Trivia

What is the average annual snowfall in Olympia?

Welcome!

Today marks the return of Start Early Washington’s weekly “Notes From Olympia.” Our weekly newsletter aims to deliver the latest updates on activity in Olympia to your inbox every Friday morning. If you have suggestions for items to cover, we would love to hear!

Additionally, we linked our bill tracker at the top of our resources page so you can follow the progress of bills that impact the state budget and early learning. Look for the updated link at the top of the page each Thursday. Tracking bills will be a feature of our weekly “Notes From Olympia.”

What Will the 2022 Legislative Session Look Like?

I will dispense with any attempt at a witty saying or cliché about uncertainty because I think we are all over them!

Due to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases statewide, both the Senate and House of Representatives recently adjusted their operational plans to begin their work in a largely virtual fashion. All committee hearings will be virtual and, initially, only a limited number of legislators and staff will be in-person for floor sessions. There will be no in-person meetings on the Capitol campus.

After two weeks, both bodies intend to revisit these plans and potentially make adjustments based on public health guidance. These adjustments could include increasing the number of legislators present for floor sessions and allowing a limited number of members of the public in the Senate and House galleries.

Week One Committee Activity

The short, 60-day sessions run at a frenetic pace, with public hearings on legislation starting the first day. With the first cutoff for bills to get out of policy committees rapidly approaching on Feb. 3, there is no easing in!

For early learning, we expect a relatively lighter year given the passage of the Fair Start for Kids Act in 2021 and the systemwide work underway to implement this historic measure. There will, of course, be legislation and budget items related to early learning, but we do not expect legislation of the magnitude of the Fair Start for Kids Act.

Speaking of Fair Start for Kids, the House Children, Youth and Families is holding a work session on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 8 a.m. focusing on Fair Start for Kids implementation. We will provide a summary in next week’s “Notes From Olympia.”

The legislative session will kick off with a focus on the supplemental budget as the House Appropriations Committee on Monday, Jan. 10 and the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 11 dedicate committee time to the Governor’s proposed supplemental budget. Both hearings will begin with a presentation by David Schumacher, the Governor’s Director of the Office of Financial Management, who will outline the Governor’s proposed budget, followed by an opportunity for the public to respond to what was included (or more importantly, not included) in the Governor’s budget.

The fiscal committees are scheduled at the end of the day as they often exceed the usual two-hour committee block and these initial hearings typically run into the night. These budget hearings are interesting for many reasons, including giving good insight into what other budget items are “in play” for the session.

Resources

With legislative session starting on Monday, here are some handy resources to help track bills, hearings, amendments and other developments:

Washington State Legislative Website. The #1 go-to for all legislative information. This is where you can read the latest bills; sign up to testify; find the legislative calendar; look up legislative committee schedule; and much more.

TVW.org. With much of the legislative activity virtual, TVW becomes all the more important, airing all legislative hearings and floor sessions live. If you miss something, you can go back and catch it in their archives. TVW also produces a number of documentaries and informative shows, including Inside Olympia and The Impact. TVW’s website was updated over interim to make it more user friendly – check it out!

Holiday Trivia!

On a quick trip to Olympia earlier this week, I was able to walk through a deserted Legislative building and snap these pictures of three beautifully lit holiday trees. This got me thinking about the history of celebrating the holiday season in our state’s Capitol.

When was the first holiday tree lighting ceremony in the Washington State Capitol building?

Release of Governor Inslee’s Supplemental Budget

With the passage of the sweeping Fair Start for Kids Act in the 2021 legislative session, the focus in early learning is on implementing the various aspects of the new law. As a result, the Governor’s proposed supplemental budget, as expected, does not include many proposals related to early learning.

