Preschool Development Grant Partner Achievements, Collaborations, and Future Projects

Partner Achievements, Collaborations, and Future Projects beyond PDG

There have been many achievements and successes fueled by the PDG in California. In addition to supporting the great work undertaken by PDG partners, the PDG has been a catalyst for future projects and partnerships that will improve the early learning and care systems, uplift the children and families in the state, and continue to build on the goals of the PDG and the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care. Below are highlights of partner achievements along with PDG-inspired collaborations and future projects beyond the PDG. 

California Department of Social Services (CDSS) 

Achievements:
  • CDSS partnered with the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network (the Network) to launch the MyChildCarePlan.org website on October 11, 2022. Since launch, the website has received over 1 million hits on August 28, 2023, from Californians seeking to be informed about child care services and searching for providers that meet their needs. 
  • CDSS began the Brilliant Beginnings Initiative in 2020. This nimble cloud environment links the child care and development data pipelines. It provides a comprehensive and inclusive central Master Data Management solution that links, governs, and produces data products for consumers. Key interest holders in the landscape will be federated and help redefine the standards around critical data elements for serving kids and families. 
Collaborations and future projects:
  • PDG-R Activity 3d—Verification Hub/Consumer Ed DB: CDSS collaborated with the Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) for parent listening sessions on the Childcare Connect project.
  • PDG-R Activity 3d—Verification Hub/Consumer Ed DB: CDSS worked with the Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) for parent listening sessions for Assembly Bill 2960 (Statutes of 2018). 

California Department of Education (CDE) 

Achievements:
  • The CDE leveraged the Quality Counts California (QCC) Consortia to expand quality improvement supports to family child care and family, friend, and neighbor caregivers, as well as local home-visiting capacity through targeted subgrants. There were 29 subgrantees programs that target kindergarten-readiness activities, increased coordination with local education agency staff, trauma-informed care with a focus on adverse childhood experiences, and early mental health support for infants and toddlers.
  • In January 2023, CDE staff met with the Tribal Care Association of California (TCCAC) to discuss their activities. 
    • An in-person Quarterly Roundtable Conference was held in February 2023, and a new website was launched. Prior to the Roundtable, a survey assisted in determining gaps and other information related to workforce, turnover, rates, wages, resources for overall cost of care and supports, and supports for development of Quality Improvement Systems (QIS) at the local level. 
    • A Workforce Advisor was added to the staff to focus on site-level supports by meeting with members of the workforce from various areas in California. 
    • A Workforce Pathways professional development training was held in February 2023 to support child care providers in all settings further develop their skills in culturally relevant ways.
Collaborations and future projects:
  • PDG-R Activity 5d—Redesign Systems for Quality Imp/PDG-P Activity 5-P: Program Quality Improvement: Deeper collaborative partnerships with multiple child care and early education agencies such as California Health and Human Services (CalHHS), California Department of Social Services, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, and more. 
  • PDG-R Activity 5d—Redesign Systems for Quality Imp/PDG-P Activity 5-P: Program Quality Improvement: Continued meaningful collaboration between the CDE and the multiple state agencies, especially CalHHS and its many divisions. 
  • PDG-R Activity 5b—Strengthen Tribal Child Care: The CDE has ensured that staff from their policy department are engaged with TCCAC, such as attending the conferences and roundtables. This connection was inspired by the PDG work, as the CDE remains committed to supporting the mission of TCCAC. 

California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)

Achievements:
  • CTC began field testing an Early Childhood Education Teaching Performance Assessment (ECE TPA) based on the recently adopted set of Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs) to support the early childhood workforces’ first-ever program quality peer-review system for the more than 90 California community colleges that typically prepare individuals for early childhood education teacher-level positions. In February 2023 CTC hosted the Field Test Kickoff Webinar for all 23 participating programs. 
  • CTC also held multiple webinars providing resources and supports for their PK–3 Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist Instruction Credential, which focuses on developmentally appropriate practices for young children in grades pre-K through three. 

