Gila Regional Partnership Council

Strategic Plan 2019 – 2022 Update

State Fiscal Year 2021 Funding Plan

Presented to the First Things First Board January 13 - 14, 2020

Vision All ’s children are ready to succeed in school and in life.

Mission First Things First is one of the critical partners in creating a family-centered, comprehensive, collaborative and high-quality early childhood system that supports the development, health and early education of all Arizona’s children birth to age 5.

Regional Partnership Councils First Things First’s statewide Board and its 28 regional partnership councils share the responsibility of ensuring that early childhood funds are invested in strategies aimed at improving educational and health outcomes for young children. Regional partnership councils identify the unique needs of their communities and decide how to best support young children and families in their areas. Regional councils, comprised of local volunteers, provide vision and leadership, governance and oversight. They identify, implement and fund strategies and build collaborations aimed at helping young children across Arizona succeed in school and life.

Gila Regional Partnership Council

Fernando Shipley, Chair, business representative Sherry Dorathy, Vice Chair, school administrator representative Debby Bunney, at-large representative Jeri Byrne, faith representative Debbie Leverance, educator representative Audrey Opitz, philanthropy representative Charles Proudfoot, at-large representative Melissa Ruff, parent representative Tashina Smith, tribal representative Kristin Wade, health representative open, child care provider representative Carolyn Haro, Regional Director, First Things First

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 2 Gila Regional Partnership Council

Strategic Plan Update

FAMILY SUPPORT

The Gila Regional Partnership Council focuses on family support and literacy given the number of children living in poverty who are at risk, the high percentage of children living with a single parent and the growing number of grandparents raising grandchildren. The approach for providing family support is to offer quality parenting education that fits their needs, while increasing their knowledge and experience using an emerging evidence-based parenting education curriculum. The regional council supports literacy by distributing books, building home libraries and sponsoring literacy-focused events. Literacy awareness is advanced by connecting families to their local libraries for story times and family activities. In addition, the regional council continues to explore opportunities to collaborate with other organizations who work with the pre-parent population to provide learning opportunities regarding the importance of early childhood.

Successes Through its parenting education contract, Teen Outreach Pregnancy Services (TOPS) and its partner Arizona Youth Partnership (AZYP) continue to improve knowledge of parenting practices and child development among parents and caregivers in the region. During the past year, the two organizations merged into one entity, Arizona Youth Partnership, and the contract was successfully and seamlessly modified with no lapse in service to the region. To families, the only thing that changed was the name of the organization and program (“Starting Out Right”). All staff members were absorbed by AZYP to provide continued service delivery. This program is part of a broader system of parenting education resources in the region. AZYP also provides, as part of another contract, prenatal education. After receiving such prenatal services, a parent can transition into the FTF-sponsored Starting Out Right program and later transition to another parenting education opportunity for families with children ages 5-17 through a partnership between the Gila County Department of Health, Cooperative Extension and AZYP. These organizations have collaborated to provide a continuum of parenting education opportunities within the community. In SFY19, 108 parents and other caregivers participated in trainings designed to improve knowledge of parenting practices and children’s development.

The region continues to engage in a variety of successful literacy-based efforts. Renewal of the contract for the Parenting Outreach and Awareness Strategy with grant partner Gila County Library District has resulted in books being provided to families with children birth to 5, encouraging parent-child interaction and early literacy. This grant partner’s creativity in strategically employing two seasonal, part-time outreach specialists during peak periods of activity when an array of family-focused community events occur enabled growth in the number of children receiving books, with 17,062 books provided to families in SFY19. Two outreach events also provided books through collaboration with the community. In the northern part of the region, the Payson Book Festival now boasts a Kid’s Zone that highlights stories by local preschools and after-school programs, storytimes and a puppet theater. There was also an increase in the number of children’s book writers present at the event. In the southern part of the region, a literacy event originally inspired through a First Things First grant and Read On Arizona has grown to a community-wide literacy event. Globe/Miami Read On Express now has over 1500 participants attending from the Gila Region, other Arizona communities and other states. These are two examples of over 30 literacy event opportunities that exist within the region.

