Welcome to the Washington State Association of Head Start and the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program
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The Washington State Association of Head Start & ECEAP (WSA) is a non profit organization composed of representatives from Head Start, Early Head Start, Migrant Head Start, Native American Head Start and the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP).WSA provides high quality training and advocates for the children, families, staff and friends of Head Start and ECEAP programs throughout the state of Washington. |
ECEAP Waitlists Up 263% in Last Two YearsWSA issued a news release today that highlights the huge increase in the need for ECEAP services during this economic downturn, and calls for the Legislature to protect ECEAP funding in this year's budget. DEL reported last week that there are 3,540 children on ECEAP waiting lists, unable to enroll due to limited funding. In December 2007, before the economic downturn, we had just 1,346 children waiting to get into ECEAP – this means an incredible 263% increase in just two years.
Where are things right now? The fate of ECEAP children now heads to the House and Senate Ways and Means Committee which will put together their own budget proposals in the next few weeks. While we were pleased that the Governor’s latest budget proposal would not cut ECEAP, we do know that ECEAP continues to be on the chopping block due to the current dismal budget situation plaguing our state. Click here to find your legislators, and call or send them an email in support of ECEAP funding! WSA Winter Meeting Registration/ Board Openings / Nominations for Excellence AwardsOur annual WSA Winter Meeting and Advocacy Day are coming up in February. Here are the details, and the agenda will follow:
Advocacy Day is February 18, 2009 - Make your appointments with your legislators now! Click here for flyer, and here's the schedule: 10-11:30am Advocacy Training at the Olympia Red Lion 11:30-2:30 Meet with your legislators - Make your appointments now! 2:30-3:00pm Rally on the Capitol Steps - WEAR RED! Lunches are $10 each - let Katy know by 2/11/10 how many are coming from your program. For more information call Katy at 253-373-9100. Board Positions Open We also have several board positions open, that will be elected at the Winter Meeting:
Position Info here / Application here (word docs) Nominations for WSA Excellence Awards At the 2009-2010 WSA Winter Meeting (February 17-19 in Olympia) we will be presenting awards to members of the Head Start and ECEAP community who accomplished great things in 2009. WSA parents, staff, and directors do amazing things within their programs, communities, and in advocating with their elected officials and beyond. We want to recognize folks who make have made a significant contribution to children and families, whether it is through hard work and enthusiasm, innovation, leadership, or just all-around excellence. We need your help in identifying deserving recipients for these WSA Excellence Awards in the following categories: • Parent Excellence Award All are invited to make nominations, and the form is here. If you have any questions, please call (or email) Katy at 253-373-9100. Region X Head Start Association Conference Registration OpenThe annual Region X Head Start Association Conference will be held in Portland this year, and they have a great agenda! Here are the details:
Governor's All-Cuts Budget Devastating for ChildrenOn Wednesday Dec. 9th Governor Gregoire released her all-cuts version of the 2009-11 supplemental budget, and it is devastating for children and families. The Governor does not support this budget – she will be releasing another version of her budget proposal in early January that reduces many of these cuts and includes revenue from various sources, but we do not have any details of what that might include yet. Among the cuts would be elimination of all 3-year olds from ECEAP (a 20% cut) and a cut of 63% of families entering the Working Connections Child Care program every month. For more information, see our brief legislative update. Webinars coming up in January - Foster Care & AutismWe're kicking off our 2010 WSTC webinars with two great topics - foster care and autism. This is a great opportunity to learn from experts on issues that are more and more prevalent in ECEAP and Head Start/EHS programs, without leaving the comfort of your own office! We're particularly happy to be able to partner with Casey Family Programs for the 'Understanding the Needs of Children in the Foster Care System' webinar on January 15th. They have done great work in this area, as has our trainer, Tracy Flynn. On January 29 and February 5th Diane Davis will be doing a 2-part webinar on Understanding and Meeting the Needs of Children with Autism. CEUs, Clock Hours, and STARS will be available at an additional fee. For more information about these trainings, go to our Events & Training Page.
