table. II. Review Minutes-The commission reviewed the minutes from April 07, 2020. Marie Baker made the motion to approve the minutes, Saniyyah Manigault seconded the motion. The vote to approve the minutes was unanimous. III. Coordinators Report: A. Child Care Numbers: Shawna LoMonaco reported there are currently 42 licensed child care locations and 15 unlicensed. B. Ready Rosie: 1815 registered users. Three more than last month. It is unclear how many non-classroom participants are active users. C. Catch’em Early Bags – Half of the book order ($2500 of $5000) was ordered and delivered to Obici. The other half will be ordered during the next purchase period, after May 13th. The bags were ordered and sent as well. D. Child Abuse Prevention Month - Article in Suffolk News Herald, gave out 42 signs. Gifts were given to council members for child abuse prevention month E. Week of the Young Child - Proclamation for week of the young child was obtained and the council agenda request process for next year was clarified. 81 families participated in ECDC’s Seeds to Sprouts program. F. Outreach Efforts – Shawna represented ECDC at the May 1st Farmers Market. She worked with Master Gardner’s to give out peanut plants. Children could also pick out a free book, play with a bubble blowing machine and play on a touchless obstacle course. Information about Ready Rosie, Kindergarten Registration, and The Basics was distributed. Shawna will also attend Suffolk YMCA’s Healthy Kid’s Day on May 22nd and all first Saturday Farmer’s Markets. G. ECDC Cares Pack – 25 locations have received a cares pack. Some items are currently on back order. Provider requests will resume once all items are received. H. Provider Appreciation Day - May 7th, ECDC offered a “Build it Your Way” gift option for providers to choose from. The gift options list was provided to ECDC. The “Lots of Love Baby set of 4” was the most selected item by child care providers. Twisted Sister Cupcakes were delivered to two locations and an additional eleven locations will receive the requested cupcake order on Thursday, May 6th. I. Background Checks – Shawna reported the cost of the Central Registration Background Check is $10. ECDC will financially support family home providers in receiving background checks. A request was made to send a direct link to  providers on where and how to access the Background Check application. Shawna will investigate the time limit on free finger printing currently provided by DSS. J. Department Change – The ECDC Coordinator position, Part-time ECDC position, and budget will fall under the library department as of July 1, 2021. It was suggested to request the Cultural Arts Center as a new location for ECDC to be provided as an in-kind location if the library does not have space III. Other Business: A. Finance Report: Shawna LoMonaco shared the most up to date budget. Finance A request was made to put “as of date…” on the budget report so that ECDC will know what date the report was printed and how much is available as of the given date. Shawna will update. IV. New Business: A. SPS Summer Series: Suffolk Public School Summer Series is requesting $11,000 to purchase materials for K-3 students in areas of Literacy and Numeracy. Motion made by Saniyyah. Seconded by Gin. All in favor. Motion carries. B. ECDC/SPL Provider’s Library – Shawna would like to combine Suffolk Public Library’s book deposit efforts with ECDC’s resource room. Books and resources will be purchased with the remainder of funds set aside for Provider Training. C. Kindergarten Registration – Kindergarten registration flyers and signs were made available for members to share with departments and organizations. Registration is currently taking place online. D. Future Spending - The commission discussed that funding for schools may not be continued for FY22. Using funds to impact more child care providers was discussed. Shawna will research Ready Rosie and other comparable applications that might be able to meet the needs of the community. Shawna to provide a comparison during the next meeting. Gin suggested a program called, “Lena.” ECDC is also interested in offering funding to help providers become CLASS certified. A suggestion was made for all members to come back in June prepared to discuss specific types of grants and staff development in order to spend down the budget. Shawna will send a follow up email to start brainstorming. It was agreed that June’s meeting will focus on closing  out this year’s budget and discuss new initiatives for next year’s budget. Provider Staffing – Marie Baker mentioned the hardship providers are facing with filling staff positions. Shawna will reach out to Economic Development to see if they can assist, or have suggestions, in helping with this shortage of early childhood staffin child care centers. V. Adjourn Our next meeting will be June 02, 2021.