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 3 The Gila Region is achieving strong connections among a variety of community organizations. Regional council member and FTF staff involvement in the Payson Interagency meeting and the Southern Gila County Network Team has resulted in the introduction of informational topics such as Adverse Childhood Experiences and sharing of FTF and other regional resources. Community partnerships with government, business, education and social service organizations have also evolved and grown in the southern part of the region. Most recently, during the development of the Cobre Valley Collaborative’s 2019-2022 plan, three topics emerged through a community-wide economic development survey to be the most important topics for improvement. These were education, housing and recreation and all included an early childhood focus into their planning. For example, such plans include ensuring a splash pad is included in the current aquatic center plans, increasing the availability of family housing and improving the accessibility for strollers in walking paths. In the education plan, an actual goal to increase pre-K screening and kindergarten preparation was incorporated. Through these discussions, the community also has plans to re-establish an early childhood collaborative. Community connections have sparked ideas and consideration of the youngest residents in planning for the future through economic development, community infrastructure, health systems and education systems.

The Gila Region also successfully held a regional tribal consultation with the Tonto Apache Tribe leadership during the past year to better understand the strengths, needs and desires of the tribal community. The partnership between FTF and tribal leadership is an important part of future collaborative opportunities and the region looks forward to further discussion with the Tonto Apache Tribe.

Challenges Resource availability, space and distance will continue to be a challenge in the Gila Region, simply due to geography and size. The regional council has set the expectation that all communities within the region be reasonably served and works to remove any potential barriers to service provision. In the small, remote areas of the region, general health services may only be available one day per week, emergency services may only be available during certain hours, public transportation does not exist, the community may not have a grocery store or pharmacy, and social service resources may only be available in Globe or Payson, which can be up to a two hour drive depending on the weather and road conditions. Reaching families in very remote areas to provide family support is a challenge when the community infrastructure simply does not exist. The number of potential participants, funding for services, telecommunication infrastructure and availability of service providers continue to be barriers for these remote non-incorporated communities. Remote technology for available resources could be helpful to communities such as these.

HEALTH

The Gila Regional Partnership Council recognizes the need to improve the local health system and access to primary and specialty health services for young children in the Gila Region. Insight and focus toward addressing the needs of children birth to 5 are provided by staff and the regional council. Together, both act as the voice for young children in a community-wide effort to enhance the health care system. Regional council members, staff and grant partners have worked together to engage with local hospital systems, the local health department, medical and dental providers, and the Eastern Arizona Health Education Center. Members also serve on hospital governing boards, participate in the Community Health Improvement Plan or Community Health Assessment, or have developed personal connections to health system providers, providing input and ensuring that the needs of young children are considered in planning and service provision.

The regional council is investing in developmental and sensory screening in the region to identify children who are in need of additional support or intervention prior to entering kindergarten. Oral health has also been prioritized as a need given the high percentage of children arriving at kindergarten with untreated

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 4 tooth decay. Child Care Health Consultation is also occurring in early learning settings enrolled in Quality First.

Successes During the past year, the developmental and sensory screening and oral health contracts with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension – Gila and Pinal renewals occurred. Children are receiving screenings to address potential oral, developmental or sensory issues. In some locations of the Gila Region, this program may be the only resource for screening that is available.

Programmatic and unfunded health-systems building strategies are being implemented that align with the Gila County Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) for 2016-2020 and the Cobre Valley Community Medical Center Community Health Assessment (CHA). FTF staff periodically conduct grant searches to identify potential funding streams for the health system. Information is then shared with community partners who may be in a position to expand services or access to care in the Gila Region. FTF and its grant partners directly contribute to the Gila CHIP (access to care goal) by providing screenings for families to identify developmental and oral health needs in children birth to age 5 while connecting families with identified supports or services. This effort has resulted in children thoughout the region receiving screenings and care they might not otherwise have received. Further support to these community health improvement efforts has included provision of resource materials provided through First Things First.

The regional council is committed to working as a partner in promoting access to quality health care and seeks to be the voice for children birth to age 5, thereby ensuring their needs are addressed. The regional council has engaged in a broader community effort to look at access to care and is examining a variety of opportunities to play a role in expanding access to pediatric care for families. Current efforts by other partners to expand access to health care in the Gila Region include expanding telehealth, establishing pediatric specialty consultants, establishing rural medical school and allied health rotations, and implementing efforts to “grow your own” medical professionals.

Challenges It has been challenging for the grantees who conduct screenings in the the Gila Region to engage parents during community events for several reasons. First, it is sometimes difficult to capture parents’ attention and the time needed to successfully screen children. It is also difficult to find quiet spaces to implement screenings during community events. Another barrier for the oral health grantee is parents’ unwillingness to complete the current authorization forms since they are lengthy and multiple forms are needed for families with more than one child.

