Monday, Sept. 14 Concurrent Session A [1:45 - 2:45pm ET]
Validation Studies of Licensing Key Indicator Rules and Risk Assessment Rules: State of Washington and the Province of Saskatchewan Two validation studies conducted in the State of Washington and the Province of Saskatchewan on their respective licensing key indicator and risk assessment rules will be described. These two jurisdictions provide the latest validation studies to begin to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of these methodologies to make certain that they perform as they should. As more jurisdictions are utilizing these methodologies it is important to validate their use before going to full scale implementation. Participants will learn about how to do these types of studies as well as hearing about the results from the studies. Presented by: Rick Fiene, Sonya Stevens, Kim Taylor, Derek Pardy
Establishing Collaborative Relationships in Early Child Care During a period when the number of licensed providers is diminishing and the number of unlicensed providers is on the increase; looking at ways to establish collaborative working environments becomes increasingly important. This workshop provides realistic strategies to address "the us versus them" mentality that still exits in many regulatory authorities. Presented by: Sharon Woodward
The Joint Commission Behavioral Health Accreditation – QRTP Accreditation Implementation This session discusses the Joint Commission's ongoing collaborative efforts with state regulatory agencies. We will focus on the processes and standards that are related to the accreditation of Qualified Residential Treatment programs. We will cover accreditation basics, how the QRTP standards fit into the Behavioral Health Accreditation Program, and how we communicate with key state stakeholders. Presented by: Mary Louise Wei, Colette Bukowski
Piloting a New Bridge to Quality The Technical Assistance Unit in the Child Care Services division of Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning typically works with programs who are not compliant with licensing rules and regulations. After noticing several newly licensed programs falling out of compliance soon after receiving permission to operate, the unit leadership developed an innovative, proactive model of program intervention with the hope of preventing newly licensed programs from falling out of compliance. In addition to providing training on rules and regulations, electronic systems, and business practices, the TA consultants utilize coaching strategies to support providers as they get their business up and running. This session will provide an overview of the pilot and initial feedback. Presented by: Nakilia McCray, Shannon Carroll
Monday, Sept. 14 Concurrent Session B [3:00 - 4:00pm ET]
Keeping Children Safe: Trends in Child Care Licensing Come and participate in a discussion of the findings from the 2017 Child Care Licensing Study conducted by the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance and NARA. We will discuss current trends in child care facility requirements and licensing agency policies and explore the ways state licensing systems have responded to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will be encouraged to share their reactions to the trends and their states’ practices. Presented by: Sheri Fischer, Tara Orlowski
Licensing and Enforcement in the 21st Century - Innovation, Collaboration, and Data Each of the last three years the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) has presented at the NARA Licensing Seminar, detailing the agency’s overhaul of the approach to licensing child care providers. Beginning in 2015, DCYF developed and continues to improve a data-driven approach to enforcing licensing requirements—an approach that requires agency-wide collaboration, innovative analyses, and modern technology. The result is a monitoring and enforcement system intended to use agency resources more efficiently, allowing licensors to use their time and energy where it’s needed most, and to create safer environments for children. This year’s presentation highlights important updates to DCYF’s efforts and details how this system may be adapted for different types of regulated care. Presented by: Tyler M Farmer, Sonya Stevens, Judy Bunkleman
Assisted Living Regulations During a Pandemic The health and safety of residents living in Assisted Living Communities is the basis of regulations. COVID-19 this year has highlighted the importance of communication and collaboration with regulatory agencies and providers to best serve residents during this pandemic. This presentation will discuss the process developed in Pennsylvania. The weekly meetings, waivers of regulations, Education and Support Network, CARES Act funding and Regional Response Health Collaborative Program will be highlighted during the presentation. Presented by: Margie Zelenak
Licensing’s Role In Supporting the Reduction of Suspension & Expulsion This session will provide an overview of suspension and expulsion in early learning settings, including the integral role that child care licensing plays in supporting the reduction of suspension and expulsion. The session will explore how collaboration with key partners and stakeholders is essential to effective policy development and reduction efforts. Participants will share information about how their states or agencies have addressed these issues in early learning programs. An overview of the Child Care State Capacity tool, Building a Comprehensive State Policy Strategy to Prevent Expulsion from Early Learning Setting, 2nd Edition (Expulsion Policy Strategy Tool) will also be shared. The purpose of the tool is to support states in designing a multi-faceted policy approach to developing a continuum of supports for programs, families, and children and provides policy options to promote young children’s social-emotional development and reduce the likelihood of expulsion and suspension in early learning. Presented by: Amy Page, Alexa Watkins