The supplemental budget proposed the following:

• Working Connections Child Care Co-Pay Waiver Adjustment ($9.5 million). This funding would backfill co-pays that were waived from July through September 2021.
• ECEAP Slot Conversion ($9.327 million). This funding would support the conversion of some part-day ECEAP slots to school and full-day converting a total of 2,077 slots: 1,765 from part-day to school-day and 312 from part-day to full-day.
• Summer ECEAP ($5.970 million). This funding would support nearly nine weeks of ECEAP services in the summer, leveraging 2,212 school-day slots on 2 tracks; 2,011 full-day, in-person slots; and 201 wraparound slots.
• ECEAP Quality Supply Rate ($1.268 million). This funding would support the continuation of an enhanced rate for ECEAP providers to provide child and family assessments and have access to research-based curriculum and professional development.
• Background Check Fees ($1.267 million). This funding would cover application and processing fees for child care providers, thereby reducing the time it takes to complete a background check by 3-5 days.
• Mental Health Consultation ($260,000). This funding would support two tribal mental health consultants.
• Lived Experience Work ($955,000). Within the Department of Social and Health Services budget summary, the Governor lays out his proposal to better include and compensate individuals with lived experience in budget and policy decisions. This funding would include a technical advisory group, funding for the Office of Equity on best practices to engage communities when creating equitable policies as well as for stipends for individuals participating in boards, commissions, workgroups, etc.

Overall, Governor Inslee’s nearly $62 billion supplemental budget proposes almost $3 billion more in spending than the biennial budget passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor this spring. In his press conference remarks, Governor Inslee stressed the state’s need to respond with urgency to its many challenges, including housing, climate, behavioral health, COVID-19 and poverty. The Governor resisted calls to issue tax cuts and proposed investing $600 million of the budget surplus into the state’s rainy day fund.

With the Governor’s proposed budget release, activity now shifts to the legislative arena. Expect both the Senate Ways and Means and the House Appropriations Committees to hold public hearings during the first week of the legislative session to hear feedback on the Governor’s proposals.

Detailed budget documents and high-level overviews are on the Governor’s Office of Financial Management website.

2022 Legislative Session Logistics

Before we know it, the 2022 legislative session will be upon us. The short, sixty-day session kicks off Monday, Jan. 10 and will conclude (fingers crossed!) March 10.

The Senate and House of Representatives have each announced different approaches for operation during the 2022 legislative session.

In short :

• Both Senate and House committee hearings will continue to be virtual.
•  In the Senate, floor sessions will be in person for all members and a small number of staff (after confirmation of a negative rapid test each day of floor session).
• Given that the House has twice the number of members as the Senate, their floor sessions will be in person for a rotating cohort of vaccinated legislators.
• In both bodies, a limited number of members of the public may view the activity from the galleries, with specified safety measures in place.
• Senators are encouraged to continue to hold meetings remotely, but will be permitted to hold in-person meetings in their offices for three members of the public, if they choose.
• House members will continue to hold all meetings with the public virtually with no in-person option on the Capitol campus.
• Legislative staff are encouraged to continue to work remotely.

It is important to recognize these operating plans are all subject to change depending on how the session proceeds and the status of COVID-19 infections.

Bill Introductions

Pre-Filed Bills. Lawmakers have begun pre-filing bills in advance of the Jan. 10 legislative session start date. A look through the pre-filed bill list illustrates the myriad of issues legislators consider throughout the legislative session – ranging from Senator Wellman’s SB 5537 which would lower the age for compulsory K-12 education to children ages five, six and seven to Representative Walen’s HB 1615 which addresses the sale of cosmetics tested on animals.

The volume of introduced legislation can be a lot to wade through, so Start Early WA will be producing and sharing a bill tracker weekly on our website on bills related to child and family issues. We will also include a link in future issues of this newsletter to keep you up to date on the status of key early learning and related bills.

Redistricting Updates

Our Nov. 19 Notes From Olympia provided an update on the state’s Redistricting Commission narrowly missing the Nov. 15 deadline to adopt final Congressional and legislative maps to send to the Legislature for approval. Our state’s Constitution provides that when the Redistricting Commission fails to meet the Nov. 15 deadline, the responsibility falls to the state Supreme Court to finalize proposed plans.

Instead of undertaking the process of redrawing political boundaries themselves, the Supreme Court instead announced Dec. 3 they would accept the Redistricting Commission’s work and submit their proposal to the Legislature for approval.

Crosscut’s Melissa Santos continues to be my “go to” reporter on these complex developments and her Dec. 3 piece provides a great summary of the Supreme Court’s actions and the ramifications.

The drama is far from over; judicial challenges over the process and whether the final maps violate the federal Voting Rights Act are in play.

