(En inglés)

Office of Head Start Monitoring for Early Head Start (EHS) Home-Based Program Option: Maternal and Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) EHS Home Visiting Model

Operator: Good day, and welcome to the ZERO TO THREE Office of Head Start Monitoring for EHS Home-Based Program Option conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mary Block. Please go ahead.

Mary Block: Thank you, and welcome to the Early Head Start National Resource Center webinar on Monitoring for the Early Head Start Home-Based Option, MIECHV EHS Home Visiting Model. I'm Mary Block, Senior Writer/Trainer for the Early Head Start National Resource Center, and I'll be your moderator for today.

We have a topic which I know is very important to all of you and we will get into it right now. The topics addressed today will be the role of – of Head Start Office in working with your state leads and programs to implement ongoing monitoring within the program and with the Regional Office, as well as the required triennial monitoring. You'll hear about the Office of Head Start monitoring process and review the Monitoring Protocol and how it's used to monitor the Early Head Start home-based model along with other program options. And you'll learn how to use the Central and Regional Office supports available for state lead agencies.

We're very fortunate to have the central leaders in this effort with us today who can address these issues with a voice of authority. I'd like to introduce our panel: Adia Brown, who's the monitoring lead from the Office of Head Start; David Jones, the home visiting specialist from the Office of Head Start; and Catherine Hildum, who is here as the senior policy analyst from the Office of Head Start to address questions which may be presented on this topic. And now I have the privilege of introducing Angie Godfrey, who is the infant/toddler program specialist from the Office of Head Start, who's going to give us an overview of the MIECHV EHS home-based model in relation to monitoring. Angie?

Angie Godfrey: Thank you very much, Mary. It's wonderful to be here today and I would like to thank everyone out there listening to us for joining us today. And I'd like to welcome you on behalf of the Office of Head Start. It will be, I think, an informative hour that we have planned for you, and will really help you understand monitoring for the Early Head Start home-based program option. We will be talking about – specifically about monitoring in those Early Head Start programs that have expanded home visiting services to children and families through the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood home visiting.

The funding through this has selected Early Head Start as one of the evidence-based models, so we will be talking about it today. The Early Head Start home visiting model, also known as our home-based option, provides high quality, culturally competent child development and parent support services. Head Start Program Performance Standards provide guidelines and requirements for the delivery of the Early Head Start program. And one of the things that I will mention is the requirements for both reporting and for monitoring are ongoing requirements that all Head Start and Early Head Start programs must participate in; and this certainly is true for the home-based option and for the home visiting option through MIECHV.

Early Head Start home visiting is – the home-based option is designed for families where the home is the child's primary learning environment. The home visitor comes weekly into the home to work with the family around the child, as well as work with them in socializations. It's also – it's also an option for programs that are working with pregnant women and expectant parents where they conduct home visits with the pregnant women and expecting parents to assure that they have access to comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care.

As most of you know, under MIECHV, every state and jurisdiction as well as tribal communities had the opportunity to apply for home visiting funds. And they identified not just those communities most at need but which evidence-based model or models they would like to implement in those communities. Fifteen states selected the Early Head Start home-based model, and we know that the success of its implementation requires collaboration at the federal, regional, state, and local level.

So today's webinar will focus on the Office of Head Start's system of monitoring Early Head – excuse me – Early Head Start home-based programs across the country. This system includes ongoing monitoring within the program, as I mentioned earlier, and with the Regional Office, as well as the required triennial monitoring which we'll be talking more about today. Each interaction with the Regional Office, the program specialist, and the technical assistance staff working with the program is important to the understanding of the program's implementation of its services and to the full compliance with Head Start Program Performance Standards. It is part of the structuring of monitoring that takes place with each grantee.

