Location of Meeting: Virtual (GoToMeeting – available for one month)
In Attendance:
In Attendance:
Board:
Rebecca Compton Dr. Day Care
Joseph Tomchak Boys & Girls Club Newport
Haley Paige Coggeshall Club/Haven Middletown
Amy Vogel Dr. Day Care
Lori Viner Children’s Workshop
Guests & Members:
Marissa Gallagher Connecting for Children and Families
Monique Rossi Boys & Girls Club Warwick
Heidi Nordmann EBCAP Head Start
Sara Nardollillo DHS
Rebecca Madden Acorn Academy
Christine Arouth Newport Family & Child Opportunity Zone
Missy Davis MLK Center
Julia Smith Paper Cown Preschool
(members attending after meeting began were not recorded)
Meeting Agenda:
Welcome and introductions!
Grant update: Maria Fruci, BOCA Grant Manager / Director Rhode Island Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs
We have 7 spots available for cohort 2 to meet the 20-student limit, Classes begin July 8 and run for about 8 weeks. I attached the class schedule. The syllabus should be complete this week. SkillsRI will begin marketing the program next week.
If any organizations are interested in learning more and participating, they can email Maria mfruci@epbgc.org.
Guest speaker: Sarah Nardolillo, Administrator of Child Care Licensing, RI Department of Human Services
Changes to onboarding forms (108, 109)
Update on RISES
Update on Compensation Survey and Market Rate Survey
Priorities for the year – handout that details our focus for 2024 and beyond
Thurs. 5/9 – Rhode Island Strolling Thunder at the State House
Member questions & discussion
Upcoming meeting dates / next meeting May 20th
Meeting Notes:
- Amy started the meeting at 1:03 pm
- Members introduced themselves.
- Grant updates: Maria couldn’t make it.
- Amy – Went over grant update. July 8th is the start of classes, but staff can start early.
- Joe – incumbent workers, if you have a staff you want to participate, they can be reimbursed for wages. It was approved. Please reach out to Joe or Maria if you have questions or want to participate.
- Sarah, DHS:
- Updates on CCAP items
- Licensing – in the process of promulgating family regulations, not center child care regulations.
- 108 & 109 affidavit forms – these were older forms that have been updated. No longer need to be notarized. It is now an attestation.
- RISES – new data system, launched in several phases over next few years. Getting a large amount of requests. Will be reviewed during licensing visits. Don’t get rid of paper copies yet. Looking to phase-in (for licensing) the RISES system for staff files for monitoring. Next phase is Feb. 2025. Streamlining multiple systems.
- Joe – is it early childhood only? Sarah – school age and early childhood. Will eventually be phased into regulations over time. RI is one of a few states that does not have a workforce registry.
- Joe – can you change your license, ie add preschool to school age? Sarah – can make changes here
- Missy – do you also want short term employees (ie, summer camp) in the system? Sarah – will bring this back to the team for guidance. Anticipate that we will want it in there. As of now, yes.
- Market Rate Survey coming out soon. In the next couple of months.
- Amy – heard concerns that we’re not charging as much as we could/should because we will price out parents. Sarah – want to be as accurate as possible. Does there need to be a question about what you should be charging vs what you’re comfortable charging. Amy – wages that we pay today, want to pay more, but that would bring up the cost of care and still need to be affordable to families.
- Joe – reminder that some agencies charge less than DHS rate, this survey is used to help determine what the rates should be. Please participate in the survey so they get accurate info.
- Compensation study link: ttps://dhs.ri.gov/programs-and-services/child-care/research-reports-surveys-news
- Will email the flyer again with BOCA priorities
- Thursday 5/9 – Strolling Thunder – BOCA will have a table at the event
- Email flyer/info to members.
- Anyone members would like to hear from for future meetings?
- Joe – anyone participating in cohort 1? Any feedback? Concerns? Would be great to have info for progress meetings.
- Missy – loves the person that they found. But it was a nightmare getting fingerprints. These candidates were mixed with SkillsRI candidates and were told they’d get the fingerprints in JUNE. Maria helped. Held up her start date. Very excited, got another bilingual staff member thanks to this program.
- Joe – if you know anyone that wants to participate, they just have to be a BOCA member. Please send them our way. It’s a pilot and we want to get as many people as possible.
- Joe – anyone participating in cohort 1? Any feedback? Concerns? Would be great to have info for progress meetings.
- Next meeting is May 20th
- Meeting ended at 1:31 pm
Next meetings:
June 24, 2024
Skipping July & August
September 23, 2024
October 28, 2024
November 25, 2024
Skipping December
Minutes submitted by Rebecca Compton