“My personal experience with ParentChild+ will last a lifetime!” Marcella shares her memories as one of many families who benefited from working with an early learning specialist through the ParentChild+ program.

Marcella and her daughter Taylor-Corrine participated in the ParentChild+ (PC+) program more than 16 years ago. Marcella admired the program’s ability to support the whole family in shaping a bright path for her daughter’s future. As a result, she was inspired to become an early learning specialist for PC+, supporting other families to build strong foundations and thriving futures. Currently, she is the PC+ program manager at Start Early Washington, where she supports 16 PC+ programs with technical assistance, professional development, coaching and consultation.

How Positive Reinforcement Builds Confidence

Positive reinforcement amplifies what is already working well and PC+ early learning specialists do that in numerous ways. They remind families that they are already doing a fantastic job with their child. Conversations are always positive, confidence building and reassuring to families that they know their child best. Marcella noted this as an element she appreciated most as a participant. “I knew that someone wasn’t coming into my home to judge me or my parenting style.”

As a new mother, Marcella learned to use high quality parent-child interactions in everyday moments that are often overlooked as learning opportunities, such as parent self-talk and narrating routine activities. For example, Marcella experienced how easy this could be while talking aloud in the grocery isles about ingredients on her shopping list to her daughter Taylor-Corrine.

She quickly realized the value of her simple teachable moments when a stranger at the grocery store commented, “I love how you interact with your daughter.” That acknowledgment further reinforced that she was doing a fantastic job as a parent. “It elevated my confidence to a new level.” This positive feedback loop continued throughout the program and Taylor-Corrine’s life.

Shared Language and Culture Fosters Meaningful Relationships

As a unique component of the PC+ program, early learning specialists are matched with families who share their culture and language. A shared culture often plays an intricate role in fostering meaningful relationships. Notably, early learning specialists are hired from within the communities where they work and 25 percent of early learning specials are former parents who participated in the program.

“An authentic relationship and cultural match with our specialist was really important to our family when we participated,” Marcella noted fostering a trusting, authentic relationship with families is vital for successful engagement. “Families are more comfortable discussing difficult topics and asking for support,” she added.

Families develop a close bond with their early learning specialists over the course of 2 years. During that time, they receive 96 home visits and acquire several high quality books and educational materials selected specifically for their child’s age group, ranging from 2 months to 5 years of age. In addition, they receive various guide sheets to help facilitate learning through play.

Strong Foundations Lead to Future Success

The PC+ program aims to improve parent-child engagement and connect families with culturally appropriate information and materials to support school readiness, early literacy and lifelong success.

Access to culturally appropriate books and toys provided by the program opened an entirely new world for Marcella and her family. Books such as “Please, Baby, Please,” by Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, allowed Taylor-Corrine to be surrounded by characters who looked and felt like she did. “It was the first book Taylor-Corrine saw herself in,” Marcella explained.

Marcella noted that key representation through her child’s learning helped Taylor-Corrine feel inspired and confident to try new things. “It was life-changing for her, in so many ways, PC+ helped us provide the tools our daughter needed to be successful throughout life.”

Marcella’s testimony of her family’s experience offered a few tangible examples of strong foundations leading to future success. Marcella leveraged the many tools provided by the program to make learning fun and effective for her daughter. As a result, by the time Taylor-Corrine entered kindergarten, she loved learning and Marcella was confident in communicating Taylor-Corrine’s academic needs with her teachers.

Today, Taylor-Corrine is thriving as a sophomore at the University of Southern California studying African American Studies, Philosophy, Politics and Law. She plans to practice law as a civil rights attorney someday.

Taylor-Corrine
(2022)

Taylor-Corrine continues to inspire her mother every day: “I am so proud of the woman she has become — I look at her and say, I want to be her when I grow up! She is independent and comfortable owning her space as a Black woman; she is confident and never questions if she belongs. Her success moves me forward to do better every day!”

Although the credit goes to Taylor-Corrine and her family, it is evident from speaking with Marcella that strong foundations were likely set in action through teachable moments discovered and supported through their participation in the PC+ program over 16 years ago.

Marcella and Taylor-Corrine explored Alki Beach after receiving an ocean-themed puzzle from their early learning specialist.
(2005)

A Reminder…

Start Early Washington publishes Notes From Olympia periodically throughout the legislative interim. During this time, we are replacing trivia with “deeper dives,” looking at innovations and issues that intersect with policy. In this edition, our deep dive highlights equity efforts in home visiting. But don’t worry – trivia will be back.

Governor’s Action on Budgets and Bills

On March 31, Governor Jay Inslee completed action on the budget and policy bills passed by the Legislature during the 2022 session. Start Early Washington’s bill tracker has been updated to reflect the bills signed into law. You can find the enacted bills at the top of our resource page.

In one of his final bill actions, Governor Inslee issued a partial veto of the supplemental operating budget, ESSB 5693. Among the Governor’s vetoes was the rejection of the Legislature’s directive that the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction establish rules for Transitional Kindergarten and that Transitional Kindergarten funding remain at the FY 2022 funding level.

In his veto message, the Governor explained that he could not support this budget proviso because it “…would limit school services for our young learners during and after the pandemic.” He went on to request that the Office of Public Instruction, “… upon the conclusion of a Washington State Institute for Public Policy study, work with agencies and stakeholders … to further define how school districts may grant exceptions to the uniform entry qualifications [for kindergarten] based on the ability, of the need, or both, of an individual student….”

A budget summary containing a complete list of investments is on Start Early Washington’s resource page.

