News You Can Use Week of April 6, 2012
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| The Day of Opportunity is Approaching! In just a few days, on April 19th, 2012, NHSA and programs across the country will celebrate a National Day of Opportunity and feature the success stories of Head Start alumni at national and local events. Find out more about the Day of Opportunity and how to print or create “We Love Head Start” signs for your families to display on the 19th by visiting our website! Dollar Per Child Campaign NHSA is excited to recognize early Dollar Per Child campaign contributions during the Opening Ceremonies of our Annual Conference in Nashville later this month. If you haven’t already, send in your contribution! If your local campaign is just getting started, visit our website to find resources! You can still register for the 39th Annual Head Start Conference. Click here for details.
SAVE THE DATE! NHSA Manager and Director Academy - June 4 - 7, 2012, Louisville, KY NHSA's Manager and Director Academy offers an intensive curriculum to Head Start directors, managers, and other professionals over a four-day period. The Academy is organized into learning modules focused on critical skills and current knowledge in program administration and management. The 2012 Academy will be held at the Downtown Marriott in Louisville, Kentucky - call 1-877-901-6632 for rooms. Click here for more information. Impact of Looming Budget Cuts on Low-Income Families, our Communities, and our Economy: Tools and Resources to Help You Fight Back During this webinar, on Tuesday April 10 at 1:00PM EDT, a distinguished panel of experts will break down the House budget’s cuts to the safety net, detail the consequences of automatic budget cuts slated for early next year, and discuss what these cuts mean for low-income families and our economy. It will then provide some tools, messaging techniques, and action steps you can use to push back and assert a proactive case for the safety net and an economy that works for all. Register today! Brought to you by: Half in Ten, Community Action Partnership, Coalition on Human Needs and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. 2012 – 2013 NHSA Awards & Scholarship Nominations Open! Because of the dedicated involvement of parents, staff, and other concerned individuals Head Start is the high-quality program that it is today. Each year, NHSA seeks to acknowledge those individuals and organizations that have made a significant difference in their Head Start communities through the NHSA Scholarships and Awards program. The nomination process for the 2012 – 2013 Scholarship & Award year is now open. Please go to our Web site for more information and link to nomination applications. Medicaid Financing Options for Home Visiting Programs WEBINAR Did you know that in 2010, 15 states used Medicaid to help finance the services of at least one home visiting program? How did they select a financing mechanism and get approval to do so? The goal of this webinar is to provide concrete strategies and examples that states can implement to effectively leverage Medicaid dollars for home visiting programs. Panelists on this webinar will discuss how states can align specific services and desired outcomes of home visiting programs with existing Medicaid financing mechanisms. The Webinar will take place April 10th, 3-4PM EDT. Space is limited! Reserve your spot now! Mark your calendar and join your colleagues for these exceptional professional development and networking events! National Head Start Manager and Director Academy June 4-7, 2012- Louisville, Kentucky Fall 2012 Leadership Institute September 17-21, 2012- Washington, D.C. 29th Annual Head Start Parent Conference and Family Engagement Institutes December 1 – 5, 2012- Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center Dallas, Texas 2013 Winter Leadership Institute January 28 - February 1, 2013- Washington, D.C. 40th Annual Head Start Conference April 28 – May 2, 2013 Washington, D.C. Hear Teachstone's Rebecca Berlin iInterviewed on BAM Radio Curious about how CLASS is being used to assess Head Start classrooms? Hear what NHSA Executive Director Yasmina Vinci had to say about “Introducing Positive Observation in the Head Start Classroom” in the most recent segment from NHSA Radio. Bammy Awards for Head Start Directors and Staff The Bammy Awards are cross-discipline awards that identify and acknowledge excellence throughout the education field -- from teachers, principals and superintendents, to school nurses, support staff, advocates, researchers, early childhood specialists, education journalists and parents -- including 2 categories especially for Head Start staff! Nominations must be submitted by April 30th, so send yours in now! Celebrate Screen-Free Week: April 30-May 6 NHSA is proud to officially endorse Screen-Free Week (April 30-May 6), the annual celebration where children, families, schools, and communities turn off screens and turn on life. Visit www.screenfree.org to join the fun and to download your free Screen-Free Week Organizer's Kit. It’s packed with fact sheets, great suggestions for screen-free activities, pledge cards, and more! We all know that children spend far too much time with screens: an astonishing average of 32 hours a week for preschoolers and even more for older children. Excessive screen time is harmful for children—it’s linked to poor school performance, childhood obesity, attention problems, and the erosion of creative play. Screen-Free Week (formerly TV-Turnoff) is a wonderful way to help children lead healthier, happier lives by reducing dependence on entertainment screen media—including television, video games, computers, and hand-held devices. By encouraging children and families to unplug, Screen-Free Week provides time for them to play, connect with nature, read, daydream, create, explore, and spend more time with family and friends. Innovative Early Learning Website from the Fred Rogers Center Some of the best online and mobile early learning resources are now available free of charge on a new website, the Fred Rogers Center Early Learning Environment™—“Ele” for