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Last month more than 800 DECAL employees gathered at the Cobb Galleria Center for our All Staff Meeting. This event officially celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, as well as the 10th anniversary of our longest serving Commissioner, Amy Jacobs. That seemed like a great time for another Chat with the Commissioner.
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Open Enrollment for the State Health Benefits Plan runs now through November 8. It’s a very important time of the year, as many employees are re-evaluating their health needs and seeking to protect their financial well-being. Joining us to talk about Open Enrollment is Sabrina Henry, Senior Manager of Human Resources.
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From Calhoun to Savannah, our Quality Rated and CAPS teams have been holding stakeholder meetings all across Georgia to highlight policy revisions happening with both programs beginning this month. With pandemic relief funding ending, DECAL has faced some difficult choices focused on ensuring that the needs of families, providers, and the child care workforce are considered. Joining us to talk about policy revisions at CAPS and Quality Rated is Elisabetta Kasfir, Deputy Commissioner of Federal Programs and Eligibility, and Dr. Bentley Ponder, Deputy Commissioner of Quality Innovations and Partnerships.
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As the foundation of a child’s educational journey, early childhood education is pivotal, yet the professionals who dedicate their lives to this field often face unique challenges that require our attention. Recently DECAL’s Workforce Supports and Learning Division formed a Workforce Task Force aimed at understanding the needs, struggles, and aspirations of early childhood educators across the state. Joining us this week to talk about their findings is Dr. Christi Moore, DECAL Director of Workforce Supports and Learning,
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Today we’re unpacking a critical issue that touches nearly every family in Georgia: the State of Child Care. Recently our Child Care Services Division completed a comprehensive study on the current state of child care across the state, especially after a worldwide pandemic...and there were some surprises. Joining us this week to talk about the State of Child Care in Georgia is Pam Stevens, Deputy Commissioner of Child Care Services, and Shayna Funke, Director of Research Partnerships and Business Supports in our Quality Innovations and Partnerships Division.
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Voices for Georgia’s Children and DECAL are proud to announce that the 14th annual Georgia Pre-K Week is set to take place from October 7th to 11th, 2024. This event celebrates the 32nd year of Georgia’s Pre-K Program and highlights the importance of early childhood education across the state. Joining us to talk about Georgia Pre-K Week 2024 is Susan Adams, Deputy Commissioner for Georgia’s Pre-K Program and Instructional Supports, Judy Fitzgerald is Executive Director at Voices for Georgia’s Children, and we’re honored to have State Representative Jan Jones, who serves as Speaker Pro Tem for the Georgia House of Representatives.
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When you think about DECAL, you think about CAPS, Child Care Services, Georgia’s Pre-K Program, Nutrition…but we also hope you think about our support services like SEEDS which stands for Social Emotional Early Development Strategies. This is a program designed to increase social and emotional development among our youngest learners and decrease challenging behaviors in early childhood settings. Joining us to talk more about SEEDS is Fachelle Garner and Emily Graham are Inclusion and Behavioral Support Specialists.
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This week we’re highlighting early childhood workforce development opportunities in the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health space. Joining us is DECAL’s Laura Lucas, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Director, Dr. Bentley Ponder, Deputy Commissioner of Quality Innovations and Partnerships, and our guests from Georgia State University’s Georgia Association for Infant Mental Health (also known as “Georgia AIM”), Raynell Washington, Dr. Jordan Murphy from the Center for Interrelational Science and Pediatrics, and Audrey Idaikkadar, from Resilient Georgia.
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Since Fall 2019, DECAL has had a group of volunteers working in their communities to share information with families about the resources available in our state. Our DECAL Family Peer Ambassadors are fathers, mothers, grandparents, foster parents, and other kinship caregivers of young children. They serve as leaders in their community, providing families of young children with information about child development and strategies they can use to support their children’s school readiness along with different resources available to families of young children. This month (September 2024) the program is celebrating it’s Fifth Birthday! Joining us today are Jenny Semendy, DECAL’s Child and Family Development Training Specialist, and one of our Family Peer Ambassadors: Ebony Tolbert from Atlanta.
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The third week in September is Care Seat Safety Awareness Week which focuses on the proper use of car safety seats for children. The national campaign urges parents and caregivers to protect their children making sure they secure them in the correct car seat for their age, height, and weight. Joining us to talk about Car Seat Safety is Traci Reese, Program Manager with the Child Occupant Safety Project at the Georgia Department of Public Health and Jennifer Waters, our CCS Technical Assistance Unit Manager.
