2009 Final ProgramJump to:
Tuesday, March 10, 2009We Can Do Better - 2009 UpdateNACCRRA's We Can Do Better: Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight was first published in 2007. NACCRRA will release the 2009 update of this report called We Can Do Better: 2009 Update at the Thursday press conference during Symposium. Some states have better scorecards, and some are worse. What have we learned about using this tool to raise the quality of child care in America? This session will provide attendees with an overview of the states' progress. Panelists representing state child care administrators, child care providers and parents will respond.
Public Policy 101: CCR&R Action Steps to Raise AwarenessCCR&Rs are the catalyst for change in child care. NACCRRA's Public Policy team will lay out the foundations you need to use 21st century grassroots techniques.
Welcome to SymposiumAn introductory and networking session designed for first-time NACCRRA Symposium participants. You will hear first-hand from NACCRRA's Board President and Executive Director.
Community Organizing RoundtableImpacting public policy at the state and federal level starts with strong community advocacy. Join with some of our best community organizers in the CCR&R field who will share successful practices in mobilizing grassroots support for child care and early childhood development issues. Model CCR&Rs will share their stories and lead an open roundtable discussion about what is being done, what can be done and how NACCRRA can help. Wednesday, March 11, 2009Update from the Child Care Bureau
The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream
Beyond the Child Care Development Block Grant: Key Reauthorization IssuesCCR&R agencies work with multiple, interconnected, federally funded programs to support safe, high-quality care. This panel will address key issues affecting child care, including the Child and Adult Care Food Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act and disaster planning. Quality Rating and Quality-Based Payments: A Unified ApproachOhio's quality rating system offers lessons learned from a financial analysis of incentives offered to providers to improve quality. This panel will discuss a financial analysis of the degree to which quality-related payments were sufficient to offset the cost to providers of meeting standards, incentives to serve low and middle income children, and affordability to families of higher standards of quality. Budget challenges will also be discussed.
Powerhouse Partners for Parent Activism: e-Mobilization and Grassroots OrganizationJoin the staff from two successful advocacy organziations, MomsRising and Parent Voices, to hear how they work to mobilize their organizations to advocate for families and children. Established in 2006, MomsRising is an online grassroots organization devoted to advocating for family-friendly federal policies. Parent Voices, located in California, is one of the oldest and well-established grassroots child care advocacy organizations in our field. This session will explore the online and offline strategies these two organizations have used to successfully advocate for their issues and provide you with ideas to empower your organization's parent advocacy programs. Child Care AND Development Block Grant Reauthorization: NACCRRA's agendaThe Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) drives child care and CCR&R funding throughout the country. How does the language in CCDBG drive quality child care? What changes will have the greatest impact on quality?
An Online Director CredentialOne of the most promising approaches to increasing the competence of early childhood administrators is director credentialing. This presentation provides an overview of an innovative online director credential being launched in spring 2009. It provides a rationale for director credentialing, a description of the content of the credential modules, and a demonstration of the core features of this online initiative that make it user-friendly, easy to navigate and intellectually engaging.
Luncheon and Keynote Presentation
Congressional PanelPanelists will share their thoughts on what to expect for child care from the new Administration and new Congress. NACCRRA's Public Policy AgendaDuring this plenary, NACCRRA will reveal our 2009 - 2010 policy priorities, key issue areas for the coming year, and the critical role of CCR&Rs in moving a national child care agenda forward. NACCRRA Public Policy Committee Representatives will also brief participants on plans for Day on the Hill. State CaucusesMeet with colleagues from around your state to coordinate messages and develop strategies for Thursday's Day on the Hill visits. Thursday, March 12, 2009Day on the HillJoin CCR&Rs from across the country to raise awareness about child care on Capitol Hill. Press Conference on Capitol HillJoin Linda K. Smith, NACCRRA's Executive Director, state representatives, parents and Members of Congress as we share the newest NACCRRA report We Can Do Better - 2009 Update. This 2009 report updates information provided in NACCRRA's We Can Do Better: Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight, published in 2007. Congressional ReceptionJoin NACCRRA's Board of Directors, Congressional Representatives and Staff, CCR&R staff from across the nation, and invited parents to celebrate Day on the Hill. Come share your stories about the congressional visits you made with other CCR&Rs and parents. Network with friends and colleagues and share your successes and plans for follow-up. Invite congressional staff you meet during your visits to come to the Congressional Reception, too! Friday, March 13, 2009Membership Council and State Network Council Breakfast MeetingsThese councils elect representatives to serve on the NACCRRA Board of Directors. Each state is represented on both councils. A CCR&R representative serves on the Membership Council and the State Network Director or President serves on the State Network Council. The council meetings are closed sessions for council members only. Annual MeetingJoin NACCRRA Board of Directors in the annual meeting of NACCRRA members from around the country. The agenda includes "NACCRRA's Year in Review" and the election results for the Board of Directors. This meeting is open to all paid 2009 members of NACCRRA.