It is interesting to check out the final maps as some districts saw significant changes. For example, my district moved BACK to the district we were moved FROM during the last redistricting. It will be interesting to see if my neighbors are aware of this change during our next election. During the last election after redistricting, people were promoting candidates who were no longer our representatives! It is confusing.

Trivia!

Which entity makes decisions about new construction and improvements of public buildings, including the Washington State Capitol Campus?

(I know this is a dry trivia question, but I promise the answer contains really cool and interesting information!)

Legislative Committee Days

This week, the Senate and House of Representatives met for virtual Committee Days where legislative committees received updates on items of interest in advance of the 2022 legislative session.

Two work sessions of note include the Monday Senate Ways and Means Committee and the Wednesday Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee.

Senate Ways and Means Committee. The Senate Ways and Means Committee received a number of updates. Of particular interest was the Office of Financial Management’s Assistant Director for Budget Nona Snell’s presentation on COVID-19 response funding.

In total, Washington state governments, businesses, nonprofits, and individual citizens received $87 billion (billion with a “b”) in COVID-19 relief funds. As a frame of reference, the state’s two-year biennial budget for 2021-23 totaled $59.1 billion.

State government received $14.1 billion from the six major federal stimulus packages. The state dedicated its funding to areas such as economic support, local government, public health, government operations, child care, medical, food assistance and long-term care.

Washington state received $4.4 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), one of the largest federal stimulus packages. The dollars were allocated as follows:

• 2021-23 Operating Budget: $1.7 billion (37%)
• Unappropriated (still available to spend): $1.3 billion (29%)
• 2021-23 Transportation Budget: $1 billion (23%)
• 2021-23 Capital Budget: $400 million (9%)
• 2021 Supplemental Operating Budget: $103 million (2%)

REMINDER: Start Early WA prepared a detailed analysis of how Washington state allocated federal COVID-19 funds toward early learning priorities.

Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee. Wednesday’s Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee focused on early learning issues and opened with an update on the implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act from Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) Assistant Secretary of Early Learning Nicole Rose.

The linked PowerPoint contains a treasure trove of rich information and I will be hanging onto it for data points and summaries of key Fair Start Act components.

Following Rose’s presentation, Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal and Secretary of DCYF Ross Hunter opened the next panel focused on integrated pre-K. (Side note – I’ll also be keeping this PowerPoint as a reference – more good data). OSPI and DCYF discussed their efforts to integrate various pre-K options, noting that the passage of the federal Build Back Better Act would dramatically change the trajectory of this work.

Overall, the House work sessions focused less on issues related to early learning. However, the House Appropriations Committee received a fiscal outlook for 2022 during its Thursday afternoon meeting. The fiscal outlook document contains a great overview of the state budgeting process and factors impacting budget writers’ decision making.

Redistricting

For the first time since its authorization, the Washington State Redistricting Commission failed to adopt final Congressional and legislative maps to send to the Legislature prior to the midnight, Nov. 15 deadline. As a result, the drawing of maps goes to the Washington State Supreme Court who now have until April 30 to come to agreement on the final maps.

Redistricting is the process wherein Congressional and legislative district boundaries are reviewed and adjusted to reflect the latest census information. This year, release of the census data was delayed due to COVID-19. State legislatures in most states oversee redistricting, but Washington voters approved a state constitutional amendment in 1983 to assign that duty to a bi-partisan Redistricting Commission. The Commission is comprised of two Republican Commissioners, two Democratic Commissioners and one non-voting Chair. Due to COVID-19, this Commission has met virtually throughout its entire tenure.

Monday night’s virtual meeting had its share of drama with the commission members spending most of the evening in caucuses (the two Republican Commissioners meeting together and the two Democrats meeting together). There was an attempt at a vote before the midnight deadline, but they ran out of time. Because the meeting was on Zoom, it was unclear if a deal had been struck and if the Commission had met the deadline until the next morning when the Commission Chair issued a statement confirming the deadline had been missed.

Late Tuesday night, the Commission released its approved maps. The maps drill all the way down to specific neighborhoods. It is yet to be seen how closely the Supreme Court will follow these recommendations.

Crosscut’s Melissa Santos provided constant updates on Twitter throughout the evening and early morning hours to help the public understand what was happening. She is a trooper! She also produced an informative story the next day capturing all of the palace intrigue. @MelissaSantos1 on Twitter is my go-to for all Olympia information.

