Transitional_Kindergarten_Stipend

Early Care & Education

ECE BIRTH THROUGH THREE

Early Care and Education- Birth Through Three (ECE-BT3) is a new initiative designed to strengthen child care for LA County infants and toddlers.   In 2021, there were 610,456 children under the age of 5 in Los Angeles County, yet licensed centers and family child care homes only have the capacity to serve 13 percent of working parents with infants and toddlers.  ECE-BT3 is a comprehensive strategy focused on increasing the capacity of the early care and education (ECE) system to care for infants and toddlers, as well as strengthening the skills of the workforce providing infant and toddler care.  Key activities include:

Infant/Toddler Facility Fee Waivers: ECE-BT3 Fee Waivers are available to child care providers who would like to construct or renovate child care facilities to serve infants and toddlers. Fees incurred to child care providers by the Los Angeles County Departments of Regional Planning, Public Works – Health and Safety and Fire are covered by this program. For more information, see attached Facility Fee Waiver Flyer.

Infant/Toddler Expansion Resources:  In partnership with Public Counsel, ECE-BT3 provides training and coaching to ECE providers who would like to expand their programs to serve additional infants and toddlers. To view the Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit, click here.

Infant/Toddler Training for ECE Providers:  In Fall 2023, ECE-BT3 will launch a free professional development series for current and emergent infant and toddler child care providers. Visit here to view current professional development opportunities. In Summer 2024, ECE-BT3 will release, “Caring for LA’s Youngest Learners: A Professional Development Guide for Early Educators Who Care for Infants and Toddlers” This user-friendly guide for infant and toddler professional development opportunities is currently being designed in collaboration with the Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP), the Child Care Planning Committee, and Quality Start LA.

ECE-BT3 is funded through the generous support of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.  If you have any questions or would like additional information about ECE-BT3,  please contact Elizabeth Jacoby at ejacoby@ph.lacounty.gov.

Overview

The LA County Early Care and Education (ECE) Facility Development Project is led by the LA County Department of Public Health – Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education (OAECE) and the LA  County Department of Regional Planning in partnership with LA County Department of Public Works – Building and Safety Division, LA County Fire Department, California Department of Social Services – Community Care Licensing Division, Public Counsel, and First 5 LA.  As a collaborative effort, the project has developed activities to support ECE providers with facility development

EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION BIRTH THROUGH THREE FACILITY DEVELOPMENT FEE WAIVER (ECE FACILITY FEE WAIVERS) PROGRAM

The OAECE is pleased to announce the launch of the Early Care and Education Birth through Three Facility Development Fee Waiver (ECE Facility Fee Waivers) program. With the support of the Hilton Foundation, OAECE is providing child care facility development fee waivers to help reduce the financial barriers child care providers face when trying to acquire a new facility or renovate an existing child care facility.  The ECE Facility Fee Waivers are available to licensed child care providers in unincorporated Los Angeles County and select cities who: 1) serve children ages birth through 3, and 2) plan to construct new facilities or renovate existing facilities.  Eligible child care providers who want to renovate and/or do construction at a child care facility must contact the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning (Regional Planning), Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Building & Safety Division (Building & Safety), and California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) to determine if their renovation and/or construction plans require review and approval.

Information about how to navigate the child care facility development process in Los Angeles County can be found in this toolkit: “Child Care for All: How to Develop and Renovate ECE Facilities in Los Angeles County” and can be accessed in different languages below. Please feel free to distribute this opportunity widely among your child care networks.

To learn more about constructing or renovating an ECE facility in Los Angeles County, please find the following contact information for each department:

LA County ECE Facilities Staff Contacts

LA County Department of Regional Planning: Zoe Axelrod: zaxelrod@planning.lacounty.gov

LA County Department of Public Works, Building & Safety: Jovy Estremos: jestremos@dpw.lacounty.gov

LA County Fire Department: Inspector Eddie Martinez: eddie.martinez@fire.lacounty.gov

L.A. County Department of Public Health – Office for the Advancement of Early Care & Education: Elizabeth Jacoby: ejacoby@ph.lacounty.gov

CDSS Community Care Licensing Division: Shoghig Khadarian: shoghig.khadarian@dss.ca.gov

CDSS Community Care Licensing Division Regional Offices:

  • Monterey Park/Monterey Park South West Regional Office: (323) 981-3350
  • El Segundo/El Segundo North Regional Office: (424) 301-3077
  • Palmdale Regional Office: (661) 202-3318

Public Counsel: Ritu Mahajan: rmahajan@publiccounsel.org

 

FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT FOR ECE PROVIDERS

OAECE, in partnership with Public Counsel, has released the “Child Care for All: How to Develop and Renovate ECE Facilities in Los Angeles County” toolkit to support ECE providers with navigating the complex process of child care facility development in unincorporated areas of LA County. This interactive toolkit provides a step-by-step process and resources for obtaining approvals to renovate and construct new ECE facilities. Please find the toolkit below available in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Armenian, and Russian.

Toolkits

Toolkit Training

To view a virtual training on how to use the “Child Care for All: How to Develop and Renovate Early Care and Education Facilities in Los Angeles County” Toolkit, please visit: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h2fdi9ZMQTg&feature=youtu.be

 LA County ECE Facilities Process Webinar 

“Date To Be Announced Soon”

The webinar will provide information on LA County’s process to request facilities planning and building & safety permits needed for certain types of child care space renovations.  The webinar will include presentations by LA County’s Department of Regional Planning, Department of Public Works’ Building and Safety Division, Fire Department, and CDSS Child Care Licensing Division.