One of the requirements of MIECHV is that each model selected by a program and funded through the state must be implemented with fidelity. Programs selecting the Early Head Start home-based model – home-based program option, home visiting model – we call it both things, so thank you – must ensure that MIECHV-funded services meet all Head Start Program Performance Standards and all Head Start requirements. Programs must also comply with monitoring requirements for MIECHV. The Office of Head Start works closely with MIECHV state home visiting leads, informing them about what the Early Head Start home-based model is, helping them to understand the Office of Head Start's monitoring process to ensure quality implementation and compliance with the Standards, and talking to them about their processes for monitoring so that we're all working together to ensure quality services for children and families.

OHS monitors the Early Head Start home-based option to ensure that it is implemented with fidelity. This includes conducting reviews of Early Head Start grantees who are participating in the MIECHV program according to their regular monitoring schedule and working with the Division of Quality Assurance and Control to ensure that reviewers who are conducting site visits understand some of the different elements that may be required for those grantees to meet MIECHV state benchmarks. The Office of Head Start is committed to work with our state and federal partners to ensure a coordinated monitoring process that meets both Head Start Program Performance Standards and full compliance with MIECHV requirements.

So with that, I would say to you to sit back, enjoy the webinar, and you will have an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. Thank you. Thank you, Mary.

Mary: Thank you, Angie. Now I'd like to introduce Adia Brown, the monitoring lead from the Office of Head Start, who will give us some specifics of the Head Start monitoring process for all Head Start programs. Adia?

Adia Brown: Good afternoon. This is Adia Brown and I'm here to give you guys an overview of the monitoring process for the Office of Head Start. The first thing I'll tell you about is the on-site review team, our standardized methodology. I'll tell you a little bit about our protocol and I'll also give you some details about planning and the importance of using HSES data for some of our programs so that we actually know where the MIECHV classrooms are in the program.

So the overview of our Head Start process, we've been doing monitoring for quite a while and we look at many different things as it relates to our monitoring review. We try to understand the program's strengths, their compliance, the concerns that – that may exist in the program, any noncompliance or any deficiencies; so we look at five key areas for the program. For every Head Start program, we use something called the Office of Head Start Monitoring System, which is a software-based tool that all monitoring reviewers learn how to use as – as a software-based, computer-generated monitoring tool.

So our process for monitoring includes several things. We have a standardized methodology, which means that every review team follows the same process when they go out to visit different types of Head Start programs. We have a professional review team, which – those reviewers are all engaged in monitoring, and they do it somewhere between 17 and 25 times per year. We use a comprehensive monitoring instrument that includes lots of things that I'll tell you about in a few slides forward. Each one of the things that's included in our monitoring have key indicators of program performance. And when we get done with the monitoring, we have lots of usable data collections that we can use to understand different program types and how well they're performing against the Performance Standards.

So the on-site review team usually consists of about six people that come out. They review the entire Head Start program, including the Early Head Start program and the home visiting program. Each team consists of a team leader. It consists of reviewers. So we have a fiscal reviewer; we have a child development education reviewer; we have family and community engagement; a child health and safety reviewer; and for – this is only for programs that have Head Start – we have a CLASS reviewer. Most of your programs are Early Head Start so that's not really relevant.

The standardized methodology for the review process includes the standardized instrument, which is our Monitoring Protocol. We also have a standardized evidence assessment; and this is how the review team actually collects your evidence and displays it for the Office of Head Start. We have standardized and random sampling, meaning that there's a computer-based system that actually randomly samples every Head Start program and tells us which classrooms or which home – home visiting programs to pick. We also have a standardized OHS determination process. And that process consists of us actually collecting all of the data from the review, evaluating that data, and then at the OHS level making determinations about what we've collected.

The OHS Monitoring Protocol is broken into two sections. We have the Program Administrative section and we have a Grantee Services section. [Clears throat] Excuse me. The Program Administration section actually includes the management systems of your program, program governance, fiscal integrity, ERSEA. And the Grantee Services include child development and education, family and community engagement, and child health and safety. The Office of Head Start uses key indicators in each one of those sections to understand your program.

