|
Barbara Roth-Grondin called
the meeting to order shortly after 9:30 a.m. Each person
gave a self-introduction; the agenda was reviewed and
approved.
UPDATES
ON THE BUSINESS OF THE TASK FORCE
Kristine Angell discussed
the 11th annual Michigan Child Care Challenge, sponsored by
the House Republican Caucus. This program recognizes
employers that take special efforts to make child care
available to their employees. The program welcomes
nominations, with a deadline of March 9. Recognition of
businesses will occur later this spring. For information
contact the Office of Rep. Godchaux at
pgodcha@house.state.mi.us or 517-373-0824.
Lisa Sokol, from the
Michigan Association of Community and Adult Education,
reported on MACAE's new commitment to working
collaboratively with early childhood education and care
programs, particularly with respect to parent and
professional education.
Michigan
Department of Education (MDE)
- Barbara Roth-Grondin
introduced two new consultants in MDE's Early Childhood and
Parenting Programs office, Eilene Storer and Jackie Wood.
MDE/ECPP needs grant readers. One can obtain information
about MDE grants at www.state.mi.us/ mde/off /staa/
earlychild / index.htm.
Child
Care Center Rules
- Playground Equipment - DCIS, which recently changed
its enforcement practice regarding playground equipment, has
now informed providers and consultants about its new
practice. An official DCIS statement about playgrounds can
be obtained by contacting smanchester@MiAEYC.org.
Barb led a discussion on
proposed changes to the Child Care Center Rules regarding
Montessori-trained program directors. The general feeling of
the task force was that Montessori training, in and of
itself, provided too little background to be a director,
though such training should count toward the
training/education needed to qualify as a center director.
The group felt that special recognition of Montessori
training might be unfair to other teacher training
programs.
FIA-Child
Development and Care
1. Kathi Pioszak announced that the April 4 meeting of
the task force will be used to hold a required public
hearing on the Child Care and Development Fund state plan.
This plan will determine how considerable amounts of federal
money will be spent on child care in Michigan. A draft plan,
published by FIA, will become available on the FIA web site,
sometime in early March. The CCTForce will send the web
address to you when it becomes available.
2. FIA/CDC will host a meeting on February 27 for those
interested in learning about the T.E.A.C.H. program (Teacher
Education and Compensation Helps). This program, from North
Carolina, encourages child care providers to receive
training by offering them scholarships and higher pay. The
meeting will be held at the State of Michigan
Library.
Important
Days of Special Celebration
Take Our Daughters to Work Day- April 26,
www.takeourdaughterstowork.org
Worthy Wage Day - May 1, www.ccw.org
Provider Appreciation Day - May 11,
www.ProviderAppreciation.org
PRESENTATION
BY RENEÉ' DE
MARS-JOHNSON
Coordinator, Early Childhood and Parenting Programs,
MDE
Renee' spoke on the All
Students Achieve Programs - Parent Involvement and Education
(ASAP-PIE) grants. Fifty-three applicants submitted
grants.They represented 53 of the state's 57 Intermediate
School Districts and one school district. All but one grant
qualified for funding. There was a total of $99 million in
grant requests, with $45 million available.
The legislative criteria for
scoring grant applications turned out to favor lower
population areas because they could provide more
comprehensive programs with the funds available.
Nonetheless, virtually the entire state submitted good
grants that qualified for funding.
The sense of the task force
was that the state should take advantage of the excellent
collaborative work done in communities across the state.
People should contact their state legislators and the
Governor to request that they appropriate funds for the
remaining applicants who qualified for funding but did not
receive a grant. The additional ASAP-PIE funding would
require a supplemental budget bill.
PRESENTATION
BY WENDY SHEPHERD
Wendy spoke on behalf of
"People Who Care About Kids," an organization promoting a
referendum in opposition to a statute that makes it easier
for people to carry concealed weapons. Wendy discussed a
petition drive that would give people a chance to delay
implementation of the law and a chance to vote it down in
2002. The petition drive has until late March to gather
about 200,000 signatures. People interested in circulating a
petition should call 1-313-2B4KIDS (224-5437) or go to
http:/peoplewhocareaboutkids.com.
The task force voted to lend
its name in support of the petition drive. (This endorsement
has been transmitted to People Who Care About
Kids.)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
A statewide teleconference: "Healthy Children/Healthy Staff:
controlling Com-municable Diseases in Child Care"; April 27
or 28, 2001; for information call 1-800-950-4174.
The next meeting of the task
force: Wednesday March 7, 2001; State Library, Lake Ontario
Room (third floor); 9:30 a.m. - noon. The Task Force is
currently scheduled through June, 2001, on the first
Wednesday of each month, 9:30 a.m. to noon, State Library of
Michigan, Lake Ontario Room (third floor).
The guest speaker will be
PATRICIA O'CONNOR from Bright Horizons Family Solutions
(BH). Pat is the Operation Director for a joint UAW/Ford
Motor Company venture that will establish "Family Service
and Learning Centers" in selected communities in southeast
Michigan. An important component of the FSLCs is a child
care system composed of very high quality child care centers
and a supporting network of home based care. This project,
resulting from the labor contract signed by UAW/Ford in 1999
could have a huge impact on the child care system in
Michigan, particularly if future contracts with UAW and
G.M./D-Chrysler contain similar provisions. Learn more about
BH and the FSLCs at: www.brighthorizons.com and
www.familycenteronline.org.
The meeting adjourned at
approximately 11:50 a.m.
Steve Manchester, Michigan
AEYC
Kristen McDonald-Stone, Michigan Head Start Association
Co-chairs, Michigan Child Care Task Force
Please FORWARD THIS NOTICE
TO OTHERS; we invite people to join this email network.
Comments, suggestions, or requests to be removed from this
list should be directed to
smanchester@MiAEYC.org.
|