Parent Choice and How Well the Market is RespondingEmerging research helps us understand how parents make decisions about choosing child care. This panel will summarize key themes that describe parental decision making. How can we engage parents with information about quality rating and improvement systems and revised accreditation systems? What does the literature tell us about parental choice in home-based child care? How and what can CCR&R administrators contribute to the planning for a new study of child care supply and demand?
Policy Recommendations for Child Care Providers Participating in Child Care Subsidy Programs: Strategies for Improving Access and StabilityChild care providers are a critical piece of the child care subsidy system. Their willingness - or reluctance - to participate in the subsidy programs impacts families' access to care. This session will present research that illustrates how policies and practices impact whether providers serve subsidized children and the kind of care they are able to provide. Recommendations for improving providers' participation in subsidy programs will also be discussed.
How Internet-Driven Movements and Advocacy Can Empower Parents and Child Care Communities to Support our ChildrenCitizen voices are crucial for creating a healthy democratic process, both locally and nationally. Online organizing has proven to be a powerful way to engage parents and support policy and programs that are good for families. This presentation will use the model of MomsRising and other online organizations to illustrate how similar techniques and campaigns can be crafted to build, empower and support child care communities. The Intersection of Policy and Professional Development on Inclusive Early Care and EducationLegislative changes have resulted in the early care and education field serving children of all abilities, including those with disabilities and other special needs. Other policy issues, such as education reform, school accountability and expanded focus on school readiness, compound the challenges faced by our field. This session will review these policies and offer CCR&Rs with options for professional development for child care professionals, particularly as it relates to the use of effective teaching strategies and practices. Quality, Affordability, Access: Addressing the Investment DilemmaPolicymakers across the nation find themselves faced with a dilemma: With increasingly scarce dollars, how do we balance the need for improving the quality of available child care with the need for improving families' ability to access this care? This panel discussion will focus on how to create a system of high-quality care that serves the needs of all low-income working families. Research on the relationship of child care assistance utilization to positive family and child outcomes, as well as research on the associations between quality and positive child outcomes will be reviewed. Advocacy, organizing and policy strategies that focus on ensuring quality, affordability and access will be presented. Beyond Language: Holistic Approaches to Supporting Spanish-Speaking ProvidersOne in four children under age five are Latino in the U.S., and in California one in two are Latino. CCR&Rs' preparation to support these children and families can impact the development of a culturally and linguistically competent early childhood workforce. Join us to learn about California's approach to supporting Spanish-speaking providers to meet their professional goals. Participants will also have an opportunity to engage in a dialogue on how to build on local strengths. Quality Rating Systems and CCR&R: Partners in Building Comprehensive SystemsSeventeen states have implemented Quality Rating Systems (QRS), with other states in the design or exploration phase. This session will provide: an overview of the definition, common elements and structure of a QRS; update on national trends; discussion of challenges, opportunities and lessons learned; and the important role of CCR&Rs in building a strong early childhood education system.