ECEAP Waiting Lists at Record Highs - WSA calls for Gov. Gregoire to protect ECEAP in budgetDepartment of Early Learning has just released their data on waiting lists for ECEAP programs, and sadly we are seeing huge increases in demand. As more and more families lose jobs and live in poverty, the need for ECEAP has never been greater. WSA has called for Gov. Gregoire to protect ECEAP and the families it serves during this very difficult time. Right now, there are 3,294 3- and 4-year-old low income children waiting for a chance to get into ECEAP, but they cannot enroll due to the state budget crisis. These new numbers are more than 50 percent higher than at the same point last year. For more information and some specific waitlist information from programs around the state, click on the news release below. ECEAP in the news - Poverty increasing, Governor's budget being developedAs poverty increases in Washington, WSA is encouraging Governor Gregoire to protect ECEAP funding in her 2009-2011 supplemental budget proposal. ECEAP is often the only safety net for the most vulnerable families in our state, and we're seeing increased levels of need:
KIRO-TV ran a great story about ECEAP funding and this increased need for services: Click here for the WSA News Release. Leadership Development Opportunities for Parents and StaffThere are two great leadership opportunities available through WSA/WSTC for 2010, one for staff and one for parents. These are intensive, highly successful year-long programs that require a real commitment from participants, and have shown amazing results. Both are competitive application processes, so get your applications in for 2010! WSA Parent Ambassadors The WSA Parent Ambassador Program was made possible from a generous grant
Collaborative Leadership Institute The Collaborative Leadership Institute (CLI) is a 10-month leadership development program sponsored by the Department of Early Learning and other partners for emerging early learning leaders in Washington, and it includes participants from all areas of early learning including Department of Early Learning, Head Start/EHS/MS/AIAN, ECEAP, Out of School Programs; Resource and Referral Network, child care centers/homes; health; schools & ESDs; and at-large including parent cooperative preschools, board members, affiliated businesses and libraries. Deadline for the Collaborative Leadership Institute Application is January 14, 2010. Early Learning Plan Feedback NeededOur state is developing a long-term "Early Learning Plan" that would guide our legislative and agency early learning policy for the next 10 years. The process is moving very quickly, and we encourage our ECEAP/Head Start families and staff to sign up as a 'key communicator' and provide feedback to the partners in this effort - Department of Early Learning, OSPI and Thrive by Five. There is also a more near-term effort to provide recommendations to Governor Gregoire on what early learning policies and programs should be prioritized for this 2010 legislative session. You can click on the links below and see what's being proposed. You can send feedback via those survey links, or you can email us and we'll pass it along. We've shared our own thoughts about what's missing (like subsidy reform!), but we need you to share your thoughts too. There is a very short time frame for comments on the Governor’s priorities, since that report is due December 1. Please make sure DEL hears from as many ECEAP/Head Start folks as possible! There are also community meetings happening all across the state to discuss the Early Learning Plan - Click here for DEL's event calendar. You’ll note that on November 10th there will be meetings in all the ESDs around the state. We encourage everyone to attend those meetings. State agencies make budget recommendationsState agencies have been asked to identify cuts in the budget for the 2009-11 supplemental budget, in preparation for the Governor's budget proposal that will come out in December Some of the suggestions are of great concern to our ECEAP and Head Start community, including: DEL – ( memo from Kate Verville, Chief Operating Officer to Victor Moore, Director of OFM)– DEL was asked to identify $1.936 mil in reductions
DSHS – (Three documents: memo from Sec. Dreyfus to DSHS staff, memo from Doug Porter to HRSA staff, and a table with identified reduction options). These include:
We encourage everyone to contact the Governor to urge her not to cut ECEAP and other programs that help low-income families during the time that the help is needed most. We'll be sending out more information about this next week. 2010 WSA Advocacy GoalsThe WSA board of directors met last week to finalize our advocacy goals for the 2010 legislative session. This year in Olympia we will be advocating to:
A more detailed version of the advocacy goals (including our federal advocacy goals) is below, along with contact links for your state legislators. Now is the time--especially ECEAP directors, staff, and parents--to start setting up meetings with your state lawmakers to talk to them about our advocacy goals. It's also a great opportunity to invite them to visit your program while they are still at home. If you need some help or have any questions feel free to contact us at (253) 373-9100. Please let us know how your meeting goes and if there anything that WSA needs to do to follow up.
Visit our New WSA BlogWe've started a brand new WSA Blog, to create a place where folks in our community can discuss hot issues, ask questions and share information with us and with each other. Every week or two we'll be posting about an issue or question of importance to ECEAP, Head Start and Early Head Start programs and families. We invite everyone to comment and Joel's first post is on Medicaid - a very hot topic given the current Health Care Reform debate! Check it out and share your thoughts and experiences. You can also always find the blog by hitting the "Check out the WSA Blog" button in the left column of this page. We need your subsidy stories As we approach the 2010 Legislative session and the child care subsidy system is once again on the agenda, we're interested in hearing directly from folks who use it. Your stories will be used as we talk to legislators, DEL and DSHS about possible changes that will benefit families, providers, and taxpayers. We’re looking for your first-hand experiences of challenges and barriers in working with the child care subsidy system, either as a parent/guardian, or a provider of subsidized care. Click here to share your story, and help us make the subsidy system work for everyone involved. You also might be interested in the preliminary results of our Child Care Subsidy Provider Survey, which we conducted along with other early learning partners. We will soon have the final report on that survey, but in the meantime, click below for a pdf version of the preliminary results powerpoint presentation:
Head Start & Early Childhood Research Presentation Dr. Ben Allen, the research director at the National Head Start Association, joined us for a WSA member conference call 7/24/09 and updated us on the latest research in Head Start and other early learning programs nationwide. A pdf version of his powerpoint presentation can be found below. FEDERAL EARLY CHILDHOOD INFO UPDATE There are many bills moving in the US Congress that may affect early learning, including Rep. McDermott's Early Support for Families Act, the Education Begins at Home Act, and several bills related to the Child Care Development Block Grant. What's New with WSA plus bonus Legislative Update! In a letter to WSA members and friends, Joel Ryan shared some of our goals for the Association for the next few months, our upcoming events, and a brief recap of our successes in the last state legislative session and our goals for Washington DC. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 05/11/09 - Obama Budget Update President Obama’s Budget Includes Funding for New Investments for Early Learning 'JUST FOR PARENTS' NEWSLETTERS Our WSA Parent Ambassadors have been doing amazing work this year, testifying in Olympia, contacting their legislators both here and in Washington DC, doing trainings in their own communities, and inspiring other parents to advocate for themselves and their families. And even with all that, they have time to write a regular newsletter for Head Start/ECEAP/Early Head Start Parents! Click here for links to printable versions of the Just for Parents newsletters and other useful links for parents. New Toll Free number to contact your Congressman and Senators!The National Head Start Association (NHSA) has created a toll-free number that can be used to reach your members of Congress. The new, toll-free number is |
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