The entire redistricting process is fascinating (to me!). Look for more information in future newsletters.

State Revenue Update

The Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council will meet to receive the latest revenue report from the state’s Economist, Dr. Stephen Lerch at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 19. This meeting will be televised on TVW.org.

This important revenue update will inform the Governor’s proposed 2022 Supplemental Budget which should be released mid-December.

Earlier this week, the Senate Ways and Means Committee received an update on the caseload forecast. This information also informs the state budget process because it identifies major cost drivers such as Medicaid caseload and K-12 enrollment.

The Caseload Forecast Council Executive Director Elaine Deschamps noted that the forecasting could be less accurate due to COVID-19, the impacts of passage of major legislation and recent court action.

For early learning, the forecast report showed a 7.4% decline from the June forecast for Working Connections Child Care (with the caseload projected to drop by 1,723 to 21,602 in Fiscal Year 2022) and a projected 16.3% decline from the June forecast for the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program – ECEAP – (down by 2,313 to 11,847).

For fiscal year 2023, the Working Connections Child Care caseload is projected to grow to 26,887 and ECEAP’s to 14,890.

Resources

Perigee Fund “Parent Voices Study.” This week, the Perigee Fund and the Ford Foundation released findings from a Parent Voices Study. The study focused on parents and providers in seven communities and sought feedback on their experiences participating in programs like home visiting and infant mental health as they shifted to technology-based services during the pandemic.

The study found that flexible options made possible by technology worked well for both families and providers with 67% of parents and 68% of providers saying they would like to continue some level of service remotely. Technology also helped with family and provider retention.

Check out this great study and share the findings with your networks.

Crosscut Child Care Piece. Joy Borkholder of Crosscut wrote a powerful piece “The Real Costs of Child Care” that ran on Nov. 9. The author did a great job outlining the fiscal challenges of child care – for families who pay a huge portion of their paychecks for child care as well as for providers who too often earn extremely low wages.

Breaking News – Potential Agreement on Build Back Better

On Thursday, Oct. 28, the White House announced a negotiated agreement on the Build Back Better Framework. The agreement contains sweeping investments and policy changes for child care and federal universal preschool. As we go to “print” at 7 p.m. Thursday night, it does not appear that a vote is imminent, but that could change. We will continue to closely monitor this situation and provide further details when they are available.

Trivia!

As we are likely approaching a second “unusual” legislative session (see more on that below), I got to thinking if there were points in history when the typical legislative schedule was adjusted to reflect world affairs. Specifically, I wondered whether the Washington State Legislature had a disrupted legislative session during World War II. Did the Washington Legislature make any adaptations during the Second World War?

Policy Updates

Transitions. Typically, resignations and retirements by elected officials tend to happen at the end of a two-year legislative session. However, this year is an anomaly, with several announcements. This week, Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman announced her resignation as of Nov. 19 to join President Joe Biden’s Administration as his Senior Election Security Lead. Governor Jay Inslee will select someone to fill the vacancy and, in November 2022, the voters will choose a candidate to finish out Secretary Wyman’s term which ends in 2024. According to an Oct. 26 tweet by NPR’s Austin Jenkins, the last time a statewide office appeared on a ballot during an “off year” was in 1975 due to another vacancy.

In the past few weeks, Senators Jeannie Darneille (Democrat, Pierce County) and Ann Rivers (Republican, Clark County) announced their resignations. Senator Darneille moved to the Department of Corrections to serve as the Assistant Secretary for the Women’s Prison Division and Senator Rivers accepted a position with the City of Longview to serve as its Community Development Director. Their respective County Councils will select both Senators’ replacements from the top three nominees chosen by local Precinct Committee Officers. Senator Darneille served as the Chair of the Senate Human Services, Reentry and Rehabilitation Committee, so a new Chair for that committee will be identified shortly. Finally, Senator David Frockt (Democrat, King County) announced he will retire following the 2022 legislative session. Senator Frockt has served as the Vice Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, where he oversaw the Capital Budget and was instrumental in securing funding for the Early Learning Facilities Fund.

Legislative Committee Days will be Virtual. Due to continued uncertainty with COVID-19, November committee days will again be virtual, with the Senate convening for committee work sessions on Nov. 15-17 and the House on Nov. 18-19.

