May is off to a great start in the Head Start community. In Florida, there were 8 Grantees awarded an Early Head Start Expansion and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grant. Congratulations to Community Coordinated Care for Children, Inc., Mid Florida Community Services, Inc., Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County, Step Up Suncoast, Redlands Christian Migrant Association, Miami-Dade County, Le Jardin Community Center, Inc., and Eckerd Youth Alternatives.

FHSA received word from NHSA that Head Start has the potential of good news coming out of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education. The committee has marked up a budget plan to include a $1.5 billion increase for Head Start! The increase contains an additional:

$8 million for the re-establishing the Tribal Colleges and Universities Head Start Partnership Program
$217 million for Cost of Living Adjustment (an increase of over 2%)
$525 million for Early Head Start expansion and child care partnerships
$750 million for Quality Improvement Funding

There is still work to be done to ensure this increase comes to Head Start. Further action is necessary and reaching out to your elected officials will be what is needed to push this increase across the finish line. We will keep you posted on the outcome regarding the Labor H bill as Congress continues the process of making its final decisions in the months ahead.

Nominations are now open for FHSA annual awards program. More details are below in this newsletters regarding the nomination process and deadlines. Check it out.

In partnership,

Wanda Minick
Executive Director
FHSA

Updates from the Office of Head Start

Proposed Information Collection Activity; The Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES 2020; OMB #0970-035 4)

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation; Administration for Children and Families; HHS is seeking public comments from Early Head Start program directors, child care center directors, teachers, and home visitors, and parents of enrolled children. The Department requests comments on the following items explicitly.

Is collection information necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency
Accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information
Quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected
Suggestion to minimize the responsibility of the collection of information on respondents. Click here to read more.

Follow Dr. B. on Twitter!

Dr. B. invites you to start following her on Twitter! @OHS_Director and @HeadStartGov. Her goal is to get the entire Head Start community engaged. Twitter is a great platform to share what you're doing in your programs, and Dr. B would like to share her experiences directly with the entire Head Start community! Her goal is to have 100,000 followers by August.

Of course, there are parameters in setting up a Twitter account your program you will need to consider. OHS has developed a toolkit on Social Media Essentials for Getting Head Start Programs Connected to get you started on establishing your engaging profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and more. Click here to read more.

When you get your account set up, don't forget to follow your State Association @FlaHeadStart.

The Children’s Forum is one of only two entities approved by the Office of Early Learning to provide Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) observation services in every county in Florida.

If you are interested in serving as a contractor to conduct observations in Florida, please contact us at [email protected].

Florida Legislative Activities

The 2019 Legislative Session adjourned Saturday, May 4th - a one-day extension from the regularly scheduled end date. The only bill considered on Saturday was the State's Budget - SB 2500. Bills passed by both Chambers by Friday, May 3rd have been sent to the Governor to be signed into law. All other bills, except the budget, that did not make it through both Chambers by Friday, have officially lost their chance at the passage for this legislative session. The majority of the Early Learning Bills FHSA was tracking did not get passed this session. Below are the updates on those Bills FHSA was tracking.

HB 871- Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program by Rep. Ausley. Last Action: 05/03/2019 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.

HB 4287 - Help Me Grow Florida by Rep. Rodriguez. Last Action: 05/03/2019 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.

HB 4503 Child Care WAGE$ Florida by Rep. Rodriguez. Last Action: 05/03/2019 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.

SB 1594 - Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program by Sen. Harrell. Last Action: 05/3/2019 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.

HB 1193 - Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program by Rep. Grall and Rep. Aloupis. Last Action: 03/3/2019 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.

SB 1456 - Office of Early Learning by Sen. Perry. Last Action: 04/30/2019 Laid on Table, refer to HB 1027.

HB 1027 - Office of Early Learning by Rep. Aloupis. Last Action: 05/1/2019 Passed; Ordered enrolled.

HB 649 - Dental Therapy by Rep. Plasencia. Last Action: 05/03/19 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.

SB 684 - Dental Therapy by Sen. Brandes. Last Action: 05/03/19 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.

SB94 - Child Care Facilities by Rules; Stewart ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Torres. 05/03/2019 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration.

HB69 - Child Care Facilities by Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee and Rep. Antone and Rep. Williams. 05/03/ 2019 Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration

What's Happening Around the State

Head Start Guest Reading Event a Success

The Guest Reader program was brought to the Orange County Head Start classrooms more than 22 years ago by Literacy Coordinator with Orange County Head Start Katie Finnerty. Katie loved reading and books so much she encouraged everyone around her — staff, parents and children — to read. The program was initially started as a week-long event and grew so popular that it evolved into a month-long celebration. Read More.

Children First and State College of Florida form early childhood education partnership

Children First and State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) is proud to announce the formalization of an Early Childhood Education Partnership. Students in the Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education program will complete their final teaching internship in Children First Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms. These students will intern with teachers in early care environments serving children during the most critical period of child developmental -- birth through age 5. Read More.

FLIP IT! Transforming Challenging Behavior Training Event

Children’s ongoing use of challenging behavior is an occurrence that can stress even the most effectively run early care and education environments. Compounding this is the burnout and exhaustion teachers and staff often feel as they work to develop effective responses to support children. The purpose of this training is to enhance our understanding of the factors that contribute to children’s use of challenging behavior, review an evidence-based, commonsense and practical strategy for reducing instances of challenging behavior and introduce a variety of learning tools to teach and support this effective strategy. Click here for more information about this event plus others.

Nominations are Now Open

In collaboration with the Region IV Head Start Association (RIVHSA), FHSA opens nominations to recognize Head Start and Early Head Start employees, parents, alumni, volunteers, and community partners.

There are 20 awards and scholarship categories open for nominations. Each year RIVHSA rotates the focus area on the Administrator, Staff and Support Staff of the Year awards. This year's awards cycle will recognize the following: The Administrator of the Year: Grantee Executive Director; The Staff of the Year: Family Services; Support Staff of the Year: Nutrition Services when submitting these specific awards be sure your nominees are eligible based on selection criteria.

Each Grantee determines nominees from their agency and provides nominations to FHSA by the June 17 deadline. FHSA will select a nominee from each of the categories submitted to represent our State at the Regional and National level. FHSA will recognize award winners during its annual awards luncheon in October 2019. To learn more about starting the nominations process, click here.

Don't Miss RIVHSA's 2019 Leadership Institute

Join RIVHSA in Atlanta June 17-20 for a rich learning experience that supports organizational development and professional growth. Stay on the cutting edge of research and professional practice by attending sessions uniquely designed to promote innovation, partnership, and opportunities for expanding quality and capacity.

IMPORTANT EVENT LINKS

Call for Papers Submit workshop proposals by June 1
Event Brochure Updated 4/24/19
Pre-Conference Seminars [FINAL LISTING] Updated 4/24/19
Accepted Workshops [ROUND 1] Updated 4/15/19
Register Today
Make Hotel Reservations Group rate expires June 1

Updates from NHSA

Head Start is Leading by Exemplar Initiative

One of the unique aspects of Head Start is its commitment to continuous improvement and the collaborative nature of employees across the country. Head Start staffers are always asking questions and learning from each other. In an effort to systematically learn from top Head Start programs around the country, Ashley LiBetti and Sara Mead of Bellwether Education Partners conducted a three-year investigation into the practices of five exemplary Head Start programs.

The result of this work is a series of reports called Leading by Exemplar: Lessons from Head Start Programs. The series identifies the unique factors that contribute to each of the programs’ success in the three areas: program policies, practices, and enabling conditions, while also identifying and analyzing common challenges across each of the exemplar programs.

Summary handouts