New Faces Heading to Olympia in 2023

When the 2023 legislative session commences Jan. 9, 2023, we will see a number of new faces in the Senate and House of Representative Chambers. As of the most recent count, upward of two dozen current lawmakers have announced they do not plan to run to retain their current seats. These lawmakers fall into three categories – those retiring, those running for another elected office and newer legislators (largely members of color) who cite the long hours, inadequate compensation and the culture of the institution as reasons for not running again.

KUOW/NPR published an interview with Olympia correspondents Austin Jenkins and Shauna Sowersby to get their take on what these changes could mean. Jenkins and Sowersby highlighted the loss of institutional memory with retirement of longtime legislators as well as the opportunity their departures bring to diversify the Legislature and open up more leadership positions. In addition, the Seattle Times ran a column that focuses on how the structure of the legislative process disadvantages legislators of color.

Some of these lawmakers could change their minds and decide to run again. Candidate filing week is May 16-20, and we will have a better idea of how the races are shaping up after filing week.

Early Learning Facility Funding Announcement

On April 13, the Department of Commerce – in partnership with the Department of Children, Youth and Families – announced $43.2 million in grants to 69 early learning facilities across 22 counties to increase the number of children served in ECEAP and Working Connections Child Care. The Department of Commerce received 143 applications requesting $72.9 million in funding.

A total of $80,000 was awarded to four programs for pre-design (maximum award amount of $20,000); a total of $1.68 million to 11 programs for minor renovations and pre-development (maximum award level of $200,000); and a total of $41.52 million was awarded to 54 programs for new construction/major renovations (maximum award amount of $1 million).

Funding for these grants came from the state budget adopted in 2021. The budget recently signed by Governor Inslee contains an additional $23.137 million in competitive grants and $18.5 million in one-time federal funding for minor renovations. The Department of Commerce will start the distribution of this new funding shortly.

Deep Dive: Equity in Home Visiting and ParentChild+

Home visiting and supporting strong families in Washington

Home visiting is a voluntary, proven way to support and strengthen families in the first years of life. Trained home visitors and parents develop a trusting relationship and work together over several years to address prenatal and infant care, child development and parenting skills. It is a multi-generational approach that has the power to positively change the trajectory of an entire family.

Research shows that home visiting programs increase children’s literacy and high school graduation rates, as well as how much parents read to their children. In addition, home visiting programs increase positive birth outcomes for children, improve the likelihood that families have a primary care physician and decrease rates of child abuse and neglect.

Washington state offers nine different home visiting models, each with different outcomes and approaches. Roughly 9,000 families in Washington state participate in home visiting services funded by federal, state, local and private dollars.

Start Early Washington’s home visiting team works in concert with the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) and other public and private funders in the areas of home visiting, family engagement, program implementation and community service coordination. Grounded in a strengths-based approach, our team (many of whom were home visiting program participants AND home visitors themselves) supports home visiting programs statewide with coaching, consultation, training and general professional development to ensure the highest quality of services to families.

What is ParentChild+?

ParentChild+ is one of the home visiting models supported by Start Early Washington. ParentChild+ has been operating in Washington for 16 years, reaching over 1,400 families and 31 family child care (FCC) providers annually through 17 program sites in King, Yakima and Pierce counties. Supported with funding from the United Way of King County, Best Starts for Kids, the City of Seattle, the Stolte Family Foundation and DCYF, ParentChild+ focuses on reaching families living in under resourced communities with culturally relevant, community-based early learning experiences.

ParentChild+ is an evidence-based school readiness model, working directly with parents as well as Family Child Care and Family Friend and Neighbor (FFN) providers, which preempts the opportunity gap by providing young children and their parents with culturally relevant learning tools and skills. The program reaches families where they are, with two different models:

• Core Model: 92 twice-weekly 30-minute home visits to support healthy development and educational success. Local partner sites prioritize hiring community-based early learning specialists who share a linguistic and cultural background with families. Early learning specialists provide families with high quality learning tools to stimulate parent-child interaction, develop language, early literacy, social and emotional skills, connect families to community resources and build school readiness. It’s very common that participants go on to become early learning specialists themselves.
• Family Child Care: The ParentChild+ FCC model is a 24 week program providing twice-weekly visits to participating FCC and FFN providers. It is an innovative professional development and enrichment approach because it takes place in providers’ homes during their workday. Providers can practice new skills with the children in their care in real time, under the mentorship of an early learning specialist.

ParentChild+ and Race Equity

Since its founding 57 years ago, ParentChild+ has aimed to equalize access to quality early childhood education and support to ensure school readiness. As part of its ongoing commitment to advance racial equity in ParentChild+, the following are some values inherent in its approach:

• Carefully choose literature and materials for home visits that portray multiple cultures and match family values. Home visiting professionals hold great power in selecting materials that allow families to celebrate who they are, including cultural norms, skin color, hair texture and so much more.
• Biases shape our worldview. Identify, unpack and address internal and external biases to ensure the highest-quality and most inclusive services to families.
• Support families in speaking their home language. Speaking to children in their home language is a powerful factor in building and retaining secure parent-child attachments. Embedded within this is the value of hiring staff who reflect the families served.

Developing a pipeline of FCC providers through ParentChild+ engagement

Recently, Start Early Washington received a grant from the Department of Commerce to facilitate a partnership with four other organizations to engage in a community planning process to explore the best ways to create a pipeline of potential FCC providers using ParentChild+’s Core Model and FCC Models as the basis for engagement, outreach, training and support.