Collaborations and future projects:
  • PDG-R Activity 4a—Performance Assessment/Activity 4-P: Workforce Support & Best Practices: CTC continues to collaborate with the CDE and California Department of Social Services (CDSS) in all of this work and to participate in the Universal Prekindergarten Implementation network. In addition, CTC continues to meet collaboratively in regularly scheduled biweekly meetings with the UPK team at CDE.

Child Care Resource Center

Achievements:
  • By utilizing PDG-R funds, CCRC has supported the regional lead resource and referral (R&R) agencies on the delivery of early childhood and parent café services, with 351 in 2023, including virtual, in-person, and TCCAC cafés. The café experience gives participants the tools needed to increase family strength and resilience by providing an opportunity for meaningful conversations that promote collaboration and empowerment.
  • Due to the success of its 2022 training model, starting in January 2023, CCRC is delivering statewide trauma-informed care training for family child care and family friend and neighbor providers with a grant from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Education and Support Fund. 
Collaborations and future projects:
  • PDG-R Activity 3a—Parent Cafés: Go Kids Inc. of San Benito County, which has been a Regional Lead since CCRC started its PDG work in 2019, has been successful in its café work and was able to apply and receive funding to continue café work in Monterey County to engage its community in 2024 when PDG-R funds will discontinue. 
  • PDG-R Activity 3b—Provider Cafés: CCRC is committed to continuing the relationship that has been established with the Tribal Child Care Association of California (TCCAC) through its partnership with the café trainings that were supported by PDG-R funding. CCRC will be meeting with TCCAC leadership to identify the needs of their communities, create joint proposals, and seek out opportunities to apply for funding to continue our collaborative work. 
  • PDG-R Activity 3a—Parent Cafés: CCRC is working with the Low-Income Investment Fund (LIIF) to potentially pilot Constructing Connections trainings and community of practice building with child care providers and stakeholders in San Bernardino, California, to support the need for building out the child care infrastructure. 
  • PDG-R Activity 3b—Provider Cafés: Donna Sneeringer and Liz Melendrez from CCRC met with Kim Nall from TCCAC to discuss future plans to partner beyond PDG-R. All agree that the relationship established through the PDG-R grant work is one that they want to ensure continues. They will be actively seeking out new opportunities to collaborate. 

Center for Professional Development Innovation (CPDI) 

Achievements:

  • CPDI launched the California Early Childhood Educator Competencies for Adult Learning and Coaching course in August 2022 as the only statewide mechanism to provide coaches and trainers alike with a reflective professional development opportunity based on the statewide competencies. Field partners across the state assisted in the development of over 100 hours (in both English and Spanish) of online professional learning.
  • The California Early Childhood Online (CECO) website is available in Spanish and Chinese. 
  • In January 2023, CPDI launched three modules focused on leadership and foundational practices in Early Care and Education.
  • In February 2023, three modules focused on inclusive environments, family relationship building, and supporting growth and development were launched.  

Collaborations and future projects:

  • Activity 4-P—Workforce Support & Best Practices: CPDI staff have partnered with Region 3 coaching staff to pilot the Coaching 101 cycles associated with the course in Coaching Companion. Region 3 consists of the following counties: El Dorado, Colusa, Sutter/Yuba, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, Yolo, Amador, Sacramento, Calaveras, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne. Facilitation and data collection of cohorts funded by PDG will inform the Train-the-Facilitator model development.

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) Network 

Achievements:

  • IECMHC focused efforts to enhance and support the ECE workforce by providing trauma-informed care training. From 2022 to 2023, 62 individuals participated in IECMHC’s professional learning cohort. 

Collaborations and future projects:

  • PDG-R Activity 5a—QCC/PDG-P Activity 5-P: Program Quality Improvement: As a result of their presentation at the PDG Implementation Partner meeting, IECMHC was introduced and linked to several community partners to follow up and link to resources both externally and within their IECMHC Network. 
  • PDG-R Activity 5c—Expand CIBC: Through the PDG partner connection with Child Care Resource Center (CCRC), IECMHC was able to explore utilization of the Resource and Referral Regional Structure as a framework for a one-time funding opportunity available through the IECMHC Network project.