Committee work sessions of note for early learning include:

• Senate Ways and Means on Nov. 15 at 3:30 p.m. Topics include revenue and caseload and COVID-19 response funding.
• Senate Behavioral Health Subcommittee on Nov. 16 at 1:30 p.m. The agenda includes an overview of the report and recommendations from the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Workgroup.
• Senate Early Learning and K-12 on Nov. 17 at 1:30 p.m. The focus of this work session is early learning and will include an update on the Fair Start for Kids Act implementation, integrated preschool and early learning opportunities for children with disabilities.
• House State Government on Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. Work session includes a focus on the creation of the Office of Equity.
• House Appropriations on Nov. 18 at 3:30 p.m. Topics include a preview of the 2022 legislative session fiscal issues.

Each work session will be available for viewing on TVW.org. Remember that if you miss the sessions live, you can always replay them using TVW’s archives tab.

2022 Legislative Session. The 2022 legislative session will be here before we know it, with the short, 60-day session scheduled to start on Monday, Jan. 10. The top question I get is whether the 2022 legislative session will be in-person, virtual, or hybrid. The short answer is – we do not know yet. We expect announcements from the Senate and House in early November and we will report on their plans in the next Notes From Olympia.

State Revenue Forecast. The state’s revenues continue to outpace projections, with the Major State General Fund dollars for the Sept. 11 – Oct. 10 period coming in $152.7 million above the September forecast. This represents an 8.2% increase. The next quarterly revenue forecast will be on Nov. 19 and that figure will inform the Governor’s proposed Supplemental Budget that he will release in mid-late December.

On Oct. 1, the Governor’s Office of Financial Management announced an agreement with the state employee union to provide $412.2 million ($241.7 million General Fund) in pay increases for state employees. This agreement will provide for a 3.25% pay increase beginning July 1 2022, as well as a graduated lump-sum payment, with workers making lower wages receiving a larger lump-sum. Like with all collective bargaining agreements, the Legislature cannot alter the agreement; they either can approve or disapprove the terms.

Fair Start for Kids Act Updates/Resources

The Fair Start for Kids Act was a significant piece of legislation with many components. So many that I have trouble keeping all the details in my head. Here are some great resources to explain what the Fair Start for Kids Act contains, the various funding amounts and when provisions go into effect.

Our friends at MomsRising developed an amazing toolkit designed as a resource for families navigating the child care subsidy process. It contains Frequently Asked Questions, describes the new co-payment structure and, importantly, outlines the materials that families will need to apply. This is a resource to share far and wide. It is currently available in English, but they expect to offer it in Spanish shortly.

The Department of Children, Youth and Families has a webpage dedicated to Fair Start for Kids Act details. Additionally, the agency has information on Child Care Stabilization Grants available in English, Spanish and Somali.

Licensed child care centers, family child care homes, school-age providers and outdoor nature-based care providers with open licenses in good standing are eligible for Child Care Stabilization Grants. License capacity determines the grant amount. Providers are eligible to apply for one stabilization grant and applications will be accepted through June 2022 with applications reviewed and paid out monthly.

Finally, Start Early WA has developed the following budget and policy analysis pieces:

1. Allocation of Federal COVID-19 Relief for Early Learning: see how the state allocated the federal COVID-19 relief dollars (CARES, CRRSA, ARPA, and CRF) to support early learning priorities.
2. Summary of 2021-23 Operating and Capital Budget Investments for Early Learning: an overview of Washington’s investments in early learning for the current biennium.
3. Summary of Key Provisions of the Fair Start for Kids Act: a summary of the main elements passed in the Fair Start for Kids Act.

Start Early WA is on Twitter!

Follow us at @StartEarlyWA on “the Twitter.” We look forward to engaging, sharing, amplifying – and other positive, active verbs!

Early Learning Facility Fund Grant Application Process is Open

The Department of Commerce has opened the application process for the 2021-23 Early Learning Facilities Funds to establish or expand spaces for ECEAP and Working Connections Child Care. Pre-application responses are due by noon Nov. 16 and the application process closes at 5 p.m. on Dec. 1.

Trivia!