As a community-based model focused on working with families and FCC providers from diverse communities and matching them with early learning specialists who share their cultural and linguistic heritage, ParentChild+ is uniquely suited to support the development of new, high quality providers in historically underserved communities.

Partners in this project include Atlantic Street Center (ASC), a Seattle-based ParentChild+ provider focused on reaching African American families; Horn of Africa Services (HOAS), an agency focused on serving African immigrant and refugees in Seattle; Child Care Resources (CCR) which, among its other roles, supports FCC providers and the vast Family, Friend and Neighbor Network in King and Pierce counties; and the ParentChild+ National Office which supports the implementation of the ParentChild+ program

The Department of Commerce grant supports a robust community planning process, utilizing this diverse network of partners, to explore the best ways to create a pipeline for FCC providers in historically underserved communities, many of which were already child care deserts pre-COVID-19. This deep partnership is uniquely situated to examine the possibility of building expanded networks of FCC providers from among parents in the community who have already experienced coaching and support on being their children’s first teachers and now are ready to share their knowledge and skills with other children and families in their communities.

The focus of the project is on:

1. Identifying successful ways to build a robust FCC provider pipeline utilizing assets in the community.
2. Building a career path for ParentChild+ parents.
3. Providing much needed child care in under-resourced communities across King County and Washington state.

Have a suggestion for an Interim Deep Dive? We would love to hear it!

Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Trivia

What significance does March 7, 1927 hold in the history of the Washington State Legislature?

That’s a Wrap!

Sine Die. The Latin term Sine Die means “without a day to reconvene” and is used to signify adjournment at the end of a legislative session. Under Washington state’s Sine Die tradition, the doors to each chamber are opened so they can see the other body, the lawmakers line the aisles, and the presiding officers of the Senate and House simultaneously pound their gavels to mark conclusion of another legislative session.

House on Sine Die March 10, 2022
Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Final Budget Compromise Released. On Wednesday, the details of the $64.1 billion operating budget compromise were released prior to affirming votes in the Senate and the House. See our summary of what items were funded in the final budget (this link includes updated information).

The final budget amount came in lower than the House’s proposed $65.2 billion budget and higher than the Senate’s proposed $63.5 billion approach. The final budget includes $800 million in reserves as well as an additional $2.75 billion designated for COVID-19 related or other emergency responses.

Legislative Update. The Senate and House spent the week wrapping up final business, sending a slew of bills to the Governor for signature. Check out Start Early Washington’s bill tracker on our resource page to get the final tally of which bills made it to the Governor’s desk.

An important follow-up item relates to the status of designating pickleball as the state’s official sport. I’m pleased to share that SB 5615 made it through the legislative process and is on its way to the Governor for signature.

Now What?

We’re not quite done yet… While there is an audible sigh of relief after Sine Die, our work is not complete as attention turns to the executive branch, with Governor Inslee and his team beginning the process of reviewing the bills and budget details awaiting his action.

Like with every aspect of the legislative process, there are rules associated with the Governor’s consideration of bills, including the timeline for action dependent upon when a bill reaches the Governor’s desk. Many of these rules were developed for pre-electronic times when official paperwork was physically signed and delivered (and could get lost or misplaced – on accident or perhaps purposefully). At this stage, the Governor generally has 20 days to sign or veto bills once they reach his office. Sundays are not counted in that timeline, but Saturdays and holidays are included.

Governor Inslee’s office maintains a schedule of bill actions on his website where you can track which bills have been acted upon, and which bills are scheduled for signature. We do expect bill signings to continue to be largely virtual affairs this year, but track his website if you are interested in the status of a particular bill.

Election season is coming. 2022 is an election year with every House of Representatives seat and half of the State Senate seats up for election. Additionally, because Secretary of State Steve Hobbs was appointed to complete an unexpired term, the Secretary of State office will be up for election this year. Key dates include the candidate filing deadline of May 20, the primary election Aug. 2 and the general election Nov. 8.

Timing of Future Notes from Olympia. With the conclusion of the legislative session, we will pause the release of weekly updates and move to an “as needed” basis to share information. Expect our next update after the Governor’s action on bills and the budgets.

Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Trivia!

March serves as Women’s History Month. This week’s trivia focuses on Washington state’s first female Governor, Dixy Lee Ray, who served one term from 1977 to 1981. Governor Ray began her career in a non-political field, earning a doctorate from Stanford in what subject area? Bonus points if you know the topic of her dissertation.

Dixy Lee Ray Campaign Poster (1976)
Photo Credit: HistoryLink.org

Highlights of the Week

Capital Gains Tax Ruled Unconstitutional. On March 1, Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber ruled the Capital Gains tax initiated by SB 5096 of 2021 unconstitutional. Intended to provide funding to support the Fair Start for Kids Act and schools, Attorney General Bob Ferguson immediately signaled the state’s plan to appeal. Crosscut ran a great piece summarizing the key issues, the ruling and potential next steps. More to come.

Hurry Up and Wait? With a near solid week of fiscal committee meetings concluding Monday and a quick pivot into marathon Floor sessions Tuesday, those involved in the legislative process had ample time to practice their waiting game. This is the point of the legislative session when scheduled hearings and Floor times become fluid as legislators retreat to caucus to be briefed and discuss bills while lobbyists’ phones fill with texts trying to track it all – “Did the House come back? Are they still in caucus?”

With the clock ticking toward the 5 p.m. deadline today for bills to pass out of the opposite house, interested parties want to ensure their favored bills do not fall through the cracks and instead make it over the finish line. During this week, time is not our friend as there are simply not enough hours in the day to debate and vote on all the outstanding bills. They call the legislative process sausage making for a reason!