Strengthening Early Care and Education Businesses: A New Approach for CCR&R AgenciesMost child care programs are small and have limited capacity or skills in business management and administration. CCR&Rs can support centers and homes by providing "back office" services, including billing, personnel and purchasing. With pressure to meet higher quality standards in a poor economy, programs are able to focus on children and families while receiving expert business support from their CCR&R. This workshop will focus on a promising new strategy - Shared Service Alliances - that enables child care programs to come together to achieve some economies of scale as well as a more stable fiscal and management platform. How Do Policies Affect Your Work With Family Child Care Providers?Come discover ways to ensure that policy, whether it is public policy or agency-specific policy, supports strong relationships with family child care providers. This session will include a panel of CCR&R representatives who will address the responsibility family child care associations have to help ensure a positive, professional relationship between family child care providers. Protecting Children from Harm: Trends in Child Care LicensingBe part of an interactive discussion of findings from "The 2007 Child Care Licensing Study." Participants will learn about the study's findings on child care regulatory requirements for child care centers and family child care homes, and administrative policies of state child care licensing agencies. Current issues that impact licensing and its ability to support enforcement of quality requirements will be discussed.
Luncheon and Keynote Presentation
For more information about Clay Shirky, please More "Here Comes Everybody"This session will offer follow-up discussion of the Friday luncheon keynote on how Internet networking tools are allowing groups to form and collaborate without the barriers of traditional grassroots organizing. Discussion on Parent Choice and Market ResponseThis session will be a follow-up, reciprocal discussion to the earlier panel presentation on the same topic. What are CCR&Rs hearing about this issue in their communities? Are CCR&Rs seeking ways to summarize information within their agencies on parent use of quality information? What types of further research do CCR&Rs see as most important on this issue? Influencing State Legislation to Improve Child CareDo we wait until it is too late? It can happen in your very own state. In May 2007, the unthinkable happened in Oklahoma. Oklahoma was faced with the tragedy of a child's death while in the care of a licensed family child care home provider. The Oklahoma legislature called for a legislative interim study. The study used NACCRRA reports and data in the drafting of new legislation to strengthen licensing laws. This workshop will discuss the steps taken to try to protect our children from providers that should not be caring for children.
Patterns of Child Care Use and Quality for Low-Income Children and Policy RecommendationsHow do patterns of child care use differ for families based on factors such as family income, work status, and race or ethnicity? How do other factors such as the availability of subsidies, child care supply or work schedule impact access to care? Fundamentally, what do we know about the use and quality of care children in low-income families receive, and how can policy better support their development and readiness for school? These questions will be addressed in this session, focusing on the findings from a research paper prepared by The Urban Institute and Child Trends.
The Power of Online Referral: Care.comCare.com is a commercial example of how the Internet can serve families who are looking for child care. This subscription-based online nationwide system offers direct referrals for all types of life-cycle care options. It includes a suite of powerful electronic tools and resources, including background checks, articles and guides that provide in-depth information about specific care services and issues. Kelly Russell will demonstrate the Web site and lead a discussion on how CCR&Rs can harness the Internet to serve parents.
Advocating for Change: Bringing All Advocacy Tools Together for ResultsThis session will consist of an interactive presentation and workshop that helps participants create key messages, understand how to deliver those messages to key audiences, such as business leaders, public and media, and move from messaging to action through grassroots mobilization. Using the Kansas experiences to illustrate lessons learned and political experience from numerous states, the facilitators will work with session participants to create practical and meaningful communications and outreach tools for their own communities.
Creating Sustainable Child Care and Early Education through Business PartnershipsIt is no longer possible for many organizations to be sustainable without some creative financing and fundraising strategies. First Children's Finance has developed and tested some effective models that bring private sector partners to help generate support for child care and early education. This workshop will provide a review of national models, specific strategies on engaging business leaders, and will make the link between private sector engagement and its contribution to sustainability through direct support and advocacy. Participants will learn innovative techniques to help them develop and expand effective business and community partnerships.
Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers: An UpdateThe movement to organize family child care and unregulated providers is a recent, but rapidly growing trend. This session will cover the new developments in the movement, as detailed in an update to the National Women's Law Center report, Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers.