Tuesday, Sept. 15 Concurrent Session C [12:30 - 1:30pm ET]
Effective Strategies to Regulated Assisted Living Providers During this interactive session, attendees will learn Wisconsin's revised regulatory strategies to regulate assisted living provider community. Includes use of technology, eliminating the need to submit a plan of correction, enhanced collaboration with managed care organizations, advocates, providers and others, citation templates and revised key codes. Presented by: Alfred C. Johnson
Working Together to Advance Quality With limited resources, it is important to partner with agencies and organizations that share the same mission to advance quality in the field of human care. Partnerships can include dialogues, data sharing, and co-authoring position statements. Join us in the session as members of a panel discuss how they have partnered to move quality initiatives forward. As part of the discussions, strategies and lessons learned will be discussed on how to develop partnerships. Presented by: Tara Lynne Orlowski, Ed.D., co-presenters TBA
The Quality Connection: Connecting the Dots for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Connection is a bi-monthly newsletter distributed by the Child Care Licensing division of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) for childcare providers interested in improving the quality of care they offer families. Staff members from Childcare licensing, Georgia’s Pre-K program, Quality Rated and Inclusion divisions collaborate to develop this resource. Each issue of The Quality Connection focuses on one classroom component and identifies connections between requirements and expectations of DECAL’s various divisions and what impact each one has on classroom practices around the component. The Quality Connection illustrates how all DECAL programs play a role in a childcare provider’s overall quality, and how that quality can be identified on a continuum of care. The goal of the newsletter is to help providers see the relationship between the requirements of each program and how the separate requirements all work together towards continuous quality improvement. Presented by: Iko Ezell-Blackmon, Catherine Broussard
Remote Inspections: Protecting Health and Safety in Emergency Situations The COVID-19 pandemic creates a dilemma for licensing agencies: how can we conduct inspections to protect individual health, safety, and rights at a time when doing so could put the people we seek to protect at risk of contracting the virus? An effective resolution to this dilemma is Remote Inspections, where compliance is measured through real-time audiovisual communication with the licensee instead of instead of traveling to and entering a licensed setting. This session will present best practices in conducting Remote Inspections, discuss benefits and drawbacks to Remote Inspections, and explore how Remote Inspections can be applied to post-pandemic operations. Presented by: Ron Melusky, Alisa Hendrickson
Tuesday, Sept. 15 Concurrent Session D [3:00 - 4:00pm ET]
How Stakeholder Collaboration Drives Successful Outcomes for Technology Implementations Those who will be impacted by new processes and systems can make or break a new project implementation. This session will provide a look at the importance of engaging stakeholders during the various phases of a new project. The speakers will discuss lessons learned and useful strategies. Additionally, the speakers will share helpful information about how to define and use key metrics to measure success and outcomes, along with strategies to promote long term user adoption and continuous quality improvement. Presented by: Michelle Thomas, Martin Bing
Using Licensing Data to Understand Connections Within Early Care and Education Participants will learn from Utah and one another about how data can be used to answer questions about how a licensing system is influenced by its context (including COVID-19) and its connection to other entities that set standards for early care and education (ECE) providers (e.g., subsidy and QRIS). Sample questions include: What is the relationship between providers’ licensing violations and participation in the child care subsidy system? What are the licensing characteristics of providers who continued to operate to serve first responders? We'll start by sharing frameworks developed by an OPRE-funded project, which depict how licensing connects to the ECE system; how it’s influenced by context (e.g., community characteristics, stakeholders, resources); and how it contributes to outcomes for providers, families, and children. This will frame presentations on Utah’s use of data and a panel discussion about opportunities to learn from existing data. Presented by: Nina Johnson, Kelly Maxwell, Simon Bolivar, Michele Adams
