2020-21 CCRC Annual Report : simplebooklet.com

Message from the Director The Child Care Resource Center CCRC was founded in 1988 to build a supply of child care connect families to child care options and to impact the quality of care provided in North Central Ohio In those 33 years of service we have impacted the communities we serve with quality child care options parent training and peer connection options and support and training for the child care field This has been an interesting year filled with periods of time being isolated with the pandemic We have discovered it s been more important than ever to stay connected The CCRC was quick to improve strategies in communication mainly through our website pages and social media services Staff were quick to adapt to new strategies of communication utilizing Teams and Zoom to provide virtual meetings trainings and a continued delivery of services to help child care businesses parents and our communities navigate our 2020 21 realities COVID 19 may have changed how we offered services but it didn t change the outcome of our success The CCRC was able to partner with new community agencies transform and grow our virtual training offerings and expand Parent Cafes to support families throughout our region Virtual visits to programs and for families allowed the CCRC to ensure communities had the support they needed when they needed it We can all agree that nothing beats face to face connections but Virtual tools were the next best thing As we move into Fall 2021 it is our hope and prayer that Ohio can return to some sense of normal Be Well Jennifer Dodge CCRC Executive Director

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Resource and Referral Program Child Care Demand Resource and Referral provides free customized child care searches for the community Each search includes provider profiles to assist the family in locating quality child care as well as parent resources to support the unique needs of each individual family 252 clients utilized the CCRC Resource and Referral Program 15 decrease in families needing child care over 2020 30 of those seeking care chose a SUTQ rated program The pandemic eased up a bit in the summer 2020 Many businesses were reopening including child care programs At this point child care began facing a crisis of a missing workforce This limited the number of classrooms that could be reopened and the number of families served As a response the CCRC updated our database of licensed child care noting programs who chose to open to make the search for care as easy as possible for families needing to get back to work

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Child Care Supply The child care system in our SDA is still rebounding from the effects of the pandemic on their businesses Child Care business closures were brought about by the loss of revenue due to the smaller class sizes and increased health and safety measures required by licensing Some programs that did not earn the pandemic child care license and chose to close during the state shutdown never reopened As our state emerges from the pandemic 27 new child care programs have opened with 1143 slots 10 of these new programs are quality 1 2 star rated 3 of them are 3 5 star rated 12 new programs are actively working towards their rating In 2021 91 child care programs closed permanently with a loss of 3655 child care slots 656 of those spaces were in 3 5 star rated programs and 400 were in 1 2 star rated programs

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Parent Mentor Advocate In partnership with Lorain County Family and Children First Council s Wrap Around program The role of the Parent Advocate is to enhance parent relationships with their children and the community We supported families who needed help with food emergency housing and utility funds to avoid eviction or utility disconnection obtaining new home appliances home repair partnering children with mentoring programs and hands on home and money management strategies 11 families served by Parent Advocate 3 families with obtaining emergency housing funds to avoid eviction 11 families with food food deliveries referrals to food pantries and distributions 5 families with assistance to funding to avoid utilities disconnection 5 Children paired with mentors 190 hours of direct support to these families 4 IEP and ISP meetings 2 families to obtain new appliances and HVAC replacement 5 families linked to summer program to support extended learning and socialization 6 families connected to back to school resources for supplies and clothes

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Ohio Health Department Reducing Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality Task Force The Child Care Resource Center hosted a listening session in partnership with the Ohio Health Department s Reducing Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality Initiative During the session 10 parents who had experienced a stillbirth or death of a newborn came together to participate in a guided discussion about their birth experiences prenatal care and other health indicators Results from the listening sessions will be compiled statewide and released with recommendations on how to reduce Ohio s infant mortality rate especially for minorities to the governor in the fall of 2021 Lorain County Community College Partnership The Child Care Resource Center in partnership with Lorain County Community College and the Advocacy Resource Center ARC worked with student parents remotely to provide General information and resources about child care and Step Up to Quality referrals to child care programs to meet family needs Support to complete and submit applications for public child care funding and other child care financial assistance Information about child development Information about other resources the family expressed a need for such as food pantries and transportation

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Community Outreach and Education Although face to face activities were curtailed in 2021 the CCRC found creative alternatives to serve our community Our social media presence became larger with the addition of several new Facebook groups and more frequent posting Our Executive Director made several TV appearances to highlight the impact of the pandemic on Ohio s families and child care system We continued to partner with our local initiatives including Oberlin Kids Rising Titans Ready Set Go to Kindergarten Thrive Community Collaborative for Southern Lorain County Lorain County Health Department City of Elyria Elyria Fund So sort of data point here United Way Greater Lorain County Homelessness Task Force CHIP Lorain County JVS Advisory Lorain County Domestic Violence Task Force

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Training Technical Assistance The goal of Training and Technical Assistance is to increase the quality of child care available to children by providing education through training and technical assistance to individuals working in child care or interested in a career in early care and education 61 trainings provided 242 providers attended our training 40 CDA graduates 2020 marked the shift from in person training to all virtual offerings participants loved it Our training department and trainers have all shifted to not just using virtual tools to train but deepened their knowledge and expertise in virtual learning All three CDA classes switched to virtual as well This was an obstacle for our CDA instructors and students to overcome at first but ultimately they all became pros in no time Beginning in May 2021 we are beginning to offer face to face trainings again Participants are thrilled and trainings are filling up