Here's an example of what the key indicators look like. So in child health and safety, we actually look at six key indicators. We look at access to health and dental care. This is – this is relevant for EHS programs also because we look at things under that to see whether or not children are actually seeing the dentist for the first time, getting those early checkups, and if the program understands about wiping infants' gums after the meals. We also look at screenings and referrals. We look at safe physical environments, healthy practices and routines, appropriate group size, and transportation services.

So these are the six key indicators that we look at because we can't look at all of the Performance Standards. And we pick key indicators that help us understand that if the program is doing okay with these things that they're probably doing fine with all of the other Program Standards. One that might be really interesting to you guys is the appropriate group size. So if a program – so for programs that – that have home visiting, there is – we look for the group size as it relates to socializations, making sure that all the kids are safe.

The Monitoring Protocol has compliance measures, and the so reviewer looks at the different compliance measures and they are all based on Performance Standards. They look at the compliance measures to determine how well you've done in that area. And then they use something called the EAS System, or the Evidence Assessment System, to actually organize all the evidence that they've collected and help us to make later determinations about that evidence.

We have several enhancements this year to the 2013 Protocol. We've streamlined a lot of the questions, we've realigned the evidence assessment, and we increased the integration of documents and reviews. We also aligned the Protocol with the new legislation that is related to school readiness. And school readiness actually applies to all of our program options. Each program has to be familiar with what school readiness looks like and the new – the Performance Standards under 1307. There are four key ones that all programs should really be familiar with, and that's school readiness, curriculum selection and implementation, individualization of services, and quality teaching and learning. The Protocol includes these four key indicators under school readiness and each reviewer is versed in really understanding those.

We also work with folks like Angie and David Jones to really help us understand how these things really relate to home visiting programs. One of the enhancements that we did this year for monitoring also helped us to look more closely at the child development and education framework. So the law actually requires that programs really understand those five essential domains. And so when we come out and we do the regular triennial review, we look to see if those domains are being met within the program.

In a home visiting program, we would look to see how the home visitor and the parent are actually doing these different types of activities in those programs. So are – are – is language and literacy begin developed? Do they understand cognition and general knowledge? Are there different approaches to language that the parent is learning to use with their child? Physical development and social and emotional development.

In 2013, we really looked at school readiness and we want to know for all programs, how do they – what is the assessment that they use? What's their assessment process and how do they do this for all the children in the program? We look to see whether or not the program is doing at least three important things. Are they aggregating and analyzing their data? And this would include the home visiting portion of their program. So each option that the program actually utilizes has to be included in the aggregation and the analyzing of data.

We look to see whether or not they're using the school readiness data to improve their program. Do they need to make changes with the curriculum? Do they need to add enhancements? Are they individualizing for each child and parent as it relates to home visiting? And we also look to see how they're reporting those results. So the results are important for all the program options, including home visiting, and whether or not kids are actually making progress in that program type.

There are several enhancements that relate to home visiting programs, but because they're a part of the larger Head Start program. And this actually relates to fiscal and the six key indicators that we look at for fiscal. I'm going to move past these slides because they're probably not as important to your home visiting program, but you should know just a little bit about what we look at. It's always helpful to understand each part. So we did some standardized approaching to the on-site review. This really helps us to understand each program a little better. And that standardized process actually applies to home visiting.

There's specific things that we do related to just your program. So we standardized some of the interview schedule to make sure that we actually see your programs. So if the sample that gets pulled doesn't necessarily pull a home visiting program, we'll actually add that to the sample to make sure that we include the MIECHV programs into our triennial visit. We also look at the document reviews for each grantee with the grantee staff; and we know that this is really important for home visiting programs because those documents maybe list the home visitor and they may be stored or kept in a different way than the rest of the Head Start program. We'll have daily discussions with the Head Start director and the staff. So we'll actually ask questions of the home visitor, we'll ask questions of the Head Start director, to really help us understand just the portion of the program and things that you're required to do. We also do a – we have a daily review team discussion about systems. And this will actually help us to understand whether or not the systems include home visiting.