Access to quality pediatric health care is consistently identified as the most challenging barrier for families. Many services simply do not exist in the Gila Region, making time-consuming travel necessary to access pediatric services. The community as a whole is working to address this issue through varied strategies, including telemedicine, expanding the number of specialists available to consult remotely with medical professionals in the region, and workforce development efforts. Creative solutions to attracting medical talent to this rural area have been proposed, and the region as a whole has also embraced a “grow your own” concept for professional workforce development. For example, the local Gila Community College, who partners with (EAC), has emergency medical technician, certified nurse’s aide, registered nursing and dental assistant programs that are technologically connected between Globe, Payson and EAC’s Thatcher campus. These colleges are working together to expand these programs. They have partnered with local high schools to engage students through dual credit and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. Expanding the health workforce benefits young children’s access to care. This successful “grow your own” model could be replicated to address other needs and gaps in service provider availability in the region, including behavioral health providers. FTF continues to serve as a resource for and

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 5 provides resources for students on children’s developmental needs as they progress through their course of study.

EARLY LEARNING

The Gila Regional Partnership Council recognizes the importance and need for high-quality early childhood education settings. While the cost of center-based child care is lower in the region than statewide, incomes are also lower, resulting in families paying above the recommended 10 percent of annual income for child care. There is a need to support low-income families so children will be able to attend quality early care and education programs, as well as a need for program availability throughout the region. The regional council continues to prioritize both Quality First and Quality First scholarships, and is working with partners and community stakeholders to expand access to high-quality early care and education programs.

Successes Quality First and Quality First scholarships continue to support five centers and one home in the Gila Region; all have achieved a quality rating of 3-5 stars. Three enrolled centers are located in the northern part of the region and two centers and one home are in the southern part. One of the centers in northern Gila is new to the area and is increasing the capacity for quality early learning in that part of the region.

The Gila Region recognizes that connections and partnerships in the community are vital resources for the region’s early learning system. Connecting early learning programs to local resources provides learning opportunities that would not otherwise be afforded. One such example includes connecting a northern Quality First program with a gardening program through Gila County, potentially enabling the preschool to build a garden in an empty space, which was a desire they expressed.

As a partner in the community, the regional council is providing connections and information to potential new programs in the communities. For example, First Things First provided information to Young Public School to help it reinstate a preschool program. Additionally, it provided resources such as information on the Quality First and local contacts for the Arizona Department of Education, the Arizona Department of Health Services Division of Licensing Services and the Department of Economic Security. Young Public School was also connected to Globe and Miami school districts for guidance on how they have been able to successfully develop their preschool programs.

Similar to the “grow your own” professional pathways that are established in health area, local elementary classroom teachers recently developed a new educational pathway for early childhood and elementary education at Gila Community College. The teachers sought to solve recruitment and retention issues in our local schools by collaborating with Gila Community College, Eastern Arizona College and to educate the next generation of early childhood and elementary teachers. Current master’s level classroom teachers are teaching a college course to cohorts of students who then will feed into the ASU program. FTF staff is attending one of the initial classes for each cohort to provide information and early childhood resources through the FTF’s website. CTE is yet to be explored as a potential opportunity to expand this pathway further.

Challenges Prior regional needs and assets reports have indicated there is a need for additional quality early learning and care availability. According to the 2018 Gila Regional Needs and Assets Report, it is estimated that there are four to seven children for each available child care or preschool slot in the Gila Region. Therefore, there are more than three times as many children under age 5 as there are spaces available in the child care settings. This lack of availability was reinforced by parent and grandparent interviews regarding their perspective on regional needs. Moreover, in the past two years, two of the Gila Region’s Head Start facilities

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 6 closed (Payson in 2018 and Globe in 2019). The only remaining Head Start facility in the region is located in Miami. This has further decreased the availability of early learning opportunities in the region. The Gila Regional Partnership Council is extremely concerned that children’s lack of access to quality learning has been exacerbated by the closures.

In the SFY20 funding plan, the regional council planned to release a request for grant application (RFGA) for expansion or start-up of a center-based Quality First program. The RFGA was released on two different occasions and no applicants were recommended for grant award with either release. Since this was the first attempt by any region to try and implement the Start-Up, Expansion and Learning Lab Strategy by releasing it as an RFGA, many lessons were learned. For example, there were clarifications needed on how FTF funds could or could not be used as part of implementation of this strategy. The regional council also learned that the amount of the potential award was insufficient. Since the funds were not awarded, the regional council would like to re-release the RFGA in SFY21, increasing the financial allotment to attract potential applicants and provide sufficient funding to address the start-up or expansion needs.

