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Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R)

FY ‘13 Contract Renewal Discussion

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History of CCR&Rs in Massachusetts In the 1970s Massachusetts was one of the first states to

develop information and referral services to support working families needing to find child care for their children. They tracked supply and demand data and worked with both the child care providers and the state to improve quality and access for all families.

Throughout those early years and into the mid-1990s, the core child care resource and referral services were:

Consumer education including information and referral, Training and technical assistance for providers, Resource development, Data collection and analyses, and Policy and advocacy.

Source: The CAYL Institute Child Care Resource and Referral Study Circle Project May 2011

History of CCR&Rs in MassachusettsIn the 1980s, two major changes took place that

impacted the child care resource and referral field in Massachusetts: First: The state merged CCR&Rs with Voucher

Management Agencies (VMAs). Second: Employer-supported resource and

referral services expanded across the country via Work Family Directions.

Both were a mixed blessing for the CCR&Rs. Many benefited from the contract dollars with corporations and served a wide array of working families. Simultaneously, voucher management began to shift the role of the CCR&Rs by expanding their focus to serving primarily the lowest income families and managing vouchers.

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Source: The CAYL Institute Child Care Resource and Referral Study Circle Project May 2011

In the mid-1990s:With the passing of welfare reform at both at

the state and then federal levels, the CCR&Rs voucher management role expanded, becoming almost their sole focus.

Simultaneously, Work Family Directions pulled back many of the contracts that had once provided private funding to the agencies, making the agencies’ resources very tight for supporting moderate income working families.

In 2009 CCR&RRs lost $ in 9c funding cuts.

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Source:The CAYL Institute Child Care Resource and Referral Study Circle Project May 2011

History of CCR&Rs in Massachusetts

CCR&Rs Today

In 2009, the CCR&R contract was put out to bid resulting in the three-year contracts that began on 7/1/10.

As a result of the bid, the number of CCR&Rs decreased from 14 to 11.

A new contracting structure was put in place with contract for 3 levels:Level 1: Voucher ManagementLevel 2: Information and ReferralLevel 3: State-wide consumer

information

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CCR&Rs Today

The breakdown in levels of service offered is the following:

3 CCR&Rs offer Level One only (Voucher Management)

2 CCR&Rs offer only Level Two (Information and Referral)

6 CCR&Rs offer Level One and Two combined

2 CCR&Rs also offer Level 3 (Enhanced Consumer Education.)

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Overlap with other EEC Funding:

Of the 11 CCR&Rs:2 Are the Lead CFCE Grantee• 2 Subcontract with a local CFCE

3 are the lead EPS grantee• 6 are members of the EPS Network

Team in their region (2 have subcontracts.)

0 are affiliated with a parent agency that also receives the EC Mental Health grant.

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FY 11 ARRA Funding In FY 11 CCR&Rs received $561K in ARRA funding to

support: the transition to their new contracts, Implementation of efficiencies, and enrolling children in ARRA funded initiatives.

CCR&Rs used these funds:To fund 22 FTEs to fill gaps in staffing,Pay for overtime to handle ARRA intake,For the addition of new telephone lines, updated

websites and scheduling software.

With the termination of these funds many CCR&Rs have returned to lower staff levels.

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CCR&R

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Contract Requirements include:

Level One: Subsidy Management: Voucher Management: Determine family

eligibility for entry and renewal of services per EEC Subsidy Policy.

Family Support: Meet with families to begin/renew child care subsidy.

Collaboration: with other agencies to support enrollment/continuation of eligible services.

Documentation/recording required: Billing and Provider ReimbursementProvider Monitoring

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CCR&Rs and Voucher Management:

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*These numbers represent the volume of new (blue) and reassessed (red) vouchers written state-wide each month. These numbers do not capture no-show appointments or appointments held for vouchers not written due to insufficient documentation. Source: CCIMS

CCR&Rs and Voucher Management:

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Standard Deviation: DSS: 2 ; DTA: 136; Income Eligible: 221; ARRA: 66 Grand Total: 318Avg. = Average (9/10 – 10/11) *September 2009 New Voucher Placement number was 1,736 *October 2009 New Voucher Placement number was 982 Source: CCIMS

Information and Referral Services Level One: For subsidized families, Level Two: all families

Respond to inquiries regarding options for early education and care services.

Needs assessment: Act as a resource for identifying family needs,

determining appropriate community resources and referring families to the appropriate services.

Information and referral service provision, allowed options for implementation: Web-based, State-wide telephone coverage, Face-to-face Services, Partnerships with other agencies (TANF, DTA, DCF,

DPH/EI.) Other: Brochures, flyers, booklets, faxes, yellow

pages, radio, tv, web videos, etc.15

Contract Requirements include:

Level Three: Enhanced Consumer Education. Provide innovative communication models for state-wide dissemination of relevant info to families regarding early education and care, its importance for their children and their role as their children’s first educators.