Lessons Learned From The Qualistar Rating and Improvement System Validation StudyThis presentation will address the lessons learned from the recent Rand evaluation, which explored the effectiveness of the Qualistar Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). Learn the insights from the Rand evaluation and the implications for other states creating or evaluating their QRIS initiatives. Participants will also hear about the challenges an evaluation can create.
Cutting Through the Red Tape for Young Homeless ChildrenThis session provides an overview of the policy developed through collaboration between the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care and the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. The policy that was developed makes all homeless young children living in shelters automatically eligible for immediate access to early education and care subsidies. THE PEW Home Visitation ProjectThis session will explore a new initiative launched by the Pew Center on the States to advocate for proven home visiting services for at-risk families, through support for state campaigns and federal policy changes. It will also support a research agenda designed to broaden the evidence base for home visiting, including an open competition for research grants. The initiative will operate alongside the Pew Center on the States' other children's campaigns-pre-kindergarten for all and improved access to dental care.
Web 2.0 for Nonprofit Organizations: An IntroductionWeb 2.0 and social networking Web sites are changing the way the world communicates online. This presentation will be offered as a webinar so participants can experience the benefits of Web 2.0 first hand. Over the Internet, Heather Mansfield will introduce the most powerful of Web 2.0 Web sites and dispel the myths about these sites that have kept some nonprofit organizations from embracing these new tools. Learn how Web 2.0 can help you reach more families and providers in an interactive way without having to spend money on transportation. Delivering and Evaluating On-site Consultation in a 5-State Collaborative StudyThis presentation will share findings from a 5-state evaluation of the Partnerships for Inclusion (PFI) model of on-site consultation for quality enhancement in family child care homes and centers. The session will include a description of the PFI model, its implementation with the consultant staff of 24 partner agencies, and provider, classroom and child outcomes. The study raises many questions about professional development. Discussion of the significant and non-significant findings will be encouraged. New Developments in Subsidy Policy to Help Families Get and Keep Subsidies: A Roundtable DiscussionJoin this roundtable discussion to discuss policy and implementation strategies that support families' access to and retention of child care subsidies. This session will include a discussion and share research findings that provide insight into the kinds of policies and practices that can better support families.
Child Care Quality and Tax Credits: Preliminary Research into the Effectiveness of Tax Credits in Encouraging the Use of High-Quality Child CareHigh-quality child care is often unaffordable, especially for low and moderate-income families. Child and dependent care tax credits can help families offset their child care expenses. This workshop will present new research by the National Women's Law Center regarding state child care tax credits in Arkansas, Vermont and Maine. The tax credit is intended to encourage families to use high-quality child care. The presentation will also discuss Louisiana's new quality child care credits and recently introduced federal legislation that would increase the federal child care credit and make it fully refundable. Building and Sustaining a Quality Early Childhood Education Workforce: Findings from The Florida StudySpecialized training in early childhood coupled with technical assistance is an effective strategy for improving teacher knowledge, classroom quality and child outcomes. This session will present findings from the 3-year study in Florida aimed at improving teacher quality and teacher effectiveness through a professional development model. Both qualitative and quantitative findings from the Partners in Education and Research for Kindergarten Success project can inform future policy discussions and guide practice for building and sustaining a high-quality early care and education workforce.
What Implications Do Quality Rating and Improvement Systems Hold for Infant Toddler Care?Research and practice show us the importance of quality care for infants and toddlers. How can the needs of infants and toddlers be addressed in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS)? Emerging issues include: defining quality, measuring quality, supporting quality, and QRIS for infants and toddlers within the larger early childhood system. Attention will focus on how to include quality criteria specific to infants and toddlers in QRIS systems.
A New Child Care Vision - State-Level Advocacy and Policy ChangeLast year, a plenary session at NACCRRA focused on a collaborative vision of the future of child care that would provide funding and broad reforms necessary to ensure that more families have access to high-quality child care that promotes children's early learning, supports parents at work and benefits the nation as a whole. This session will re-introduce participants to the Vision and discuss strategies for states to help achieve components of the federal Vision.