Requested Changes to Strategic Plan The Gila Regional Partnership Council requests to increase the financial allotment for the Start-Up, Expansion and Learning Lab Strategy from the previous year (which was ultimately unawarded). The regional council is hopeful start-up or expansion grant funds will be successfully awarded in SFY21.

PUBLIC AWARENESS

During SFY19, the Gila Regional Council funded digital media about the importance of early childhood targeted to those living the region. It proved to be a successful outreach and education tactic resulting in many prolonged views and subsequent requests for additional information. During SFY20, the Gila Regional Partnership Council suspended targeted digital media and community awareness strategies in order to support the Start-Up Expansion and Learning Lab Strategy. In SFY21, these two strategies will be implemented again, enabling the region to build upon prior successful education and outreach.

The Gila Regional Partnership Council endeavors to build awareness and engage the community by identifying opportunities to connect with others through networking, one-on-one connection, presentations, earned media or community outreach events. With the support of regional staff, regional council members, grant partners and local supporters and champions, First Things First has participated in multiple community events throughout the region and earned media coverage in local newspapers and radio stations to promote public awareness of the importance of early childhood learning, development and health.

By far, the best public outreach and awareness in the Gila Region is through word of mouth. As the message of First Things First spreads through the region, so has support. During quarterly grant partner meetings, information is shared and work is coordinated. Community networking meetings are vital to communication in the Gila Region. Since the digital media saturation in SFY19, First Things First information continues to be shared on local sites and among local community members on their social media pages. Additionally, during the Tonto Apache Tribe regional consultation, interest was expressed to connect First Things First web resources with the tribal web resources.

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 7

EVALUATION

The statewide evaluation allotments support ongoing organizational evaluation efforts including: the statutorily required statewide and regional needs and assets reports, the First Things First annual report, system partner data sharing efforts (i.e. Kindergarten Developmental Inventory and the home visitation coordination data system efforts), continued development of First Things First’s Quality First data system and the development of both an oral health and a home visitation data system to accommodate First Things First’s enhanced data requirements. Additionally, statewide evaluation allotments support critical studies such as the oral health survey and small-scale evaluation demonstration projects (Tempe PRE study). Finally, statewide evaluation allotments supports evaluation staff, data-related tasks and the First Things First Research and Evaluation National Panel, allowing for continuous improvement of data-driven decision- making and First Things First funded programs.

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 8 Regional Allocation and Proposed Funding Plan Summary SFY19 – SFY22 Gila Regional Partnership Council

Allocations and Funding Sources SFY19 SFY20 SFY21 SFY22 Approved Approved Proposed Projected SFY Allocation $697,430 $697,430 $697,430 $697,430

Population Based Allocation $450,614 $450,614 $450,614 $450,614

Discretionary Allocation $246,817 $246,817 $246,817 $246,817

Carry Forward From Previous Year* $147,551 $133,105 $147,652 $73,830

Total Regional Council Funds Available $844,981 $830,536 $845,082 $771,260

Strategies Approved Approved Proposed Projected Allotment Allotment Allotment Allotment Quality First Academy (statewide) $5,250 $4,500 $5,250 $5,250

Quality First Coaching and Incentives (statewide) $78,311 $72,544 $97,777 $97,165

Quality First Scholarships (statewide) $366,493 $340,565 $310,300 $335,498

Start Up, Expansion and Learning Lab $48,000 $100,000

Developmental and Sensory Screening $43,750 $43,750 $43,750 $43,750

Oral Health $36,000 $36,000 $36,000 $36,000

Quality First Child Care Health Consultation (statewide) $16,415 $14,070 $16,415 $16,415

Parenting Education $150,000 $150,000 $150,000 $150,000

Parenting Outreach and Awareness $60,000 $60,000 $60,000 $60,000

Statewide Evaluation (statewide and FTF directed) $28,993 $28,993 $28,993 $28,993

Community Awareness (FTF directed) $5,000 $2,000 $2,000

Media (statewide) (FTF directed) $10,000 $5,000 $5,000

Total $800,212 $798,422 $855,485 $780,070

Total Unallotted:** $44,769 $32,114 ($10,403) ($8,810)

* Carry forward balances include any unallotted funds and projected savings from the prior fiscal year, estimated based on historical spending patterns in the region. These amounts will be updated and funding plans will be revised, as necessary, each fiscal year based on actual expenditures. **In order to maximize the funding available to support regional programs for children, the amounts regions allotted to strategies take into account dollars that are historically unspent. As a result, the dollars allotted appear to exceed funds available. In reality, the region is expected to end the year with a carry forward balance, which is reflected accordingly above.