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ASQ 3 and ASQ SE 2020 2021 What is Ages Stages Questionnaires ASQ The ASQ screeners are sets of valid reliable and age appropriate questionnaires that are filled out by the true expert on the child the parents ASQ 3 Used with children ages 1 month to 5 years old Five areas of development Communication Commination Gross Motor Fine Motor Problem Solving Personal Social ASQ SE 2 Used with children from 1 month to 6 years old Seven areas of Social Emotional Development Autonomy Compliance Adaptive Functioning Self Regulation Affect Interaction Social Communication What is an ASQ enterprise and enterprise user ASQ Enterprise Allows organizations to offer the ASQ 3 ASQ SE online tool to multiple sites Access data for all programs ASQ Enterprise User Individual to each program Online use of ASQ 3 and or ASQ SE Access data for individual program Supports received from Child Care Resource Center CCRC Individualized On Boarding with each program Continued hands on support Screening Data Analysis with classroom and parent activities offered Screening and Referral Policy development support Increase of 10 programs using ASQ 3 Increase of 6 programs using ASQ SE

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Increase of 677 total screening completed Increase of 440 ASQ 3 completed Increase of 329 ASQ SE Completed Increase of 329 completed screenings Increase of 226 no concerns Increase of 35 possible concerns Increase of 23 with concerns What were the developmental areas of concern in the ASQ 3 screening completed in 2019 2020 verses 2020 2021 Fine Motor 35 Communication 27 Problem Solving 22 Personal Social 21 How will the CCRC use this information to support childcare programs Support programs in making referrals to ensure children receive needed support Professional Development for teachers with a focus on knowledge and strategies to use daily in the classroom experiences Provide educational opportunities for parents and families with a focus on knowledge strategies to use daily their homes

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Celebrating Our Friend It is with great sadness that we lost an absolute treasure Marianne Pierro who suddenly passed away in October 2020 Marianne s passion and dedication to educate young children and their families has influenced the lives of so many Marianne joined the CCRC team over 20 years ago Through the years she has shared her passion and knowledge with countless students families and peers Marianne has continued to impact the students and families she interacted with by developing relationships with each and every student and family she worked with She never stopped pushing her students and families to be the best they could be Without question her students and families knew how much she cared for them and wanted them to succeed One of her students shared that after going through her CDA training with Marianne she now has renewed fight and determination for continued education Marianne was co editor of our CCRC CDA Academy was an instructor for these classes for the past 10 years She will be remembered forever by the hundreds of students child care providers families she has supported throughout her life

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Ohio Healthy Program This year was the beginning of a new collaboration with the Lorain County Department of Health aimed at encouraging more child care centers within our service area to become designated as an Ohio Healthy Program Just as Step Up to Quality requires steps to provide care above and beyond licensing requirements Ohio Healthy Programs encourages providers to go to the next level in the areas of nutrition and healthy practices Centers who receive a designation of an Ohio Healthy Program learn how to make kid friendly menu choices that are also healthy In addition they learn how to increase children s daily physical activity and encourage parents to follow suit In collaboration with the Lorain County Department of Health CCRC was able to Assist forty four centers in Northeast Ohio complete a pre assessment to evaluate their current nutrition and health practices in comparison to Ohio Healthy standards Guide thirty eight programs to make changes to their menus to align them with OHP standards Assist thirty nine programs in adding a health or nutrition policy to their handbooks to indicate their alignment to OHP Guide thirty six programs in offering health or nutrition information activity to their families Assist twenty eight programs in completing training covering OHP standards Assist twenty eight programs submit their application for designation as an Ohio Healthy Program As CCRC continues to seek ways to impact the quality of care and education in our service area this collaboration will continue throughout Fiscal Year 2021 2022

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CCRC s Nutrition Programs The Child Care Resource Center s CCRC Family Child Care Child FCC and Adult Care Food Program CACFP serves 26 counties in Northern Ohio CACFP FCC maintained 45 Actively Claiming Family Child Care homes during the Ohio child care shutdown for the month of April May 2020 Note Pandemic closure began in March so all programs were actively claiming not closed that month 2020 2021 Provider s average monthly reimbursements increased by 110 82 month This was due to targeted technical assistance provided to CCRC sponsored programs on all monthly disallowances decreasing monthly claim disallowances All CCRC CACFP Providers began using eForms to enroll new children annual child reenrollments and annual income eligibility This automated addition saves providers and parent s time decreases disallowances and allows for larger monthly reimbursements

