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Tribal Child Care Technical Assistance Center (TriTAC)
Effective Program Strategies
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| Braiding CCDF, Head Start, and State PreK Funding Upper Skagit Indian Tribe |
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Demographic Information:
Located in the northwest portion of Washington, the Upper Skagit Reservation is nestled between the Cascade Mountains to the east and the Puget Sound to the west. The 84 acre reservation, with 15 additional acres located near the northern town of Alger, sits 60 miles north of Seattle and 80 miles south of Vancouver, B.C. Approximately 457 of the 504 tribal members live on or near the reservation.
Type of Program:
The Tribe operates an early childhood development center that provides services to children in Head Start, Child Care, and Prekindergarten (PreK). Through a partnership between Child Care, Head Start and Washington State’s PreK program, the Upper Skagit Tribe serves 20 children in a full-day, year-round classroom.
Effective Program Strategy:
In 1999, the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe developed a full-day, year-round partnership plan to combine Head Start, Child Care services, and the State PreK program for children from low-income families, the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP). At first the partnership offered before and after care for Head Start and the PreK program. After a three month trial period, center staff realized the families they were serving needed full-day care. It was then that the Upper Skagit Child Development Center launched its full-day, year-round program to offer services to 20 children in one classroom from early in the morning to late in the afternoon.
As the collaboration developed, staff members began to brainstorm about how to meet the various needs of their community. The team decided the focus would be to meet the social, emotional, and cognitive needs of their children through all activities; to celebrate the parents for the work they are doing with their children by offering a monthly parent training program; and to adopt the philosophy that it is a privilege to have each child in the classroom for these formative years.
In order to manage this partnership endeavor effectively, the early childhood department realized that their traditional center operations could no longer continue. To staff the new full-day classroom, the child development center hired a full time teacher and teacher aide, and a part-time "floater" teaching assistant to work in the full-day room and throughout the center. This classroom provides the same services to children funded by Head Start, CCDF, and ECEAP, as well as those from private-pay families. The parents are not told which child is associated with each program or what each family does or does not pay for services. Parents receive a bill through the mail instead of paying in a public setting. This has helped parents come together as a group regardless of income.
One of the major issues that the early childhood department had to tackle was the role of the parent councils from the three programs. The Tribe decided to integrate all three of the parent councils into one council to share in planning and decision-making for the entire early care and education program.
Another key issue that the department examined was transportation to and from the center; as a result of the restructuring, a new comprehensive transportation plan was adopted.
To finance the collaboration, resources from Head Start, Child Care, ECEAP, and private pay families are "blended" or "braided" into a single budget using an effective cost allocation plan. Items that are cost-allocated include staff salaries (including the Child Development Programs Manager), supplies, and building maintenance and construction costs. The only people who know which entity pays for program items are the Tribe’s fiscal staff and the Child Development Programs Manager. Budget adjustments are made on an ongoing basis to ensure a smooth and accurate accounting of federal and state funds.
Resources:
CCDF, Head Start, and Washington State ECEAP funds are used to fund the full-day, year-round classroom.
Results:
By having a solid plan of action for the beginning and future of the partnership, and by keeping the doors of communication open, the Upper Skagit Child Development Center is serving a diverse population of children. Another positive outcome is that the early education center is now a place where parents can connect with each other and the staff on a daily basis.
Through its effective and confidential cost-allocation plan, the early childhood department has helped alleviate feelings of possessiveness among the staff, so that all programs are seen as equal contributors to the partnership.
Due to the success of the current partnership efforts, program staff plan to offer more than one full-day classroom and double the size of the center within the next 10 years.
Lessons Learned:
To ensure success, modifications to program operations must be made on a continuous basis.
Other strategies for success include having a single, centralized application form for parents; obtaining support from the Tribal Council; and, during the initial partnership phase, involving Head Start teachers in Child Care classrooms to help staff understand full-day operational systems.
Contact Information:
Russ Osenbach, Child Development Programs Manager
Phone: (360) 856-3547
Fax: (360) 856-3550
Email: uscdc@fidalgo.net
| NOTE: If you have information about an Effective Program Strategy in your Tribal community that you would like to share, please contact the Tribal Child Care Technical Assistance Center (TriTAC) at TriTAC2@aol.com |
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