According to an August 23rd tweet from the Washington State Archives (@WAStateArchives), the following proposed mottos for the state seal were all rejected at the 1889 Constitutional Convention:

• Our Varied Industries Invite You
• Westward the Star of the Empire Takes its Way
• Welcome
• Put None but Americans on Guard
• We, the People, Rule
• First in peace, first in war, and first in the hearts of real estate agents

In the end, what motto accompanied the final state seal?

Fair Start for Kids Act & State Budget Resources

Start Early Washington recently released two resource documents related to the Fair Start for Kids Act and the 2021–23 state budget investments in early learning. The first document summarizes the key components of the Fair Start for Kids Act and the second breaks down state and federal investments included in the 2021–23 state budget.

As a result of the Fair Start for Kids Act and accompanying budget investments, new policies are slated to go into effect on October 1, 2021, including:

• A new Working Connections Child Care co-payment schedule that reduces families’ share of the cost of care;
• A shift from using Federal Poverty Level to State Median Income to determine eligibility for Working Connections Child Care (a description of why this is important is included in the Fair Start for Kids Act summary link above); and
• Income eligibility for Working Connections Child Care increasing to 60% of the State Median Income ($51,804 for a family of three).

Child Care Collaborative Task Force Report Released

Earlier this month, the Washington State Child Care Collaborative Task Force convened by the Department of Commerce and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families released its latest report, focused on outlining a strategy, timeline and an implementation plan to increase child care access. This report builds on previous efforts, including a child care industry assessment.

The Child Care Collaborative Task Force strategy document was completed after the passage of the Fair Start for Kids Act this spring and the task force’s recommendations complement the provisions of the new law while also laying out a vision for further action to address pressing child care workforce challenges. The report underscores the 43% turnover rate in our state’s child care workforce and emphasizes the negative impact of this turnover on ensuring that families have access to high quality child care.

The task force was recently extended and its final charge is to submit a cost of quality child care study to the Governor and Legislature in 2022. The intent is to use the information from the cost of quality work to develop a financing model to support higher wages.

State Economic Forecast

Last week, the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council met to receive an updated Economic Review from the state’s economist, Dr. Steve Lerch.

On the positive side:

• Revenue continues to outpace previous projections, with collections at $90 million above what was projected in June.
• Our state’s employment rate is similar to what it was in June.
• Our state’s personal income growth through 2025 is expected to be higher than what was projected in June.

On the risk side:

• Not surprisingly, COVID continues to be the greatest risk to our economy. Rising COVID cases and higher inflation have led to lower consumer confidence in the past two months.
• The number of households saying eviction or foreclosure is “very likely” in the next two months has increased.

The next revenue forecast will be released on September 24th.

Agency “Decision Packages” Released

Every mid–September, state agencies submit agency budget requests (commonly referred to as “Decision Packages”) to the Office of Financial Management for consideration to be included in the Governor’s budget released each December.

The state began the 2021–23 biennium on July 1, 2021, so the 2022 budget is a “supplemental” budget. By design, supplemental budgets are intended to make tweaks and adjustments, rather than new, significant investments.

DCYF submitted three Decision Packages related to early learning:

1. A $16.1 million request for ECEAP to convert slots from part–day to full and extended–day; increase rates to reflect those in King County and program quality support funding that was previously supported by private dollars.
2. A placeholder request to align funding with the November forecast on caseload.
3. Increased spending authority to more accurately reflect the level of funds in the Home Visiting Services Account.

What’s next? The Office of Financial Management staff will spend the next two months sifting through these requests, evaluating updated revenue figures and building a budget for the Governor to approve and present in mid–December. From there, the work shifts to the legislative arena.

Upcoming Legislative Work Sessions

Several virtual legislative committee work sessions are scheduled for this fall, including:

• A September 22nd work session in the House Children, Youth and Families Committee focused on training for early learning licensors and
• An October 19th work session on Children and Youth Behavioral Health.

DCYF is Hiring!

The task of implementing the Fair Start for Kids Act requires additional staff capacity at DCYF. Following are some open positions. Feel free to share with interested parties:

• The first of several positions managing the new Fair Start for Kids Act grants/rate enhancements, this position focuses on the equity grant: DCYF Child Care Grants Coordinator
• Two language access coordinators that will support across DCYF’s child care and early learning programs: DCYF Bilingual Language Access Coordinators
• Two Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability data positions which will interact with early learning teams: DCYF Data Platform Supervisor and DCYF Data Engineer