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Erin McGovern and Steve
Manchester, Task Force Co-chairs, 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
Child Care
Legislation
Presentation
by Senator Alma Wheeler Smith
At 10:00, Senator Smith was
introduced. The Senator praised the task force (and other
child advocates) for the strong advocacy done last year
against the proposed child care center rules. She described
a number of issues on which she has worked through the years
including lead abatement, fish advisories that protect
children, informing families about eligibility for health
insurance that serves children (MiChild and
Medicaid).
Senator Smith is a member of
the Ready to Succeed Coordinating Council that arose from
last year's Ready to Learn Leadership Summit and, as such,
is fighting for parenting education and supports for parents
of new-borns. She believes that the state has squandered
opportunities presented the state's strong economy to
promote needed supports for families with young
children.
She answered questions about
her run for Governor, on getting a bill through the
legislature, and the need for campaign finance
laws.
Presentation
by Jane Zehnder-Merrell
Jane, who works with the
Michigan League for Human Services, is the Project Director
for Kids Count in Michigan. She reported on a special Kids
Counth report, "The Right Start in Michigan's Largest
Cities" which focused on maternal and infant health in
Michigan's 28 largest cities.
Michigan's largest 28 cities
vary widely with respect to infant and maternal health. Some
common findings for most cities included relatively weak
performance in prenatal care, infant mortality and a
tendency for many teen mothers to give birth to a second
child. The cities showed good progress in other measures,
especially the incidence of maternal smoking. Michigan's
largest cities must improve access to health care,
especially for young women with children. Parenting
education and general knowledge in child development must be
improved.
You can contact Jane for
additional information or to arrange a presentation on this
report at 1-800-837-5436 or janez@mlan.net
The task
force returned to "Updates on the Business of the Task
Force."
- School Aid Budget: Steve
made brief comments about the "Sections-32" that
allocated almost $300 million in each of the next three
years to programs that serve most young children with a
heavy emphasis on pre-kindergarten children.
The task force asked the
Task Force Planning Group to send a letter to legislators
who led efforts to fund early childhood programs in this
year's budget process. The planning group will send such
a letter.
- SB 1317: Steve gave a
brief update on this bill that would make clear that
"community education programs" provided by schools to
children in grades K-12 would not be licensed as child
care centers under PA 116 of 1973. Early childhood
educators have proposed amendments to the bill that will
define which programs provided outside of regular school
hours constitute "community education" and which
constitute " child care."
- Margaret Goodly, with
the Michigan Department of Education, Early Childhood and
Parenting Programs, reported on Section 32B grants and
the Michigan School Readiness Program.
Section 32B allocates $45
million to "Parent Involvemend and Education" (PIE)
grants. These grants will go to school districts, charter
schools and intermediate school districts that build
collaborative community programs that get children ready
to succeed in K-12 schools and help build strong
families. The grant application process is still under
development by MDE, though the process will be operating
by this time next month.
Margaret's unit will also
handle grants for three programs: (1) "Full-Day Services
for Michigan School Readiness Programs and Head Start";
(2) "Comprehensive Needs & Resources Assessment"; (3)
"School-Age Child Care." MDEduc will hold technical
assistance grants for these three programs in late
November and early December. (An announcement on these
four TA meetings will be coming soon.)
- SUMMIT, Ready to Succeed
Dialogue with Michigan: it will be held in Lansing on
September 21 & 22. To get information of the Summit
and to register, go to www.pscinc.com.
- The Child Care Task
Force information network now has 510 email addresses and
81 regular-mail addresses. The task force goal is to get
the network up to 1000 by next spring. Please help build
the network.
- Erin and Steve are
working with a graphic designer to develop a task force
logo and letterhead. Both will be presented to the task
force in the near future.
- Erin and Steve will end
their terms as Co-chairs of the task force during the
October meeting. Erin is prepared to continue as Chair.
Others who would like to work with Erin as a Co-chair or
Vice Chair should contact her at Michigan 4C.
The next meeting of the task
force will be October 4. 2000 at the State Library, Lake
Ontario Room, 9:30 a.m. to noon. The main speaker will be
Carl Ill, Director, Early Education Services, Allegan County
ISD. Carl will discuss his program and his views on
directions the new $45 million PIE program might
take.
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