short. Families, family child care providers, and teachers can visit the site to access a library of more than 100 high quality ebooks, videos, mobile apps, music, and more, all designed to promote early literacy and other learning and development for children from birth to age five. Ele’s online community provides a safe place to ask questions and participate in discussions with other families and early childhood professionals. Visit Ele today at www.yourele.org. Want Great "Second Chance Toys" for Your Head Start Kids? Here's How . . . There is a unique opportunity to secure wonderful toys for the Head Start children we serve. Second Chance Toys collects gently used plastic toys and recycles them by donating them to deserving children like ours. Their efforts help the environment, by keeping these toys out of our landfills, and also help kids, by providing "like new" toys to disadvantaged kids. If you are interested in receiving Second Chance Toys for Head Start children, visit secondchancetoys.org and click the "Receive" button on the home page. Federal Grant Opportunity for Special Education Personnel Head Start programs, especially those with university partners, may want to consider the following grant opportunity from the Department of Education, which will distribute approximately 13 awards of about $250K each: Personnel Development To Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities—Preparation of Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Leadership Personnel - The purposes of this program are to (1) help address State-identified needs for highly qualified personnel in special education, related services, early intervention, and regular education to work with children, including infants and toddlers, with disabilities; and (2) ensure that those personnel have the necessary skills and knowledge, derived from practices that have been determined through scientifically based research and experience, to be successful in serving those children. Text4Baby Contest To help more pregnant women and new moms get information about caring for their health and giving their babies the best possible start in life, the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) launched text4baby, the first free health text messaging service in the U.S.Text4baby supports moms by providing accurate, text-length health information and resources. Find out about registration here. As part of a special contest, right now Text4Baby is collecting stories and photographs from text4baby users to hear what they love about the program and how it has helped moms and families. Encourage text4baby participants you know to enter the contest for a chance at winning a text4baby bib and being featured on their website. Twenty winners will be selected by May 13, 2012, so check it out now! School Readiness Goal Resources from the National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning As programs work to craft School Readiness Goals that are meaningful for their Head Start students and families, the National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning has produced a set of examples that programs may want to consider. The examples can be viewed here. Don’t Miss Upcoming Legal Advisory Service Trainings The Head Start Legal Advisory Service, a collaboration between Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP and the National Head Start Association, has developed key offerings designed with programs like yours in mind. Join Ted Waters and Zoë Beckerman for the following webinars: (4/25/12) Conducting Internal Investigations (3 pm eastern time) With all of the additional scrutiny that Head Start programs continue to receive from the Government Accountability Office, the HHS Office of Inspector General, the Office of Head Start, Congress, the media, and others, there has never been a better time to understand when and how to conduct internal investigations. On this webinar, we'll focus on the following:
Who Should Attend: Executive Directors, Head Start Directors, Senior Management, Compliance Officers, Compliance Committee members, but all are welcome. (5/02/12; 6/13/12) Understanding Head Start and Early Head Start Eligibility (3 pm Eastern time) ACF's Program Instruction HS-10-02, Income Eligibility for Enrollment, addresses how Head Start employees must determine and verify income eligibility and requires annual training. The PI states that programs "should provide annual training to employees responsible for determining and verifying income eligibility and to ensure that those employees are fully aware of the consequences established by the grantee for employees who knowingly sign a verification form that contains false information." So here’s your chance. This topic is of special importance – as you know, programs have received additional scrutiny about their eligibility practices from Congress, the Government Accountability Office, the HHS Office of Inspector General, and the Office of Head Start. In the wake of Congressional and Departmental scrutiny, now is the time to make sure your staff is determining eligibility correctly. This session will help your program comply with the often-confusing eligibility rules, and ensure that all of your employees who determine eligibility get needed training. We'll cover not only the basics of the Head Start eligibility process, but also discuss the consequences of knowing violations of the eligibility rules. This webinar will cover:
Tips for best practices will be included and your questions will be addressed. Who Should Attend: Eligibility Workers, Eligibility Managers, ERSEA staff, Executive Directors, Head Start program Directors, and other senior staff, but all are welcome. The Head Start Legal Advisory Service, a collaboration between Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP and the National Head Start Association, has this topic, as well as other new offerings on topics designed with programs like yours in mind. To register or see the full list of this season’s trainings, please go to: http://headstart.peachnewmedia.com/store/provider/provider09.php.
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