Be sure to check out Start Early Washington’s Bill Tracker on our State Policy Resources page for the latest bill information.

More Cars in the Parking Lot. Following the Senate decision last week, the House of Representatives also moved to bring more House members back to the Floor for in-person debates and open their galleries to more observers. The campus is not anywhere close to its normal level of activity, but there are certainly more cars in the lots for these final days.

The House of Representatives Chamber awaits the partial return of members for Floor debate March 1, 2022
Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Saying Goodbye. It is not unusual for lawmakers to announce they do not plan to run for reelection during the short, 60-day session. This year, though, seems to have brought an unprecedented number of retirement announcements, including from some long serving legislators. As we are looking at the calendar for the final days of this session, we can also expect time built in to honor these retiring lawmakers’ legacies.

What’s Up Next?

The Final Sprint. After tonight’s cutoff deadline for bills to pass out of their opposite house, focus will shift to finalizing and approving the supplemental budget and reviewing how bills were changed in the opposite chamber.

Bills that were amended in the opposite body must return to the house of origin for what is called “concurrence.” Concurrence represents the opportunity for the house of origin to affirm changes made in the opposite body. If the house of origin does not agree with the changes made in the opposite body, the bill then goes to “conference” where three members from the Senate (2 Democrats/1 Republican) and three members of the House (2 Democrats/1 Republican) meet in a conference committee to resolve differences, resulting in a conference report. The conference report must then be approved by each body by an up or down vote. Depending on how many bills were amended and how many require conference committee review, this step can eat up quite a bit of time.

We do not know exactly when Senate and House budget conference committee members will release the agreed-upon budget proposal, but I would guess it will likely be public early next week. Both chambers will then approve the agreed-upon budget prior to Sine Die March 10 – again by an up or down vote.

When the final budget is released, we will send out a summary with key details related to early learning.

Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Trivia!

On the East of the Legislative Building sits a tree honoring the late Cal Anderson. What is Cal Anderson’s connection to Washington state history?

Cal Anderson Tree
Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Highlights of the Week

Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Potato Day is Back! During “normal” legislative sessions, nearly every day is some sort of organizational lobby event. From auto dealers to home health care workers to massage therapists, groups converge on the Capitol campus to make their case to lawmakers.

For those working at and around the Capitol, free food days are particularly special. Some Capitol staff and lobbyists live for beef day, while others covet dairy day when free ice cream is distributed. Others cite potato day as their favorite.

After a one-year absence, a modified potato day returned this week on the North side of the Legislative building. On a sunny, but frigid day, the Washington State Potato Commission offered the limited number of people on campus a prepackaged box filled with a baked potato with all the toppings. (Author’s review – my potato was delicious).

Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Next Wednesday is beef day, so I would say things are looking up.

Senate and House Budgets Released. On Monday, the Senate and House released their proposed operating budgets. In addition, the House released its Capital Budget Monday. The Senate’s Operating Budget includes $63 billion in spending while the House’s Operating Budget contains $65 billion.

Both the Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations Committees held public hearings late into Monday evening where they received feedback on their respective approaches. On Wednesday, the committees met again to review and adopt amendments. These amendments (81 in the Senate and 53 in the House) could be technical in nature (cleaning up errors) or requests to include omitted items. We have updated our Early Learning Budget Summary to reflect amendments adopted Wednesday.

For next steps, the Senate and House are expected to debate and vote on their respective budgets over the next couple of days. After that point, budget writers from both bodies will meet via conference committee to reconcile their approaches. They will release a final budget for the Senate and House’s consideration prior to Sine Die March 10.

Legislative Updates

Last Thursday was the cutoff for bills to pass out of policy committees. In advance of this deadline, policy committees held jam-packed hearings to pass out bills from the opposite body. This is another time in the process where some bills do not advance. There are a number of reasons this could happen, including simply not having enough time to work through differences. As we have seen fewer “companion bills” introduced in the past two years (companion bills are Senate and House versions of the same policy), more time is needed to bring legislators in the opposite chamber up to speed on the contents of bills, which is also a factor in some bills stalling.

It is common practice for budget writers to include funding for bills continuing in the process with a fiscal impact. For example, the House budget includes a total of $563,000 to fund the components of 2SHB 1890 (relating to children and youth behavioral health) and the Senate budget contains $489,000 to support SSB 5838 (relating to a monthly diaper subsidy for families participating in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).

Be sure to check out Start Early Washington’s Bill Tracker on our State Policy Resources page for the latest bill information.

What’s Up Next?

We are rapidly approaching Sine Die (adjournment) March 10. It is hard to believe there are less than two weeks left – 60 days go by quickly!

With fiscal cutoff upcoming Monday, we expect another weekend of Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations Committee meetings. The opposite house cutoff is a week from today – Friday, March 4 – so next week will be filled with floor activity. Let’s also not forget negotiations on final budgets will continue as well. While this is another unusual legislative session given its hybrid nature, the realities of imposing deadlines and limited time remains.

One other item to note – beginning today, a limited number of the public will be allowed in the Senate gallery after displaying proof of a negative COVID-19 test. The House is still considering changes to their plans.

As the world shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, countless families were left in crisis. Suddenly, parents were full-time caregivers, employees and teachers; they needed support more than ever. When Gaby Rosario began working as the new Parents as Teachers state leader for Start Early Washington last year, she admired how home visiting programs quickly and effectively adapted to virtual visits to continue meeting the needs of families.