So there are several on-site activities that you should be aware of that we do. We interview both the staff and the parents. So the parents were included in – in the program actually will be a part of our parent interviews. We'll look at the file reviews for the programs and see how they're actually integrating into the rest of the Head Start program. And we'll also look at documents. So, we'll look at things that help us understand how the larger Head Start program actually plans for home visiting. Do they utilize enough time? Do they have good socialization plans? Do they know how they're going to bring the kids to socialization and do they have activities for them? We also look to see how they plan home visiting as it relates to what they do with each individual parent. And there are observations; so our CDE reviewer will actually go out on observations with the home visitor to actually see how everything is working.

We do do an assessment of the management systems. And this is really important. We look at home visiting in the context of management systems just like we do all of the other parts of the program. So we like to see whether or not there's planning for it. We want to see whether or not there's ongoing monitoring of the home visiting program. We want to see how they hire staff and whether or not the organizational structure actually supports all the goals that the program has for home visiting. We'll look at communication and whether or not that portion of the program is actually included in all the communication activities. And we look at recordkeeping and reporting to see whether or not all the children in the home visiting program are up to date, they have all their records, and everything is really clear.

The Office of Head Start uses a standardized approach for AIAN programs; and we know that MIECHV has a couple of programs that are through AIAN. We understand that there are some tribal nuances that we need to understand in those programs. So for every program that has an AIAN review, we actually do some discussions at the very beginning of the review just so that we understand how the program works culturally. So this may mean that we need to understand more about going into the home; that we need to understand how the home visitor will interact with those tribal families. And so, we'll do a lot of work up front to really understand how that really happens for each individual Early Head – Early Head Start program.

I want to skip these because these are about CLASS observations and they don't necessarily apply to home visiting. There're some important things that you need to know about planning for a Head Start review. And one of those things is each Head Start program uses the HSES, or the Head Start Enterprise System, to actually collect the data around what their classrooms are and where their home-based programs exist. So if they have a home visiting model or you have a – if you have a home visiting model in that program, you need to talk with the data entry person to make sure that you're actually included in the count. Because if you're not included in the count when a sample is drawn, we won't see your program and so we won't be able to know that this is a home visiting program that we actually need to go out and look for it. So if you have a data entry person or if your Head Start director, they actually do the home visiting planning, they need to make sure that they include that portion when they actually describe it and they put – they make a description of all the classrooms in the Head Start Enterprise System.

One of the things that all Head Start programs are interested in, and I'm sure home visiting programs have the same, is our deficiencies. And so programs who have violations and deficiencies, they're all added together. We don't actually separate the program – we don't actually separate the program apart from EAS or from home visiting. When a deficiency is found in the program, it actually applies to the entire Head Start program. And I think that's the important part that MIECHV programs need to understand.

And with that, I'm going to turn it over to David Jones. I'm sure there'll be questions later. David? David Jones: Okay; thank you, Adia. I would like to begin by thanking Angie as well for the introduction.

So in thinking about my contribution to this presentation, I wanted to make sure that we were providing

some information specifically for state leads to get some understanding about the supports that are in place for our programs as it relates to monitoring, because they're going to need to do some monitoring as well. And I guess once they have a better understanding about the structural components that are in place, it'll help inform the decisions that they need to make, as well as programs that are expanding.

I think they're – from what we – conversations that we've had with – with some of the different programs, they have questions about what is it going to mean for them if they have an existing program and they're now expanding through MIECHV. So, this is where my talk is going to center. This slide, to me, kind of speaks to the notion that the day and age within which we're living and working is big brother is watching. And it's true to some degree; big brother is watching. But quality programs tend to watch themselves. And – and that's what we know and we understand about our Head Start programs across the country.

Monitoring is about operating guidelines; and in our case we refer to the Performance Standards, as Angie and Adia mentioned. There are more than 2,000 Standards that help programs adhere to model

fidelity, program quality, and that helps to ensure that our programs are recruiting, screening, enrolling, and servicing children and families as well as the systems and services that they develop to ensure quality.

