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BOCA minutes – member meeting Sept. 23, 2024 at 1:00 PM

Location of Meeting: Virtual (GoToMeeting – available for one month)
https://transcripts.gotomeeting.com/#/s/5d73d15ad968faba1aff5d9114d6fdebf06b1dbf851e23afcda9ad5f8fc17bea

Board:

Rebecca Compton                   Dr. Day Care
Joseph Tomchak                     Boys & Girls Club Newport
Amy Vogel                               Dr. Day Care

Guest speakers:

Martin DeCosta & Kate Gilleese         Boys & Girls Club Alliance

Members:

Denise Greene         West End Community Center
Missy Davis         Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center
Melanie         Boys & Girls Club Northern RI
Marlene Roberti         Brown Fox Point Rebecca Madden Little Acorns Academy
Marissa Gallagher         Hope St ELC.
Susan Rachette         Kinderdance and Fitness
Linda Laliberte         East Bay Community Action Program Head Start
Mike Scarpetti         Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence
Heidi Nordmann         East Bay Community Action Program Head Start
Missy Menders         Tri-County Community Action Agency

(members arriving after 1:05 were not recorded)

Agenda:

Welcome and introductions
DLT Hiring Grant updates: RI Alliance
Member questions & discussion
Next meeting: Oct. 28, 2024

Meeting Notes:

  • Joe ran the meeting
  • Took a break over summer, went over update for the BOCA DLT grant
  • Introduced new point of contact for the DLT grant, Kate Gilleese
  • Martin, Associate director of BGC East Providence, introduced himself as a point of contact for the grant since Maria left
  • Kate Gilleese is the new point of contact for the grant – kgilleese@epbgc.org
  • Joe – reminder, finished cohort 2 over the summer
  • Martin – Cohort 1 was in the books by the time he started, helped with cohort 2. About 9 candidates that went through school age cohort
    • Governor’s Workforce Board alerted us that they did not have enough money to pay for the rest
    • We have enough money in the budget (was assigned for incumbent workers) to cover cohort 2
    • Decided to push cohort 3 to next year, recruitment in Nov/Dec with classes starting Jan. This will be for infant/toddlers. Planning to recruit for 20 for that cohort. New budget for GWB will start in December, so there will be more funding available. Should end around mid-April. Business will be reimbursed for 50% of the employee’s hours, up to 400 hours worked.
    • Cohort 2 reimbursement – if you have already paid your staff for 400 hours, should have had someone reach out to you. If not reach out to Martin or LeeAnne
  • Reminder that grant also pays BOCA membership dues – first join BOCA, then participate in grant, then the grant will send reimbursement to BOCA, BOCA will then send a check to the company/member
  • If you did not receive your reimbursement, we are waiting for the check to come through, there was some confusion/delay due to Maria leaving
  • Cohort 1 checks will be coming soon to BOCA, cohort 2 is coming next
  • If interested in Infant/Toddler cohort 3, please communicate to LeeAnne, Kate, or Martin
  • Questions? Anyone want to share cohort experiences?
    • Missy Davis – hers was wonderful. Bilingual staff. Short lasted, already gone.
    • Joe – had someone that said classes were fantastic, is now working as a kindergarten age leader/stayed on board.
  • Anyone interested in final cohort?
    • Headstart (Heidi)
    • Dr. Day Care (Rebecca)
  • Looking forward:
    • Linda Laliberte EBCAP – interested in CCAP for Child Care Pilot, having it continue again. Hoping to extend (or eliminate) the ceiling for wages
    • Linda Laliberte – how / who recruits for the cohort? Martin – SkillsRI does most of the recruitment. If you know of anyone that you think would fit, can also suggest them to get the higher wage/reimbursement. Linda – are there typically flyers or marketing materials? Martin – asked Kate to make sure to suggest that to SkillsRI has flyers for us
    • Joe – if you are part of SkillsRI listserv, you’ll get this info from them too, suggest signing up to get their notices
    • Denise – asked about member dues, Rebecca – due every January

Meeting ended at 1:26pm

Next meetings:

October 28, 2024
November 25, 2024
Skipping December

https://bocari.org/upcoming-boca-meeting-dates

Minutes submitted by Rebecca Compton