Flexibility is Key

Home visitors strive to build strong relationships with parents and encourage positive parent-child engagement to support healthy child development and future outcomes. One of the most powerful tools they have is connecting with families face to face, but when all in-person services shut down due to the pandemic, physical contact was no longer an option.

“Challenges brought on by the pandemic allowed us to stretch our minds and creatively support home visiting services,” Gaby highlighted. Home visiting programs pivoted to individualized services meeting the unique needs of families from a safe distance. “We shortened check-in periods and checked in more often, utilizing various methods of engagement such as email, text messages and phone calls to support families as they worked through learning and reflection.”

Conducting home visits on a virtual level meant staff had to think outside the box to ensure all the required components for a visit were still in place. Parental engagement unexpectedly increased for many families. “It was deeply meaningful when parents shared videos and pictures of their children thriving with the individualized activities created specifically for them. Gaby shared, “Our relationships with families deepened and it was rewarding to witness the positive parent-child interactions.”

With social distancing precautions in place, home visitors’ roles during visits shifted dramatically. They relied on families to lead parent-child interactions, which brought unexpected benefits as families took on leadership in the learning process. Home visitors leaned into coaching, supporting, answering questions and facilitating rather than leading home visits.

Gaby described, “We saw a new level of enjoyment with families that chose to participate virtually; parents’ confidence in leading individualized activities grew and we saw deeper connections between parents and their children. Parents’ messages of excitement, ‘Look what my child did today!’ were so inspiring.”

Reaching Rural Families

“One of the key things the pandemic taught us was that we could reach families further away through virtual systems.” As an expert in serving families in rural communities, Gaby was determined to partner with her team to harness technology-based services. By offering virtual home visiting services, they managed to overcome the challenges of long-distance travel and access to remote areas in bad weather.

Staff repurposed travel time to spend more time intentionally individualizing services for families. “Without the need to be physically present, home visitors provided more flexibility, accommodating family scheduling constraints or last-minute changes, if necessary,” explained Gaby.

Some families did not have access to technology at all. To meet this challenge, programs developed innovative solutions, including purchasing tablets and providing families with internet and cellphone assistance. Other strategies included scheduling virtual meetings at community agencies or public libraries, where families accessed broadband and technology-based services.

A few families lived in extremely isolated areas. Consequently, home visitors preplanned connections with families when they traveled into town and had access to virtual services. Gaby added, “One family lived deep in the mountains on the outskirts of the small city of Tonasket. When it wasn’t possible to connect in town, staff journeyed into the mountains to drop off activities and make a personal connection, even if that meant they had to share stories from 6 feet apart. We made every effort to ensure families had what they needed during this difficult period of isolation.”

Letting Families Know They’re Heard

Although bilingual resources were available for families, not all programs had home visitors that spoke languages other than English. Fluent in English and Spanish herself, Gaby understood the importance of connecting with families in a language they felt most comfortable. Before the pandemic, programs arranged in-person translation and interpretation or utilized call-in services for interpretation during in-person home visits. However, with social distancing precautions in place, it became necessary to adapt this practice. As a result, programs pivoted to virtual translation and interpretation tools, which took extra planning but were well worth the effort. Staff coordinated within agencies to share translation and interpretation services, and translators provided services over three-way calls or virtual platforms.

Gaby shared, “There was a learning curve as teams and families navigated multiple platforms and new methods of technology. Families tried new things they never thought they would try, and we continued to provide the one-on-one support they needed to feel comfortable.”

The technical support provided by staff did more than help with home visiting services; it offered families a window to the outside world again. Gaby explained, “The assistance we provided for a Spanish-speaking mother living in Brewster gave her confidence to support her three school-age children with their virtual classes. At the time, families did not know what virtual engagement looked like or how to navigate tools like Zoom. Together, we made sure her tablet settings were in Spanish, downloaded useful apps and walked through navigating virtual engagement.”

The world has had to find new ways of navigating everyday life since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and Start Early is no exception.

“One of the most significant things we learned during this new period of virtual-based engagement is that a willingness to be flexible is essential to both the home visiting support teams and families,” Gaby reflected.

Washington’s home visitors continue to work on adaptations needed to meet program requirements. In support, Start Early Washington curated a list of resources for home visitors to guide technology-based engagement.

Gaby Rosario supports professional development, training, technical assistance and coaching for 27 Parents as Teachers home visiting programs statewide.

In partnership with public and private organizations, Start Early Washington supports comprehensive prenatal-to-five learning experiences for children and families statewide with a unique focus on home visiting services. We are thrilled to share what we have been up to:

Home Visiting Highlights

Fostering Relationships Virtually. Building on innovative strategies to maintain relationships in a virtual setting remains a key priority as we navigate home visiting service delivery throughout the ongoing pandemic. Gaby Rosario, Parents as Teachers state leader, shares innovative ways to engage with families virtually. Read more.

Advancing Racial Equity. ParentChild+ is one of the state’s home visiting models supported by Start Early Washington. Last quarter home visiting professionals gathered for a biannual professional development workshop centered in racial equity as part of an ongoing commitment to advance racial equity in this model. Here are a few recommendations they shared for home visiting professionals:

• Carefully choose literature and materials for home visits that portray multiple cultures and match family values. Home visiting professionals hold great power in selecting materials that allow families to celebrate who they are, including cultural norms, skin color, hair texture and so much more!
• Biases shape our worldview. Identify, unpack and address internal and external biases to ensure the highest-quality and most inclusive services to families.
• Support families in speaking their home language. Speaking to children in their home language is a powerful factor in building and retaining secure parent-child attachments.