So the second slide – not sort of going verbatim but I'm going to talk a little bit in between the points – refers to – essentially we have Regional Office monitoring to support – supports. So the lead in each of our regions is referred to as our regional program manager and his or her team of specialists. All organizations have some form of internal process to ensure that grantees are aware of the standards, are meeting the standards as outlined in their original RFP or their refunding application, and they have program specialists that are assigned to the specific grantees.

They are knowledgeable about the program, probably more so than anyone else in the region. Not only are they knowledgeable about the program but they're knowledgeable about what service options the program provides, the actual service area where the program is located, and funding streams – whether or not they have multiple funding streams such as their federal or local funded. Their role is to provide support and guidance for the program director and the management team.

Now this may vary by region, the points I'm going to address now, however all Head Start programs are asked to produce some form of monthly report that basically illustrates and highlights the activities that are taking place. And most of the time, that information is shared with the Regional Office. Program specialists conduct annual site visits where they meet with administrative staff to ensure model fidelity. They discuss Performance Standards implementation and training; they discuss each and every program option; all of which is preparation for a meeting that the administrative staff will have at the Regional Office called the risk management meeting. And basically those meetings are friendly, they're informal. They're at the Regional Office because it provides grantees an opportunity to get familiar with some of the federal staff in the Regional Office, but also builds that capacity for them to feel comfortable asking questions that they're not sure about or disclosing challenges that they may be experiencing. And I think it's really been beneficial for programs to feel like they can have a better relationship with our Regional Office staff.

The triennial monitoring, as Adia mentioned, was already discussed at length, so I'm not really going to mention that; but that, again, is another mechanism of oversight and support for our programs to ensure that they're adhering to quality. Some of our programs do have multiple funding streams. Some of them are state funded. And I'm going to speak specifically to MIECHV funded programs in a later slide. Quarterly calls are also useful in providing guidance and support on the establishment of, like, 1307 school readiness goals and on the program's capacity to implement the Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework, which also includes services for fathers and father figures.

So the program specialists, like I said earlier, are actually most knowledgeable about the grantee. Our director in the Central Office, Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, recently stated that it is her expectation that the program specialists visit all of their grantees each year as early as possible in the program year. And programs, you know – I mean, that's important and I understand why she wants that to happen. I think we all do. Monitoring is about making sure that things are being done in the way that they should be done, but it's also letting our programs know that they have a support system in place.

It is also interesting that sometimes you have programs that historically have been doing exceptionally well, providing services that are really high quality, and they can tend to be overlooked because if they're doing well you tend not to want to monitor them as much; you tend not to want to go out and

check on them. So the fact that she's saying that every program is going to get a visit, I think is – is a great call. The program specialists tend to be fairly busy – they manage a lot of programs – but they are usually available via the telephone or an email. And they can, if their schedule permits, participate in different activities that programs have. And they may invite them to some of their formal processes, like the self-assessment. Sometimes they hold graduations for kids that are transitioning out of the program and other special events. Sometimes if it's a brand new option that they're adding to the program, they may have it open and they'll invite the program specialist to that. And the only thing, you know, that we would say is that those requests need to come in a timely fashion.

Program grantees – well, the monitoring and refunding application provides grantees with an opportunity to share with the Regional Office and their specialist exactly how they're functioning. They have an opportunity to really illustrate what some of their successes have been, any challenges that they may be experiencing, any service delivery improvements, significant changes or modifications, if they're adding or discontinuing a specific collaboration or program option that has implications for service delivery modeling or the funding. It is really a comprehensive summary of what has happened in the program for that year and as they're planning to continue servicing families. It also addresses shifts in the community, community trends that they may have to sort of adapt to.

So it's an opportunity for, again, the Regional Office to understand where some future T/TA supports may need to be directed. And when I say T/TA supports, that's the training and technical assistance. That was addressed, for the most part, in a previous webinar on October 3 where we talked about the structural components of our training and technical assistance division. This is based upon program requests, or it can be recommended by a program specialist after they've gone out for a visit and they've sat down and they've had a conversation with the program director.