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CCRC s Nutrition Programs In a year dominated by national strife and Covid it may seem as though there is not any good news to share This would not be true The year started with major issues and uncertainty Only 22 of 28 centers were claiming CACFP meals None of the 22 centers claiming were at full capacity even with lowered ratios due to the lack of parents working and other Covid related issues During the year 3 of our centers never reopened their doors and 2 reopened but due to lack of enrollment or disasters were forced to shut down a short while later Making a total of 5 centers lost permanently We maximized the monthly claims by helping to ensure that all CCRC sponsored centers had as few disallowed meals as possible raising their reimbursement and our administrative dollars Additionally we increased the percentage of Free and Reduced children from 39 5 to 46 3 a significant increase that greatly impacted the reimbursement rates for our centers As the year progressed we added new centers brought back centers that had not been claiming and increased enrollments to pre covid numbers By July 2020 we finally had turned the corner and were quickly making up lost ground from the previous year By the end of August we were able to increase our total number of meals served by 5 over the prior year and our administrative total dollars by 6 We were able to accomplish this even with a total enrollment decrease of 4 because of the supports and system building we were able to increase reimbursements for our member centers 2021 shows growth with the CCRC CACFP program reaching a member program high of 33 centers The Center CACFP team worked hard over the last year to entice new centers and increase satisfaction with our new and current centers by streamlining the claiming and onboarding process making it faster and easier for not only the centers but for CCRC We also hold on to our ongoing commitment to customer satisfaction and maintaining a high quality CACFP program 15 500 Children Impacted 459 111 Meals Served to local children 458 768 in Reimbursements distributed to Centers

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CCRC s dedication to ensuring that member centers are providing healthy meals to the children they serve is now supported by the Ohio Healthy Program OHP certification The CCRC CACFP program and the OHP will open doors to healthy lifestyles and lasting ramifications that extend well past childhood The centers that are OHP certified stand to make a long term impact on the communities they live in as well as the children they serve Strategies for 2022 Online CACFP training Improve Onboarding systems and trainings Developing Emergency and OHP menus for centers Develop better tracking of goals and action plans for centers

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Step Up To Quality Step Up To Quality recognizes early care and education programs that provide quality early learning experiences to Ohio s children Similar to the rating systems for hotels or restaurants Step Up To Quality raises the levels of quality for early care and education programs which exceeds the basic licensing standards that focus on curriculum implementation screenings and assessments higher educated teachers focused professional development program administration Step Up To Quality is required for all licensed child care programs family child care centers and school based programs who support publicly funded children and their families COVID 19 has shuttered businesses across the country Child care providers are no exception 11 of licensed providers closed this year and many of those that have remained open have reduced spaces or hours Unfortunately these closures have impacted parents going back to work These challenges did lead to new ways to assist parents providers and our community partners to impact the quality of child care Programs SUTQ Rated 7 2020 251 Child Care Pandemic Closures 6 2021 7 2020 220 323 6 2021 306 Impact of Pandemic by Rating 91 of these ODJFS licensed providers chose to continue to serve children and families within our five counties Erie Huron Lorain Sandusky Seneca so parents could continue to work their essential jobs The CCRC Quality Enhancement Specialists also assisted 27 new child care providers in opening their business during the pandemic

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CCRC Staff Jennifer Dodge Executive Director Delisa Nelson Director of Innovation Anita St John SUTQ Coordinator Martha Deavers Family Community Coordinator Cecilia Steinman Quality Enhancement Specialist Alyssa Dodge PD Business Specialist Sarah Nichols Finance Manager Kathleen Rovere CACFP Center Manager Terri Sluss Cole CACFP FCC Specialist Sharon Harmon Quality Enhancement Specialist Deena Chiller CACFP Center Specialist Emily Dodge CCSS Consultant Cathy Richards CACFP FCC Home Visitor

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CCRC Board Of Directors We are thankful to receive guidance oversight and support from our talented and diverse Board of directors Whether helping the agency meet a new challenge or celebrate successes the continued encouragement from each of the CCRC s Board members has enabled us to strengthen our community and enhance the future of children in North Central Ohio Lisa Godbolt Debbie Ortega Natalio Rodriquez Holle Brambrick Alec Hagerty Cathie Leimbach Board Chair Board Vice Chair Treasurer Secretary Member Member The CCRC Board of Directors is accepting applications for 2021 22 members If you are interested in applying check out our website CCRCINC COM Community get involved board

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Child Care Staffing Solutions Child Care Staffing Solutions CCSS a substitute service for early care and education programs went live March 9 2020 One week later Governor Dewine shutdown child care and the state of Ohio Our new service was benched before it could get started In one year CCSS recruited 11 substitutes but like the rest of the country the state of Ohio cannot keep subs for very long What we know today is that in Ohio 76 of child care centers have a staffing shortage and 75 identify low wages as the main problem recruiting workers according to a survey in early summer by the National Association for the Education of Young Children To address this CCSS is evaluating the hourly wage provided to substitutes We have also expanded the service to include Lucas County and will be adding Summit County in the coming months The system allows a director to post an open position for the day or half day That announcement goes out via text message to any sub that has chosen to work in that center s region zipcode Subs then can apply for the open position allowing the director to choose the sub they wish to hire for the day Pay rates are set and centers pay the subs directly through their payroll or accounting systems

2020-21 CCRC Annual Report

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