Approaching Difficult Conversations. Many families are weighed down by stress and anxiety during this complex period of uncertainty. NEAR@Home’s lead facilitator, Quen Zorrah is an expert at approaching difficult conversations with parents, especially during times of trauma. Her blog powerfully highlights how home visitors can repair interactions with families utilizing strategies that lead to authentic and trusting relationships.

Looking for more on respectfully and effectively addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with families? Visit our Near@Home page for additional publications and resources from our experts.

________________________________________________________________________
Visit us at Start Early Washington to learn more about our work.
You can also find us on Twitter @StartEarlyWa.

Photo Credit: Erica Hallock

Trivia!

With George Washington’s Birthday upcoming on Feb. 22, I looked into why our state is named after our country’s first President and learned we were almost named something else. What was the other potential name?

Highlights of the Week

Burning the Midnight Oil. Both the Senate and the House put in long hours of Floor action to meet Tuesday’s deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin. The House went into the early morning hours of Saturday and Sunday and then pulled an all-nighter Monday into Tuesday before adjourning for a few hours of rest after 6 a.m. Tuesday morning.

As you can imagine, when legislators and staff are under tremendous pressure to get through a lengthy list of bills, all on little sleep, tempers can flare. Before the Senate adjourned Saturday, Feb. 12, President Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday, Senate Majority Floor Leader Jamie Pedersen closed Floor action with this appropriate Abraham Lincoln quote, “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”

Revenue Forecast. On Feb. 16, the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council received an updated revenue report from the State’s Economist, Dr. Steve Lerch. Washington’s economy continues to be strong with revenues once again exceeding projections. From Nov. 11, 2021 to Feb. 10, 2022, for example, the state’s revenues were $452 million (or 5.9%) above the November forecast. The major takeaway from the presentation is that the state currently has an approximate $15 billion surplus as a result of new revenue, reserves and one-time federal funding.

On the upside, Washington continues to add new jobs, new COVID-19 cases are declining and retail sales and real estate remain robust, driving the increased revenue. On the downside, high inflation is problematic, worker absence due to illness increased during the Omicron outbreak and supply chain challenges persist.

Notably, this growth is expected to slow after this year and both Senate Ways and Means Chair Christine Rolfes and House Appropriations Chair Timm Ormsby noted this projected slowdown in their remarks, stressing the importance of caution in their budgeting. They both recognized the current surplus is larger than expected and will necessitate adjustments in their budgets. They also cautioned that because they budget over four years, and uncertainty exists in these out-years, particularly due to inflation, they have to use care in making long-term investments. Representative Ormsby also highlighted the need to stabilize the workforce among the state’s service vendors and identified increasing reimbursement rates as a strategy to achieve that goal.

These revenue numbers will be used to inform the Senate and House Operating budgets which will be released, likely early next week.

Caseload Forecast. The Caseload Forecast Council met Friday following the release of Start Early Washington’s last update. In addition to the revenue forecast, the caseload forecast is important information used to finalize the budgets. This forecast looks at expected demand for services such as Medicaid, corrections and K-12. Drops in caseload create savings, and increases create demand for additional investment.

The caseload forecast included updated projections for ECEAP and Working Connections Child Care:

• ECEAP. For State Fiscal Year 2022 (ending June 30, 2022), the Forecast Council projects a caseload of 11,465, which is down 382 children, or 3.2%. For state Fiscal Year 2023 (ending June 30, 2023), they expect caseload will remain as projected at 14,890.
• Working Connections. For State Fiscal Year 2022, the council projects a caseload of 20,750, down 852 families, or 3.9%. For State Fiscal Year 2023, they project a caseload of 26,104, down 783 families, or 2.9%.

For both programs, COVID-19 creates the greatest uncertainty to the forecast. Questions impacting the caseload include whether a COVID-19 vaccine will be available for young children and how future outbreaks will be contained. Additionally, for ECEAP, the current caseload is below 2019-2020 levels and for Working Connections, COVID-19 has led to reduced entries and increased exits of children from the program.

Legislative Updates

As the legislative session continues to advance, the number of bills still “alive” continues to decline after each cutoff. For example, Representative Klippert’s SHB 2082 relating to a statewide assessment of child care access for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities is considered “dead” because it was not passed out of the House by the Feb. 15 cutoff.

After days (and nights!) of lengthy floor sessions, attention returned to committee activity bright and early on Feb. 16, with the next cutoff for bills to be passed out of the opposite house policy committee quickly approaching Feb. 24. With the fiscal committee cutoff for bills in the opposite chamber following on Feb. 28, expect marathon policy and fiscal committees over the next 10 days to meet the deadlines.

Also, check out Start Early Washington’s bill tracker at the top of our Start Early Washington State Resources page for the latest information.

What’s Up Next?

Back to Budgets. With the caseload and revenue forecast releases, the House and Senate are expected to release their respective operating budgets by early next week. The Senate Ways and Means Committee has a Monday, 4 p.m. public hearing scheduled to receive feedback on their budget. The House Appropriations Committee has a Monday, 3:30 p.m. public hearing on the books. The actual release of both budgets is unknown as of this writing. Stay tuned for a summary after the release of the budgets, capturing all the major highlights.

While the Operating budget often receives much of the attention, the Legislature frequently passes three budgets – Operating, Capital and Transportation. The Senate released its proposed Capital budget this week. We will include more detail in the addendum to be released after the Operating budgets come out, but we can flag that the Senate Capital budget contains funding for early learning facilities. Specifically, it includes $31.5 million from a mix of one-time federal funding and state bonds for early learning facility grants ($25.3 million for competitive grants and $6.2 million for designated projects) as well as $18.5 million in one-time federal funding for minor renovation grants. Notably, this was a bipartisan Capital budget, with the two Democratic and two Republican leads listed as sponsors. As of this writing, the House Capital budget has not been released.