They may specifically have some T/TA needs. Sometimes an example of some of those needs might be assistance with the training on the Performance Standards; just making sure that all of the staff properly

– are properly trained and that they understand how the Performance Standards relate to the day to day activities for children and families. Or it could mean a training on governance – program governance. It's a huge area of responsibility for the programs where parents are actually part of the – the decision-making process for programs.

The Regional Offices can also identify needs based upon any of the reports that the grantee is submitting to them. There's legislation, again, such as 1307. Or there may be something that comes down through the Central Office that can also influence the T/TA needs for the program, i.e. development of the school readiness goals for most of the programs – all of the programs.

And with respect to staff training, I think this just speaks essentially to professional development. If you're committed to high quality, if you're committed to ensuring that the individuals who are responsible for providing services to children and families do it at the highest capacity and they're going to need to be supported in our their own development and needs, and that's what professional development is about. Credentialing – making sure that the teachers are properly credentialed, that's the head teachers, assistant teachers, home visitors as well. There's FDC training, the family development courses; there's CDA courses. So the professional development plan really outlines all of the needs that the program staff may have.

The good old PIR, Program Information Report. If there are any programs on the phone right now, I know you know that this can be a pleasurable time for you at the end of the year and it can also be a bit

challenging. But the Program Information Report is submitted annually, and it provides data about the program. It is very detailed and it addresses essentially what happens with all of the funds that the federal government provides to the grantee. So just to look at this slide really quickly, it's the number of children that have been served in that program year. It tracks attendance not only in center-based but also home-based, the number of home visits that were accomplished, the number of socializations that a program held throughout that program year, the number of children that were identified as needing immunizations, and the number of children who are actually up to date on their scheduled immunizations. It highlights and illustrates staff credentials by program options, family services.

And in addition to what's on this slide, I'd also like to add that there are things like – again, the Parent, Family, Community Engagement, the family partnership agreements. And the partnership agreements really outline the goal plan or the service plan that's developed for families. It's things like referrals to mental health, services for fathers, and services to foster and homeless families that the programs are required to report on.

Another essential component of the monitoring process for programs is the grantee self-assessment, which is exactly as it sounds. It's a process where the program reviews itself. Essentially what happens at some point in the year, they assess and align their program services and systems with the expectations in the Performance Standards, and they evaluate, to the degree possible, which one of the goals that they had for the previous year that they had accomplished, the short term goals and the long term goals. And the process basically is extremely comprehensive.

So I mentioned earlier that parents participate as part of the – the program governance structure. And when programs hold their self-assessment, it is a completely comprehensive process where parents are involved. They team up with staff, members of the governing body, and some of the community partners. And just for people who may not be fully aware, the collaborations that programs establish with community partners are essentially to obtain services for children and families that they can't provide under their own roof, under their own umbrella. And so, those community partners have a real stake in what's happening in the programs and that provides them an opportunity to help them really think through what are some of their short term and long term goals for the coming year.

This slide really just speaks to, I guess, the fiscal issues as it relates to programs' internal and external audits. The A-133 is the fiscal audit and it basically – it looks at ensuring that programs are managing the federal funds appropriately. Participation in some of the regional and state meetings provides opportunities for program staff to just keep abreast of changing trends, to learn from colleagues in the field. And a lot of times what they're experiencing, what they're learning, what they're sort of contributing to discussions on, in many instances reinforces the – the Performance Standards.

And this slide is specific to MIECHV. So some programs are concerned about, well, when are we going to be monitored and what is that going to look like? Well, I think it's safe to say that all the programs that we funded were either an already existing Early Head Start home-based option or Early Head Start center-based option. And I think there may be one exception; right, Angie? But they're somewhat familiar with the monitoring schedule. And so programs are going to be monitored, as Adia mentioned earlier, on their normal schedule. So it's not like they're going to get a separate monitoring visit from the Office of Head Start just because they're expanding with these funds.

