Policy and Fiscal Committee

Board of Early Education and Care Policy and Fiscal Committee May 3, 2010 12:30 PM – 3:00 PM Summary of Meeting

Members of the Committee Present: Elizabeth Childs, M.D, Chair J.D. Chesloff Carol Craig O’Brien Mary Pat Messmer Sharon Scott Chandler Marilyn Chase (participated by phone) Sherri Killins, Ed.D, EEC Commissioner (ex officio) (participated by phone)

EEC Staff Present: Nicole Lessard Kelly Schaffer Sean Reynolds Bill Concannon Dena Papanikolaou Phil Baimas

Public Present: Representative from the Bessie Tartt Wilson Children's Foundation

Review of April Minutes

Disclosures: - Mary Pat Messmer disclosed that her agency receives EEC funding (QRIS, UPK and Financial Assistance funds) and may apply for future EEC funding. - Carol Craig O’Brien disclosed that she is the Early Childhood Coordinator for the Westwood Public Schools, which currently receives EEC grant funding and has a potential interest in receiving additional future funding, but has no direct interest represented on the agenda today. - Sharon Scott Chandler disclosed that her agency holds contracts/grants and seeks additional funds from the Department.

I. Agency Updates

NIEER Report Commissioner Killins noted that the NIEER State of Preschool Report for 2009 will be released shortly. In the report, MA ranked 27th in access to preschool for 4 year olds and 16th for access for 3 year olds. Massachusetts met 6 out of the 10 quality benchmarks for state preschool program. Per child spending increased this year compared to last year’s survey. NIEER’s methodology for counting per child spending does not provide an accurate picture of Massachusetts given our

1 unique “quality first” strategy that effectively supplements current access spending with quality enhancements. EEC will continue to work with NIEER on this.

QRIS Update The Committee received a written update which indicated that 640 grantees were selected and represented a diverse group of providers across the state and across the mixed delivery system.

ARRA Kindergarten Readiness Program Commissioner Killins reported that EEC has received some feedback that this initiative’s parameters have presented some barriers for public school programs interested in participating. Some public schools have mentioned they could implement the program if it required less than 8 weeks be provided (e.g. 5 weeks).

Committee Discussion:  The Committee discussed the need for flexibility in the pilot and the ability to learn about what worked well and apply that learning to next year’s program, while ensuring the program is beneficial for the children involved and meets the needs of working families.  Past Committee discussions were reflected on in which the Committee had recommended that 8-10 weeks be set as the threshold for the program; though there is no research to support 8 weeks as more beneficial than 5 weeks.  The Committee discussed whether other program types, specifically Head Start programs, with income eligible (IE) contracts should also be allowed the flexibility to provide a 5 week program.  The Committee discussed that while 8 weeks may be the goal and the Board still supports this program length, a 5 week program would be more beneficial to a child that would otherwise experience summer learning loss or may not have any access to early education and care experiences before entering Kindergarten.

Agenda Items for Discussion I. Budget / Caseload Sean Reynolds provided an update including information regarding FY2010 spending, the supplemental budget, ARRA and caseload.

Committee Discussion:  The Committee discussed the possibility for reversions and the inability to open income eligible access to financial assistance that cannot be covered by the next fiscal year’s caseload account funding levels. It was noted that managing to a deficiency would be mismanagement.  The hope for transferability language was discussed which would allow for additional transferability in the caseload accounts.  The Committee requested a spending plan/timeline for ARRA funds to allow the Committee/Board to understand the pace of this spending.  The Committee discussed changes in practice by DCF that has effected EEC’s caseload numbers and discussed the potential to work with DCF in the coming months regarding supportive policies.  A future agenda item the Committee is interested in discussing is the analysis of the cost to serve at-risk children before they enter the DCF system and how early intervention can save the state systems funds (e.g. in IEP savings etc.). EEC could look into whether special needs funds could cover this at-risk population. Feedback could also be looked at from the programs providing supportive care.

II. Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Kelly Schaffer presented the Committee with potential changes to the UPK program that would increase alignment with additional EEC initiatives. Specifically she discussed two proposals, one which would shift 25% of

2 UPK funding to the new MA QRIS system and the second in which the Commissioner would seek federal approval to use CCDF funds to provide limited continuity to preschool children whose families lose eligibility for financial assistance.

Committee Discussion:  The Committee discussed how the 25% cut would affect UPK programs and the critical components required to maintain quality; how UPK and QRIS align; how the UPK pilot will go to scale (in its current form it is expensive to go to scale and the ultimate goal is that all MA children have access to UPK).  The Board remains very committed to QRIS, but the Committee decided that before moving forward with changes to UPK funding they would need to engage in additional discussions with the full Board in order to make policy decisions relative to this initiative; the Board will have this discussion at their July Board Retreat.

III. ARRA Proposal for Professional Development and Development of a Statewide Strategy to Increase Access to Higher Education for Limited English Proficient Early Educators Phil Baimas presented the Committee with two related ARRA proposals:

Proposal 1: $150,000 to pilot comprehensive professional development services in one or more EEC regions for Spanish-speaking educators with limited English proficiency; and Proposal 2: $75,000 to support a consultant to work with the Readiness Centers to develop and imbed a broader statewide strategy to increase access to higher education for early educators with limited English proficiency.

Committee Discussion:  The Committee discussed that these proposals tie into the SAC initiatives and that it would be important to enhance, not to duplicate, current professional development efforts supported by EEC. Sharon Scott –Chandler disclosed that her agency has been involved with EEC’s professional development funding.  The Committee asked why EEC would not use their current professional development infrastructure to pursue the delivery of the first initiative; Phil Baimas noted that the current grantees would be eligible to apply but to date none of these grantees has focused on providing opportunities in Spanish and EEC does not want to limit the application pool if others have this expertise.

IV. SAC Grant Application Commissioner Killins presented the Committee with an update on the SAC application and reminded them that the Board would vote to submit this grant application at the upcoming Board meeting.

V. Financial Assistance Regulation Changes Dena Papanikolaou updated the Committee on potential regulations that EEC may look to refine in the future regarding the definition of “special need of child” and “special need of parent” and the number of allowable absences allowed for children receiving EEC financial assistance. Those coded as having a “special need” vary greatly in terms of the need and EEC would like to put some clear parameters on this.

Committee Discussion:  The Committee discussed that they would like to set aside a significant amount of time at a future meeting to discuss this issue.