Pandemic-Flu Policy and CCR&RWhat is the role of CCR&Rs in working with local policymakers and child care providers around disease prevention? Closure of child care programs is included in federal community guidance for preventing severe pandemics. This would impact at least 4.5 million preschool children and 550,000 caregivers affiliated with 117,000 regulated child care centers in the United States. What are your community's child care policies for pandemic flu, annual flu or other illness outbreaks? What are the trends in this area? Overcoming Zoning and Covenant Barriers to Family Child CareFamily child care providers who are in compliance with their state licensing regulations are being confronted with barriers created by local zoning laws and homeowners associations' restrictive covenants. Policymakers need to recognize family child care as an essential component of the early care and education infrastructure and must plan to include child care in communities where it will be accessible to parents. Come and discuss the NAFCC position statement on Zoning and Restrictive Covenants and how CCR&R might help providers in your state overcome local barriers. Saturday, March 14, 2009Are Vouchers an Effective Strategy for Financing Child Care?Can vouchers be an effective financing strategy for child care - one that facilitates parental choice and supports children's development and readiness for school? What does research tell us about the extent to which vouchers currently help families access care or contribute to (or undermine) the quality of care provided? Join national experts to examine these provocative questions. This plenary will provide a forum for discussing whether subsidy policy can be shaped to provide a successful solution to financing child care in America - or if a new strategy is needed as we look forward to new challenges and opportunities with a new Administration, a growing economic crisis impacting child care, and increasing public and political interest in child care issues.
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Contact usQuestions about NACCRRA Conferences? Email conferences@naccrra.org |
Moniquin Huggins is the Acting Associate Director of the Child Care Bureau (CCB), Office of Family Assistance, Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Huggins is responsible for the administration of the Federal Child Care and Development Fund, which is a multi-billion dollar program that provides funding to States, Territories, and federally recognized Tribes to assist low-income working families pay for child care while parents work or participate in education or training. In addition, Ms. Huggins is involved with a number of partnerships that support the healthy development of young children in child care. Prior to joining CCB in 1992, Ms. Huggins held positions at U.S. Department of Defense installations as the Director of Family Child Care and as the Chief of Programs for Military Families.
Pollster John Zogby is President and CEO of Zogby International, a worldwide research and marketing firm using live telephone operators and an interactive polling methodology that has become extraordinarily accurate. Zogby is the author of "The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream." His analysis of years of data yields an astonishing perspective on Americans' thoughts, feelings and beliefs, now and in coming years. Understanding this emerging reality will be key for CCR&Rs who want to reach audiences that are more media-savvy, better informed and more technologically enabled than ever before. CCR&R professionals looking to marry policies and practices to the rising demand for social responsibility and want to market to families will find this keynote valuable.
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, the first former welfare mother to serve in Congress, is in her eighth term as the representative from California's 6th District, just north of San Francisco. She serves as Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive caucus and is vocal and visible on issues dealing with children and families. As the Chairwoman of the Committee on Education and Labor's Workforce Protections Subcommittee, Congresswoman Woolsey helps oversee policies that affect millions of American workers. She uses her seat on the Committee on Education and Labor to provide children and families the tools they need to realize the American Dream. During her time in Congress, one of Congresswoman Woolsey's top priorities has been a legislative package called "The Balancing Act," which aims to help parents manage the challenge of the balance between work and family. Among the Balancing Act provisions are: paid family leave; public universal pre-school; major investments in child care; universal school breakfast; benefits for part-time workers; and telecommuting incentives.
Policy and community organizing have changed forever. Clay Shirky will talk about his new book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, and how Internet networking tools are allowing groups to form and collaborate without the barriers of traditional grassroots organizing. The author says "a society which has an Internet is a different kind of society then a society that doesn't. In the same way that society that has a printing press is a different kind of society then one that doesn't." Shirky divides his time between consulting, teaching and writing on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies. His consulting practice is focused on the rise of decentralized technologies such as 