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FY ‘11 CCR&R Contract Performance Data

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Number of outpost locations: 29 Number of families that received a Level Two

referral: 16, 244 Ave number of appointments held per week

during traditional hours: 1,333 Ave wait time to get an appointment: 1 week Number of languages other than English spoken

by CCR&R staff: 17 Number of families that received an Orientation

to in-home/relative care: 821 Ave Caseload per voucher counselor: 676 Percent NACCRA Quality Assured 60%

FY’12 First Quarter Reports:

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Activity FY 12 Plan

FY12 Actual

Balance

Outpost Locations 29 29 On target

Goal for average wait time 4 days 5 days Over target by average of 1 day

Number of families to receive a referral

10,809 2,360 22% of goal met in first quarter

Ave Caseload per voucher Counselor 795 868 Above target by average of 84 cases

Total new voucher agreements to be signed

458 125 27% of target met in first quarter

Number families to receive in-home/relative orientation

746 192 26% of target met in first quarter

Total number of families to receive a level 2 referral

16,510 2,820 17% of target met in first quarter

FY12 First Quarter Report, Level 3:

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Resources Made Available: Number of Items

Number of Individuals Reached

CCR&R website http://machildcareresourcesonline.org/

113,062 visitors

Tweets sent 17Facebook posts 54 6,175Events listed 83 5,570Resources distributed (newsletters & brochures)

9 49,875

Parent resources accessedWebinars 4 2,147Training videos 6Resource links 32Provider resources accessedWebinars 5 2,214Training clips 7Resource links 24

National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA)

In November 2011, EEC contracted with NACCRA to build upon the CAYL report and EEC’s Strategic Plan to develop a plan for the improvement of CCR&R services in Massachusetts.

The PROCESS underway includes: Oct: Reviewed documents provided by EEC (CAYL

Study, EEC Race to the Top submission, Head Start Survey Report, etc)

Nov: Focus groups held with parents, providers, CCR&R staff, MASS 211, MADCA

Reviewed CCR&R best practice nation wide Nov. /Early Dec. – Draft findings and initial

recommendations to EEC Presentation to EEC Board 12/13/11 Final report to EEC Jan 2012.

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NACCRRA Plan for Massachusetts Initial findings to date:

CCR&R agencies in Massachusetts do not meet national definition for service delivery and best practice standards for CCR&R,

Recruitment, training, professional development and oversight of child care providers is fragmented,

No standard definitions and measurable outcomes for services offered,

Voucher Management is labor intensive, paper laden and vulnerable to fraud,

Massachusetts is lagging behind in the use of technology in all areas of service delivery,

Access to family services for ALL families is confusing and disjointed,

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NACCRRA Plan for Massachusetts Preliminary Recommendations

Adopt NACCRRA’s definition of CCR&R: • An organization whose stated purpose includes delivery of

information-based services to families, child care providers and the community.

• Organizations that provide services to only one of the target areas, but are part of a formal system of organizations that together provide all of the services to meet the definition of a CCR&R.

• The core services include at a minimum:• Supporting all families;• Active operation of referral and consumer education services;• Supporting professional development;• Increasing the availability, affordability and quality of child care;• Supporting development of policies on family and children’s issues; • Generating additional resources;• Maintaining a high quality comprehensive database for the effective

delivery of core services.

Currently, CCR&Rs in MA perform some, but not all of these functions. 22

NACCRA Plan for Massachusetts Preliminary Recommendations

Adopt a managing network model through a competitive bid process. The selected agency should be centrally located, have the capacity to manage multiple projects, manage statewide data bases and use technology such as social media. It must also have a solid governance structure that does not include agencies or personnel with a clear conflict of interest.

Consolidate all information and referral activities for all families through a single statewide call center and web-site.

Ensure selected agency becomes Quality Assured

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CCR&RManaging Network Office

State Child Care

Administrator

Regional/local CCR&R office

Regional/local CCR&R office

Regional/local CCR&R office

Regional/local CCR&R office

Regional/local CCR&R office

Regional/local CCR&R office

Managing Network Office Functions:-Primary Liaison with State ECE

-Manage and distribute CCR&R funding for the State Child Care Administrator-Determine the range of services local

CCR&Rs should provide-Develop and carry out contracts

-Consolidate all information and referral activities

-Track CCR&Rs’ performance through evaluation and quality assurance

activities – single statewide call center and web-site

-Manage subsidy administration-All agencies must be Quality Assured

Regional/Local CCR&R Office Functions:

-Training-Provider Support Services

-Provider Database-QRIS Implementation:

-on-site technical assistance

NACCRRA Plan for Massachusetts Preliminary Recommendations

Create a single state-wide, web-based database of all early care and education programs including child care, pre-k and Head Start programs.

Adopt a web-based subsidy management system that allows both parent and child care providers to input and update data on-line and allows them to track the status of their applications and other relevant information.

Establish a single web-based training and technical assistance tracking system that shares data with the state professional registry and allows for transfer of training within the state.

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NACCRRA Plan for Massachusetts

Next steps:

Draft report and briefing to EEC for first review by Dec 23.

EEC to review draft report and provide comments to NACCRRA by Dec 29.

Final report to EEC for Jan Board meeting by Jan 5.

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Meanwhile, Changes are Underway:Within their current contract, CCR&Rs have

agreed to: Become NACCRA Quality Assured. All Level 2 CCR&Rs

are currently in the Self-Study process. Support role-out of the voucher management pilot and

subsequent expansion. Increase their role in informing families and programs

about the value of the QRIS. Increase Level 3 outputs. Update and streamline the process for monitoring

voucher providers. Enhance use of technology as possible with current

funding. Collaborate with MASS211 in delivery of information and

referral services. Develop a state-wide Advisory with broad representation.

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Contract Renewal/Rebid Issues for Consideration:

If implementation of NACCRRA recommendations represent a substantial change to current CCR&R contracts, rebidding may be required.

If rebid, EEC will need to purchase a redefined level of service and consider the CCR&R relationship to other grants.

Geography and integration with other funding sources will need consideration.

The impact on families and their needed access to subsidy must be kept in mind as any transition to a new system unfolds.

EEC may consider roll-out of changes in stages. A process for informing and gathering feedback from the

field will be developed.

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