And, as noted in our last update, the proposed Transportation budget was released last week. The revenue bill, which outlines the funding sources for the transportation proposal, was the final bill debated in the Senate before the 5 p.m. house of origin cutoff. As one would expect, a hearty debate ensued, including a request for a ruling from the Senate President about the bill’s title. In the end, the revenue bill passed 29-20.

Photo Credit: Erica Hallock (Feb. 8, 2022)

Trivia!

Senator John Lovick (D-44th District, Mill Creek), the first Black man to serve in the State Senate since former Senator George Flemming in 1991, passed his first Senate bill Feb. 2. What was the bill’s subject?

Highlights of the Week

Fiscal Cutoff. Monday was the deadline for bills to pass out of their respective fiscal committee. Both the Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations Committee finished up just before 9 p.m. that day. The Senate Ways and Means Committee had the longer agenda with 73 bills scheduled for executive session, and the House Appropriations Committee had just 30 bills in executive session and 5 bills on their public hearing schedule.

Part of the reason the House Appropriations Committee took about the same time for a much shorter agenda was the time spent debating two bills – one to extend collective bargaining to legislative staff and another related to creating “middle housing” near transit and in areas typically dedicated to single-family housing. These lengthy debates provided a bit of a preview of bills that will take a lot of time when they get to the Floor.

“Semi In-Person” Floor Action. After the fiscal cutoff on Monday, action quickly pivoted to Floor activity with the deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin of Feb. 15. This phase in the process coincided with the decision to allow more legislators to return to in-person Floor activity. The Senate now allows up to 30 members on the Floor, after a negative COVID-19 test, and the House increased the number of their members in-person to 20, requiring that all in-person legislators be vaccinated, boosted and masked.

Right as the Senate was beginning an intense period of Floor activity, Lt. Governor (and Senate President) Denny Heck announced a breakthrough COVID-19 case. Fortunately, Lt. Governor Heck is asymptomatic, and Senator Lovick, having served as Speaker Pro Tem during his time in the House of Representatives, smoothly transitioned and presided over much of the Senate Floor activity.

Transportation Budget Released. On Tuesday, Senate and House Democrats released a $16.8 billion transportation package titled “Move Ahead Washington.” You may ask, why I am including an update about a Transportation Budget in a newsletter focused on early learning? There are a few reasons. First, everything in Olympia is interrelated and actions in one area influence others. But the main reason I am including this here is because this Transportation Budget assumes a transfer of $2 billion from the Operating Budget, an unusual move.

A couple of other takeaways – the proposed Transportation Budget does not include a gas tax increase, contains a number of initiatives focused on active transportation (e.g., Safe Routes to Schools) and transit (e.g., free public transit for all youth). Of course, the proposal includes a number of infrastructure investments throughout the state – a chicken in every pot approach.

Legislative Updates

What’s Still Moving? Be sure to check out Start Early Washington’s Bill Tracker on our State Policy Resources page for the latest information on bills. After the fiscal cutoff earlier this week, many early learning related bills are “dead”. A few bills still moving include:

2SSB 5793 – Compensation for Lived Experience. The Senate Ways and Means Committee approved 2SSB 5793 Monday which seeks to provide authority and structure for compensating people with lived experience, who are not otherwise compensated for their participation, to participate in state workgroups, advisory groups, etc. up to $200 a day. The committee approved a substitute bill by making the following additions/clarifications:

• Directs the Director of the Office of Financial Management to decide “reasonable allowances” for child and adult care reimbursement for individuals attending meetings or doing work approved by the chair;
• Requires state agencies to minimize the impacts of stipends and reimbursement on public assistance benefits to the greatest extent possible;
• Extends the provisions to advisory groups to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and
• Authorizes for lodging and travel reimbursement when an individual is attending a meeting or official duties approved by the chair if the agency decides participation is desirable to implement principles of equity.

The bill passed off the Senate Floor on a 31-18 vote Feb. 10.

 SHB 2082 – Child Care Access. SHB 2082 directs the Department of Children, Youth and Families to conduct a statewide assessment of child care access for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities, to better understand the availability, affordability and accessibility of care that meets the needs of families. This assessment should then inform recommendations that are due by June 30, 2023. It is now on the House floor awaiting consideration.

SSB 5838 – Diaper Subsidy. SSB 5838 would provide a diaper subsidy for families participating in TANF. The House companion, SHB 1947, did not advance past cutoff, so the Senate bill will be the vehicle. The bill passed the Senate Floor on a 48-1 vote Feb. 10.

2SHB 1890 – Children and Youth Behavioral Health Workgroup. 2SHB 1890 would create a strategic plan advisory group under the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Workgroup. It would also allow for stipends of up to $200 per day for workgroup members with lived experience. The bill passed out of the House on a 87-7 vote Feb. 10 and is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Behavioral Health Subcommittee to Health & Long Term Care Feb. 15 at 8 a.m.

What’s Up Next?

Timing for Remainder of Session. Short sessions always move quickly, and the next 27 days will move particularly fast. Following is an outline of key dates ahead:

Feb. 15 – deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin (e.g., House bills pass out of the House and Senate bills pass out of the Senate)

Feb. 16 – State Revenue Forecast (this information will inform budgets)

Feb. 24 – deadline for bills to pass out of policy committees of the opposite house

Feb. 28 – deadline for bills to pass out of fiscal committees of the opposite house

March 4 – deadline for bills to pass out of the opposite house

March 10 – Sine Die (Adjournment)

March 11 – Breathe!