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Licensed Family Child Care Learning Homes and Child Care Learning Centers in Georgia who are two or three-star Quality Rated are eligible for grants aimed at fostering early language and literacy skills of infants and toddlers. The LITTLE grants, standing for Lifting Infants and Toddlers Through Language-Rich Enviroments, equips providers with increased knowledge and skills in building responsive relationships, and developing and maintaining a social, emotional, and intellectual climate that supports child-initiated and child-pursued learning. Joining us to talk about LITTLE grants, as well as other services available through our Infant Toddler Specialists, is Thea Stevens, Infant Toddler Program Manager; Latasha Bailey, an Infant Toddler Specialist for the Central East Region, and Cindy Lancaster with Lemon Tree Academy-Monroe who is a previous LITTLE grantee.
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New data from the CDC here in Atlanta show that vaccinations among kindergarteners has declined to its lowest level in decades and an estimated 750,000 young learners entered kindergarten during the COVID-19 pandemic who were not up to date on their school vaccinations. Joining us this week to talk about immunizations is Kathleen Holmes, Public Health Analyst with the CDC, and Bridget Ratajczak, DECAL Child and Family Development Supervisor, and the CDC’s Act Early Ambassador to Georgia.
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The second class of a two-generation academy created by Commissioner Jacobs has now graduated. The Georgia 2Gen Academy is presented each year by the Georgia Children’s Cabinet and facilitated by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. Twenty-six representatives from state agencies, including DECAL and advocacy groups for children and youth, participated. Joining us to talk about Georgia’s 2Gen Academy are DECAL participants Nutrition & Physical Activity Supervisor Diana Myers, Head Start Collaboration Office Director Allison Setterlind, and CAPS Family Support Director Amanda Vanmeter. Also Joy Hawkins, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and co-chair with Commissioner Jacobs on the Georgia Children’s Cabinet.
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As the new school year approaches, thousands of children across Georgia are getting ready to take their first steps into the world of structured learning in Georgia’s nationally recognized Pre-K Program. It’s an exciting time, but it can also be overwhelming for both parents and children. Joining us to talk about preparing for Georgia's Pre-K Program are two Georgia’s Pre-K Program Specialists Margie Cook and Anne Honerbaum.
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For nearly a decade, Richard Woods has served as State School Superintendent here in Georgia. He has over 30 years of experience in public education, from Pre-K through 12th-grade. He was a high school teacher for 14 years, serving as department chair and teacher mentor….he has also served in administrative roles like principal, assistant principal, Pre-K director, and alternative school director.
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You’re getting two topics for the price of one on this week's podcast. First, it’s never too soon to start saving for your child’s college education. DECAL and Path2College 529 Plan are making that easier with the We Care Child Care Sweepstakes. And then, careers at DECAL…this year we celebrate 20 years as one of the few state agencies in the nation dedicated entirely to early childhood education and care. Over those 20 years we have grown to a staff of more than 700 employees. And if you would like to have an impact of the development and future success of young children and their families….this might be a great career move for you. Joining us first via Zoom is Mitch Seabaugh, Executive Director of the Path2College 529 Plan back to talk with us about the We Care Childcare Sweepstakes which is going on now through July 31. Then Careers at DECAL with Rian Ringsrud, Deputy Commissioner of Finance and Administration; Sheryl Young-Wilhite, Director of Human Resources, and Mark Dock, Senior Manager of Human Resources.
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Last month, we looked at the impact on DECAL of the $36-million Fiscal Year 2025 budget signed by Governor Kemp in May. There several bills passed by the Georgia General Assembly and signed by the Governor that took effect July 1 and have an impact on DECAL. Joining us to talk about these new laws taking effect is Rian Ringsrud, Deputy Commissioner of Finance and Administration, and Liz Young, Director of Governor Relations and Special Projects.
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Open Records play a crucial role in promoting an open government by providing citizens with the tools to engage with and understand the workings of their government. The concept of Open Records in grounded in the principles of transparency and accountability, ensuring that the public can obtain information about government operations, decisions, and expenditures. Joining us to talk more about Open Records is Maria Reznik, Open Records Compliance Analyst, and Ira Sudman, our General Counsel.
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Last year, DECAL took over the provider management function of the CAPS Program, something previously handled by our contractor, Maximus. We implemented these changes to offer more streamlined and effective services to child care providers who play a crucial role in supporting children and families. A major component of offering more streamlined and effective services is a new system called GACAPS, a modern new system that allows for streamlined attendance tracking, enrollment and completion of annual renewals directly through the system, quality assurance for accurate billing and more. Joining us to talk about the CAPS Program and our new GACAPS system is Elisabetta Kasfir, Deputy Commissioner over the CAPS Program; and Latisha Lewis, Manager of Provider Relations Customer Support.
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A Georgia teacher and author has a new children’s book that takes readers on a food tour of our state. Kelly Young-Silverman is a teacher at The Lovett School in Atlanta. She lives in Marietta with her husband and daughter. The book is called “Hot Boiled Peanuts” and highlights lots of culinary delights from the Peach state. Hope you're hungry!
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