Suffolk Early Childhood Development Commission Meetings

Date: Sept 01, 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 September 2021 Commission Meeting Members Present Members Absent Mark Furlo Gail Harrison Marie Baker Bonnie Maki Henry Dixon Terrance Johnson Tamie Rittenhouse Guests Present Shawna LoMonaco Carol Wilson Melvin Bradshaw Lori White Aidyn Scott Gin Staylor Jennifer Conner Sarah Townsend Catherine Pichon I. Welcome–Tamie Rittenhouse called the meeting to order. II. Review Minutes-The commission reviewed the minutes from August 04, 2021. Marie Baker made the motion to approve the minutes, Lori White seconded the motion. Shawna made a note to add Catherine Pichon as SPS designee. Gin Staylor made the motion to approve, Marie Baker seconded. The vote to approve the minutes was unanimous. III. Coordinators Report: A. Child Care Numbers: Shawna reported 42 licensed and 12 unlicensed facilities in Suffolk. Two Family Day Homes are no longer listed. A decrease in Va Quality centers was noted. Unique Little Hand is no  longer listed. B. Class Fundementals Training – 15 attendees attended the training presented by Joetta Camp. Lunch was provided along with ECE materials giveaways. C. ECDC Resource Room – Located at the North Suffolk Library, Suffolk providers can reserve time in the resources room through the SPL website. Providers also have the option to drop items off and pick up once laminated from Morgan Memorial Library. Shawna is currently working with SPL to make a more inviting and useful space for providers. D. Deposit Collections - Shawna gave a brief overview of the Deposit Collections currently available to Suffolk providers and shared the intent to expand upon services with literacy kits and professional development items. E. PT Position – The PT ECDC Coordinator position is not yet filled and will wait for the job market to slow down a bit before starting the hiring process again. Shawna will receive some support from SPL staff members. III. Other Business: A. Finance Report: A small portion of funds was used for the CLASS Fundementals training. A motion was made to support attendees of up to 30 members not to exceed $3,000 for the Raising the Bar conference. The motion was approved for funds to be pulled from the provider training budget. B. LENA Discussion:  Urgent need for Suffolk EC o Staff and capacity – in need of providers. Competitive pay o Health and safety o Need for virtual support (no virtual Early Start, Children’s Center) o Caregiver relationship – quality of interactions. Parent/Caregivers engagement/resources. o Training for childcare providers – keeping everyone up to date (home providers?) Community and support among home providers and family day homes. o Developmental screening before school o Social/emotional support connections for families with kids not in facilities  ECDC’s Priority o Provider training (DSS required 10-hour training) o Attempt to help fill in the staffing gap  Idea: baseline training for people who want to get in to the field. Norfolk had event where people could interview with providers right there. Employment fair for childcare for the City.  CCAP – Suffolk Public Schools – promote vacancies for students o How can we get the community to buy-in to the importance of early childhood? Re-engage the community and advocate. (kids signing up for Kindergarten?) o Health & Safety (including: mental health issues for family and children)   Does LENA help reach ECDC’s goal? o Can library help fund jointly? o Not the right time to put this pressure on the caregivers. Have to have a lot in order. Questions required of LENA we aren’t ready to answer. o Have a long way to go to understand the importance of interaction o Have caregivers say if they want/need or not. Decision: Everyone likes LENA but it’s not the right moment. IV. Action Items: A. ECDC Bylaws: A working group has been formed. Tamie, Sarah, and Shawna will work with Library Director, Clint Rudy, to begin revision. Shawna will send the commission a copy of the ECDC City Code as well as the existing bylaws B. Member Changes- Shawna will contact City Clerk to plan swearing in of new members, possibly at our next meeting C. Monthly Director Meetings: Shawna will reconvene monthly director meetings. D. KidZone: Shawna will inquire about ECDC’s place in promoting KidZone fundraising project. E. Raising the Bar: Shawna will contact Children’s Harbor to offer RTB scholarships. V. Informational Needs:  What impacts Kindergarten Readiness the most.  ACES – relationship with caregiver  Kids Count  Kids showed up on first day not registered for Kindergarten  Kids entered kindergarten who haven’t been developmentally screened  State priorities, funding, efforts on Early Childhood – changes in curriculum (eg. CLASS, Streaming 3) VI. Adjourn: Our next meeting will be Oct 6, 2021 Thought to leave with: What would you like for ECDC’s website to provide? What is the goal of the ECDC website? What should ECDC’s online presence look like