Early Learning Facilities Funding Opportunity. On Feb. 28 from 12:30 – 2 p.m., the Department of Commerce will host a webinar providing information about a new round of Early Learning Facilities Funding designed to support minor renovations and small capital purchases. Please note programs do not need to add capacity to qualify for this round of funding. REGISTER NOW.

Photo credit: Erica Hallock

Trivia!

Who was the first Black woman elected to the Washington State Legislature?

Highlights of the Week

Paid Family and Medical Leave. In a Jan. 18 work session to the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Employment Security Department staff provided an overview of cash-flow challenges facing the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program.

Funded by a combination of employer and employee contributions, the program began January 2020, providing 12 weeks paid time off to bond with a new child or address a serious medical condition of a worker or worker’s family member. To date, more than 37% of applications have been for bonding with a new child; just over 50% for addressing an individual’s medical condition; and 12% for caring for a family member with a serious medical condition.

The program launched right before COVID-19 hit and applications have far exceeded projections, creating a fund deficit beginning as early as March or April 2022. At this time, it is unclear the extent to which the pandemic spiked demand and how projections may need to be adjusted going forward.

For now, budget writers are being briefed on the issue to ensure they allocate sufficient funding to keep the Fund solvent and allow for the continuation of paid leave. Current estimates range from a budget shortfall of $110 million to $405 million.

Fair Start for Kids Act Work Session. On Feb. 2, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee held a work session that led with an overview of the implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act to date.

DCYF Assistant Secretary Nicole Rose delivered the agency’s presentation, which included data points updated from a similar work session held in the House Children, Youth and Families Committee last month. Updated information included:

• Child Care Stabilization Grants. As of Jan. 31, DCYF approved 4,872 stabilization grants, representing nearly $288.5 million to stabilize the child care sector.
• ECEAP Expansion. Funding is available for 750 expansion slots in the 2022-23 school year. DCYF received applications totaling 1,358 slots, with the requests breaking down as follows: 214 part-day, 948 school-day and 196 working-day.
• Working Connections Child Care Expansions. After income eligibility rose to 60% of State Median Income Oct. 1 and co-payment amounts dropped, DCYF estimates 2300 new families will be eligible. Roughly 300 families have enrolled to date.
• Home Visiting Expansion. DCYF received $2.6 million in requests from 14 programs for $1.3 million in available funding.
• Early Learning Facilities Fund. More than 140 applications were received totaling $73 million, far exceeding the $22 million included in the Capital Budget.

Assistant Secretary Rose emphasized the workforce challenges facing all sectors of early learning. Staffing limitations in early learning are exacerbated by chronically low compensation and the spread of the Omicron variant which is particularly impacting child care and ECEAP classrooms.

With regard to ECEAP, Assistant Secretary Rose noted the higher demand for school and work-day slots compared to part-day slots. She noted that programs requested to return/convert about 300 part-day slots due to low demand. Senator Claire Wilson reiterated that part-day slots meet very few families’ needs, and this reality should be considered in expansion planning.

WSIPP Study on ECEAP. The Washington State Institute of Public Policy (WSIPP) released a January 2022 evaluation of ECEAP and its impact on kindergarten readiness for part- and school-day enrollees. This evaluation resulted from 2019 legislation which required WSIPP to look at ECEAP dosage models (e.g., the comparative impacts of part-day and school-day programs).

Start Early Washington’s Jess Galvez wrote the following summary of the evaluation. Thanks, Jess!

The evaluation examines the relationship between school-day and part-day ECAEP model enrollment and child outcomes. Overall, children exposed to more hours of high-quality early learning programs are more likely to be kindergarten-ready than children attending part-day classes. Specifically, WSIPP notes, … “children in school-day [models] are 15% more likely (on average) to achieve proficiency in all six WaKIDS domains, relative to children attending part-day [models].”

Further, the report’s main analysis indicates a positive relationship between school-day enrollment and kindergarten readiness for non-Hispanic children. However, additional subgroup analyses suggest a significant relationship between school-day enrollment and kindergarten readiness for non-Hispanic BIPOC and white children.

Legislative Updates

The short, 60-day legislative sessions are truly a sprint with one cut-off (deadline) quickly followed by another. Thursday, we saw policy committee cut-off, the deadline for bills to pass out of policy committees. This then pivots to focus on fiscal committees with fiscal committee cut-off scheduled for Monday, Feb. 7. We will see marathon meetings of the Senate Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees prior to that Monday deadline. This includes an anticipated full day of Saturday meetings.

Following the fiscal committee cut-off, attention will shift to Floor activity in both chambers, with the deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin by Feb. 15. Legislative leaders are watching the COVID-19 caseload numbers closely, and we may see more legislators in-person for Floor activity during this period.

New Length for the Legislative Session? At times, bills are introduced that make me think lawmakers want to ensure we are paying attention. On Jan. 31, Reps. Volz and Walsh introduced HB 2109 which would change the timing of legislative sessions in odd-numbered years from 105 days to ONE (1) day. I assume this bill is intended to make a statement.

Updated Bill Tracker. Don’t forget, Start Early Washington’s bill tracker is available on our website. Because bills are never really “dead” until Sine Die, we created a separate section of the chart for bills that did not advance by the deadlines – in case they get a second life in the process.