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 9 Changes in Strategies from SFY20 to SFY21 Gila Regional Partnership Council STRATEGY SFY20 SFY21

Start-up, Expansion and Learning Lab Funding Level Changes: $48,000 $100,000 TSU Change: No Change Target Population Change: No Change Explanation of Change(s): This strategy is proposed to be implemented for one year only to meet the intent of the regional council. The regional council learned during SFY20 that the amount of the potential award was insufficient. Since the funds were not awarded, the regional council would like to re-release the RFGA in SFY21, increasing the financial allotment to attract potential applicants and provide sufficient funding to address the startup or expansion needs. Quality First Academy (statewide) Funding Level Change: $4,500 $5,250 TSU Change: No Change Target Population Change: No Change Explanation of Change(s): One additional Quality First slot must be added by the regional council to enable a Start-up application for Start-up, Expansion and Learning Lab Strategy to be awarded The increase reflects the addition of one Quality First slot. Quality First Academy is part of the Quality First package. Quality First Coaching & Incentives(statewide) Funding Level Changes: $72,544 $97,777 TSU Change: No Change Target Population Change: No Change Explanation of Change(s): One additional Quality First slot must be added by the regional council to enable a Start-up application for Start-up, Expansion and Learning Lab strategy to be awarded. The increase reflects the addition of one Quality First slot. Quality First Coaching & Incentives is part of the Quality First package. Quality First Child Care Health Consultation (statewide) Funding Level Change: $14,070 $16,415 TSU Change: No Change Target Population Change: No Change Explanation of Change(s): One additional Quality First slot must be added by the regional council to enable a Start-up application for Start-up, Expansion and Learning Lab strategy to be awarded The increase reflects the addition of one Quality First slot. Quality First Child Care Health Consultation is part of the Quality First package.

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 10 Quality First Scholarships Funding Level Changes: $340,565 $310,300 TSU Change: No Change Target Population Change: No Change Explanation of Change(s): The adjustment reflects the actual cost of implementation with a change in the composition of children served. The change was made to the statewide contract. Media (FTF Directed) Funding Level Change: $0 $5,000 TSU Change: No Change Target Population Change: No Change Explanation of Change(s): During SFY19, the regional council targeted digital media in the region. It proved to be a successful outreach mechanism. SFY20 represented a year in which no funding was allotted so that the regional council could dedicate funding to the Quality First Start Up or Expansion Strategy. For SFY21, the regional council plans to reinstate their investment in the Media Strategy, specifically for targeted digital media in Gila Region ZIP codes. Community Awareness (FTF Directed) Funding Level Change: $0 $2,000 TSU Change: No Change Target Population Change: No Change Explanation of Change(s): SFY20 represented a year in which no funding was allotted so that the regional council could dedicate funding to the Start Up or Expansion Strategy. For SFY21, the regional council planned to reinstate Community Awareness to invest in materials, books and educational information for young children, their families and caregivers.

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 11 APPENDIX A SFY21 Proposed Target Service Units Gila Regional Partnership Council

Goal Area Strategy Service Unit Target Quality and Quality First Coaching & Incentives Number of centers 6 Access Number of homes 1

Quality First Scholarships Number of scholarship slots for 44 children birth to 5 years Start Up Expansion and Learning Lab Number of start-up or expansion 1 programs Health Developmental and Sensory Screening Number of children served (DSS) 300 Oral Health Number of children receiving oral 200 health screenings

Number of expectant mothers 25

receiving oral health screenings

Number of medical clinics, dental 4 clinics, and early care and education programs receiving oral health education Quality First Child Care Health Number of center-based providers 6 Consultation served Number of home-based providers 1 served Family Parenting Education Number of parents/caregivers 200 Support educated Parenting Outreach and Awareness Number of books distributed 18,686

Number of parenting activities held 2

Gila Regional Partnership Council Strategic Plan Update and SFY21 Funding Plan Page | 12