Webinar is for LA County’s process that covers LA County unincorporated areas, however, everyone is welcome to attend

The webinar will require registration, will be recorded, and provided in English and Spanish.

Meeting Materials

Building Capacity

Child Care and Your City: How Cities Can Increase Access to Child Care Toolkit – Child Care and Your City: How Cities Can Increase Access to Child Care” is a best practices and resource toolkit for city staff providing important legal updates and best practices on how cities and planning departments can reduce barriers to developing, renovating, and operating much-needed child care facilities in their communities.

Child Care Provider Guide to Zoning, Building and Safety, Fire, Health and Licensing Regulations (July 2007)

TOOLKIT FOR CHILD CARE PROVIDERS ON EXPANDING INFANT AND TODDLER CARE

The Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education (OAECE), in collaboration with Public Counsel, has released “Child Care for All: Information for Child Care Providers on Expanding Infant and Toddler Care in Los Angeles County” (Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit). The Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit has information to assist family child care homes and community-based child care centers to serve more infants and toddlers.  This resource includes the following 7 key considerations for serving more infants and toddlers.

  1. Licensing
  2. Ratios
  3. Staff Qualifications
  4. Equipment
  5. Changes to Physical Space
  6. Financial Business Model
  7. Outreach to Families

Please find the toolkit below available in English, Armenian, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Spanish languages.

Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit (English)

Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit ՀԱՅԵՐԵՆ (Armenian)

Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit 中文 (Chinese)

Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit 한국어 (Korean)

Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit русский (Russian)

Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit Español (Spanish)

FREE TRAINING FOR CHILD CARE PROVIDERS ON EXPANDING INFANT AND TODDLER CARE (RECORDING)

Are you interested in serving more infants and toddlers in your early care and education program? Join Public Counsel and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Office for the Advancement of Early Care & Education (OAECE) for this recorded training in English and Spanish on how child care providers can expand infant and toddler care in their program. During this training, we will discuss key considerations related to expanding child care services for infants and toddlers, including:

      • Licensing
      • Ratios
      • Staff Qualifications
      • Equipment
      • Changes to Physical Space
      • Financial Business Model
      • Outreach to Families
      • Resources

To access the training, please visit:

Spanish Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlBdMZxpcbQ

English Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDgJ2QcXwjU

Stay tuned for the complementary Infant and Toddler Child Care Expansion Toolkit coming Fall 2023!

FREE  TRAINING: EXPANDING INFANT AND TODDLER CARE – BUSINESS TRAINING

The OAECE in partnership with Public Counsel presents The Infant and Toddler Expansion Toolkit: Business Training. This training aims to help providers to:

  1. Estimate income and expenses
  2. Understand their budget
  3. Provide budget tools for infant and toddler spaces
  4. Offer strategies to maximize income

Please click here to view the training.

Overview

ECE-BT3 professional development resources are for early care and education providers who want to strengthen their practice in caring for infants and toddlers.  Below providers can find professional development trainings and resources specifically for the infant and toddler child care workforce.

Infant and Toddler Professional Development Catalog

The OAECE, in partnership with the Los Angeles Education Partnership and made possible through the support of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, presents Caring for Los Angeles County’s Youngest Learners: Infant and Toddler Professional Development Catalog (Catalog). This Catalog addresses the urgent need to enhance the skills and support the growth of LA County’s infant and toddler child care workforce by providing valuable professional development resources. The Catalog is organized into four categories:

·       Non-Accredited Training: Organizations that offer professional development hours for permits or continuing education units 

·       Accredited Training: Community colleges and universities that offer educational units that can be applied to specialization certificates and professional degrees 

·       LA County Resource and (R&R) Agencies: R&Rs agencies provide a variety of professional development and incentive services for current and emergent ECE providers  

·       Other Resources: Provides additional resources information to support providers in gaining more professional development, locating incentives, and learning about licensing 

The Catalog is available in English (see below) and will soon be available in Armenian, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.

Infant Toddler Catalog 

Los Angeles County Infant/ Toddler Early Care and Education System Blueprint

On September 12, 2023, the LA County Board of Supervisors approved motion that directs the Department of Public Health – Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education (OAECE) to develop a blueprint to fortify the LA County Infant/Toddler Care System.  The OAECE conducted an extensive input process to inform the development of the Los Angeles County Infant/Toddler Early Care and Education System Blueprint (Blueprint) recommendations. The OAECE is excited to share that the Blueprint was submitted to the Board of Supervisors on March 1, 2024.

To read the complete Blueprint, please click HERE. 

To access a user-friendly handout summarizing the blueprint’s recommendations, please click HERE.

Next Steps for the Blueprint:

The Blueprint is intended to, at minimum, be tool to inform Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, ECE advocates and programs, provide recommendations for elected officials during legislation session, and a guide for philanthropy to inform investment strategies. The Blueprint will also serve as a foundational document for developing the next Los Angeles County Unified Early Care and Education Strategic Plan 2025-2030.

The OAECE looks forward to partnering with the ECE community and other stakeholders to build a stronger ECE system for Los Angeles County’s children and their families.

For questions or more information regarding the Blueprint, please contact Leanne Drogin, OAECE Deputy Director at Ldrogin@ph.lacounty.gov

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