Utilizing Trauma Informed Care Principles in Licensing Inspections Licensing professionals need to recognize that the licensing inspection can trigger a trauma response not only in the providers but licensing staff as well. Regulating authority is conceptually and emotionally stressful to most providers…..even before a violation is issued or enforcement action taken. The session will include a discussion of the principles of Trauma-informed care (TIC) that includes an approach that explicitly acknowledges the role trauma plays in people’s lives. TIC means that every part of an organization or program understands the impact of trauma on the individuals they serve and promotes cultural and organization change in responding to the consumers/clients served. We will discuss recognizing the signs and symptoms of a trauma induced response during a licensing inspection and how to respond to these situations by identifying the “why” of the response and not just focusing on the content of the response. We will discuss the Balanced Use of Authority Principles from the NARA licensing curriculum as a means to assist licensing staff in handling challenging situations. Presented by: Donna Sabo, Joyce Debolt
Coming Together in the Time of COVID Human care regulators often feel like we are on a deserted island having to handle crisis, criticism, and complaints. In no time in our lives have we experienced what we are living through now so coming together is even more important. Over the past few months, NARA has brought together people to talk about what is happening across North America and support each other. This panel discussion will include various speakers who will share what their agency did during COVID to promote regulatory activities while provide support for providers and staff. Presented by: panelists TBA
Wednesday, Sept. 16 Concurrent Session E [1:45 - 2:45pm ET]
Putting the Pieces Together Protecting the health and safety of children in early care and education programs is a shared responsibility between licensing and other early childhood state systems. Strong collaborations can support the efficient use of limited agency resources, help clarify roles, enhance communication across agencies, and reduce confusion and frustration for child care providers. Join us as we explore the elements of true collaboration, share strategies for engaging stakeholders, and identify keys to building strong relationships with multiple stakeholders. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss, in small groups, their experiences based on the structure of their state child care licensing system. Presented by: Michele Adams, Jeanne VanOrsdal
Measuring Workforce Competency Each professional has a set of competencies that are critical to ensure they are capable of performing the necessary job tasks. Determining how to measure the competency of individuals can be a challenging task. During this presentation, we will explore various methods to measure competency ranging from low to high stakes. Through this exploration, we will discuss how to set up a system to measure competency, implement the system, and validate the results. There will be interactive components to this presentation and opportunities for discussion. Presented by: Tara Lynne Orlowski, Ed.D., Ryan A. Wilke, Ph.D.
An Approach to Tackling Unlicensed Child Care This session will provide an overview of Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning’s (DECAL) innovative process of searching for and engaging with individuals and programs that are providing childcare without a license or exemption. Presenters will discuss how DECAL’s intake team utilizes the system, known as “Seeking and Finding.” Participants will learn about the use of social media websites, publications, advertisements, and specialized search software, in conjunction with direct questions to providers, are used to identify childcare programs operating illegally. Presenters will discuss how we inform these programs of Georgia Law and the licensing or exemption process. Participants will learn how this non-punitive approach works to assist programs in operating legally, either by beginning the application process or ceasing operations. Presented by: April Rogers, Tahishe Smith
Social Distancing and On-site Inspections – Defining the New Normal On-site inspections are a necessary part of the regulatory process, but with new social distancing guidelines and a constant threat of infection, how do we redefine the on-site inspection process to minimize exposure to regulators and to the communities they serve? This session will break down the on-site inspection process, and identify opportunities to minimize the amount of time inspectors spend in facilities. We will discuss opportunities to use technology for off-site records and document reviews, virtual interviews and walk-throughs, and electronically submitted corrections and plans of correction. Presented by: Mark Parker
Wednesday, Sept. 16 Adult Care & Child Care Discussions [3:00 - 4:00pm ET]
No Small Matter Documentary No Small Matter is the first feature documentary to explore the most overlooked, underestimated, and powerful force for change in America today: early childhood education. Through poignant stories and surprising humor, the film lays out the overwhelming evidence for the importance of the first five years, and reveals how our failure to act on that evidence has resulted in an everyday crisis for American families, and a slow-motion catastrophe for the country. Rachel Giannini, NARA’s keynote speaker and featured in this documentary, will host a facilitated discussion for Seminar participants. Facilitated by: Rachel Giannini
COVID-19 Impact on Senior Living: A National Perspective COVID – 19 has had a tremendous impact on senior living residents, staff and family members. This session will highlight some of the challenges faced by senior living providers during this pandemic, innovations that have been implemented, public policy priorities and examples of state approaches. Presented by: Maribeth Bersani
