First Things First Meeting Summaries

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The Arizona School Boards Association was an early supporter of the 2006 campaign to establish First Things First, a state-level board focused on creating positive outcomes related to quality early childhood development and health. ASBA's involvement with the First Things First initiative directly supports the association's Political Agenda, which, under Advocacy for Children, calls for ASBA to "support legislation or initiatives that will fund programs for children and their families." This position has had a long-standing place as one of ASBA's Top Ten Priorities, as determined by membership. We hope that you will find the information and our involvement helpful.

ASBA summary of the most recent meeting of the First Things First board:

December 8, 2009

MEMBERS PRESENT: Steve Lynn, Chair; Nadine Mathis Basha; Dr. Pamela Powell, Arturo Gonzalez; Amy Corriveau, Ex-Officio Member; Vivian Saunders; Dr. Eugene Thompson; Hon Cecil Patterson.

CONSENT AGENDA The Board approved the following in one motion:

Approved government agreements, procurement awards and amendments to statewide grant agreements for the Regional Partnership Councils. Approval included $270,000 for Statewide Initiatives (expansion of Quality First! And Child Care Health Consultations) and $2,763,100 for Regional Councils expanding access and affordability of early care and education through scholarships.
Received an update on federal budget issues and grants (including Race to the Top application status, Early Learning Challenge Fund, and the Education Begins at Home Act of 2009).
Received an update on Statewide Initiatives (including Quality First, TEACH Arizona, Child Care Health Consultation, Arizona Parent Kits, Health Insurance Outreach, FTF Professional REWARD$ and the Arizona Kith and Kin Project).
Received an update on Emergency Child Care Scholarships; almost $19 million of the $23.5 million invested in the Scholarships has been spent by 25 participating regions.
Approved the submitted new and revised strategies from the Regional Partnership Councils for FY 2010.
Received an update of the needs and assets report from the Regional Councils.
Received an update from the Home Visiting Task Force regarding its meeting plan and purpose. The Task Force will focus on creating a statewide plan for home visiting services in Arizona.
Received an update on the Early Learning Challenge Fund. The Fund is focused on promoting standards reform of early learning programs serving children from birth to age 5. FTF is working to secure the grant opportunity.
Received a communications update. FTF is working on a campaign to increase public awareness of the importance of early childhood. In pursuit of this objective, the communications staff is working with an external communications consultant and plan to develop new media policy and protocols by the end of December. In January, statewide focus groups are planned to develop messaging, with message testing to begin in March.

BOARD MEMBER REPORT/UPDATES

Member Corriveau reported her attendance at the opening of the Chino Valley Head Start.

DISCUSSION AND ELECTION OF NEW VICE CHAIR

Vice Chair Rhian Evans Allvin resigned from the Board and Dr. Eugene Thompson was elected Vice Chair.

CALL TO THE PUBLIC

None.

REGIONAL FUNDING PLANS

The Board approved the following Regional Councils' FY 2011 funding plans:

Cochise Regional ($2,678,130 allocation): includes home visitation programs, retention of Speech and Occupational Therapists, and child health and nutrition outreach.
Northeast Maricopa Regional ($3,175,131): includes newborn intervention and family support, pre-K scholarships, mental health consultations.
North Phoenix Regional ($10,137,299): includes Quality First, family literacy, oral, vision and hearing screening, community based training for early education professionals.
Gila River Indian Community Regional ($879,301): includes home visiting, parent education, native language early literacy, summer transition to Kindergarten.
Coconino Regional ($1,953,272): includes oral health, Havasupai home visitation, Quality First, Kaibab Paiute home visitation.
White Mountain Apache Tribe Regional ($737,281): includes parent coaching for parent/guardians of children at risk for developmental delay, increasing affordability of center-based child care for working families, increasing public awareness about early childhood development and health.
Graham/Greenlee Regional ($731,985): includes early childhood literacy project, home visitation, food assistance and nutrition and oral health.
San Carlos Apache Regional ($569,167): includes Apache parent curriculum, career recruitment campaign, mobile screenings, Apache language/culture preservation program.
Hualapai Tribe Regional ($130,872): includes maternal child health, T.E.A.C.H., child care and education center, parent kits.
La Paz/Mohave Regional ($3,955,341): includes Quality First, Pre-K expansion, preventative health outreach and screening, court teams for maltreated infants and toddlers, cross-regional education campaign.
Cocopah Tribe Regional ($87,686): includes comprehensive family support, community awareness, nutrition and food assistance.
Colorado River Indian Tribes Regional ($229,006): includes early literacy enhancement, therapist incentives, cross region communications campaign.

FUNDING PLAN GUIDANCE REVISION

Ms. Michelle Katona presented the proposed revision to the FTF Funding Plan regarding construction and purchases of real property. The language includes a requirement that Regional Councils must show a strong justification of the need for funded construction or real property purchases in the community and demonstration of how the projects will enhance the quality of care as well as accessibility to care for children 5 and under.

STATEWIDE NEEDS AND ASSETS REPORT

The Board approved the Statewide Needs and Assets report presented by Dr. Amy Kemp.

SYSTEM BUILDING

The Board discussed the proposed Statewide Affordability and Accessibility Strategies. The Board reviewed three currently funded strategies and new potential short and long-term strategies:

Quality First: $5,916,800 awarded at the state level for FY 2010. The program is FTF's quality improvement and rating system which allows for increased quality in child care providers but has experienced unanticipated technical and implementation challenges.
Child Care Scholarships: $22,568,536 in FY 2010 Emergency Regional. The Scholarships support families earning less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level to pay for a large portion of the costs of child care but are expensive to implement continuously.
Quality Stipends: $304,000 FY 2010 Regional. The Stipends allow families to access a higher level of quality early care and education but may be confusing for providers and parents when compared to the Scholarships.
Quality Stimulus Bonus: Provide additional funds to help Early Childhood Education Programs improve access and affordability for families and maintain and improve quality.
Child Care Classroom Enhancement Grant: Individual childcare classrooms would receive significant funding to enhance quality and become a model classroom.
Tax Credits: A variety of different tax credit strategies exist in other states that benefit targeted entities including parents, providers, staff and businesses.
Micro Lending: Collaboration of several lending institutions to provide operational support in the form of loans to providers that supports quality improvements.
Centralized Services: Include activities such as group purchasing for office supplies, food and equipment, insurance, payroll and other administrative services.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Director Hibbs reported his intention to sign a letter of support on behalf of FTF for the Early Learning Support Fund. In addition, Director Hibbs commented on current negotiations regarding the lease for FTF office space.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

The Board convened in Executive Session to discuss personnel items regarding possible interview and appointment of the Executive Director. The Board appointed Rhian Evans Allvin as the new Executive Director for FTF

Next meeting of the First Things First Board will be Tuesday January 26, 2010 in Phoenix.