We have – and so the monitoring, again, looks at accountability, making sure that programs are operating in the way that they're supposed to, ensuring fidelity. It means there's specific things that the

Performance Standards request and expect that programs will do, and that's what we're sort of concerned about and we're looking at: compliance with state benchmarks and the constructs, and also data reporting.

So up until this point, from the RFP process and the states sort of making decisions about which programs they were actually going to fund, our office has been providing support and guidance around compliance with the states benchmarks and constructs as well as data reporting. It is true that some of the information that programs are being asked to collect is not traditionally what we would collect on enrolled children and families. Or, in other instances, the states may require a different timeframe, you know, to collect the data. And – and we're working with them. We have been working with them from day one for better alignment and also to avoid any duplications of data entry tracking and reporting.

And I think one of the most important things I want to say, as I come to the end of this discussion, is please remember that the Central Office and the Regional Office staff are available to work with the states and the individual programs to ensure that they're meeting all of these requirements. Thank you.

Mary: Thank you, David. Both David and Adia have given us some great insight for assuring that those EHS programs that have expanded home visiting services through MIECHV funding will know what to expect and how to access the resources that are available to them to assist them in monitoring their programs. And now with the assistance of Catherine Hildum, Senior Policy Analyst at the Office of Head Start, and Christina Benjamin from the Early Head Start National Resource Center, we will address some of your questions that you have posted during the time of this webinar.

Christina Benjamin: Okay, the first question is: "What is the Office of Head Start's role when communicating with expanding programs around monitoring?"

Catherine Hildum: Okay, this is Catherine. And the Office of Head Start will work with all the programs regarding the ongoing monitoring that we've discussed, the programs monitoring themselves as well as the monitoring visits and the review – with both the ongoing monitoring as well as the on-site reviews both by the Office of Head Start and by the MIECHV state leads. And OHS, as was discussed earlier, monitors programs every three years and the – the expansion programs will be on a regular cycle with OHS for reviews. And the Office of Head Start also maintains regular contact with all of the EHS grantees that are expanding through the MIECHV program and as well maintains a strong relationship with the state leads to work with those MIECHV programs.

Christina: Thank you, Catherine. And our next question that comes from a program specialist within the Regional Office and she just asks, "Have programs been instructed to report their MIECHV slots in the Head Start Enterprise System?"

Catherine: I'm going to take that question. There's – because there are so many different cases now where states and localities are supplementing Head Start funding, and MIECHV is one of those expansion opportunities, there is now a question – and Angie and David will jump in here – but there is now a question on the Program Information Report about other sources of funding besides federal Head Start funding, and so that's where the MIECHV expansion would be reported.

David: Yeah, Christina, just to add this is fairly consistent with what programs have had to do in the past when they were receiving state funding. So, it's really not much different.

Christina: Okay, thanks. And the next question is, "Will the Office of Head Start provide direct training and technical assistance to programs after a monitoring visit?"

David: So the answer to that is yes. The Office of Head Start will provide training and technical assistance to all programs, including the MIECHV funded programs, especially when monitoring visits identify any areas where – which would indicate that training and technical assistance might be helpful.

Christina: Okay. And our next question just says, "What is the role of the state lead as it relates to monitoring?"

Catherine: And as we discussed in our first question – response to the first question, the state lead will work closely with the program that's funded through MIECHV for ongoing monitoring and also work closely with the Office of Head Start to ensure model fidelity. So there's ongoing communication between all of those parties. The grantee, who has expanded EHS through the MIECHV, the Office of Head Start, and the state leads will all be in regular communication.

Christina: Thank you. And our next question just says, "For programs participating in the national evaluation, can they be adversely affected during monitoring visits if they are behind in submitting documentation?"

David: Okay, so the short answer is factors related to [inaudible] will not impact the Office of Head Start monitoring visits.

Christina: Okay. "What role will the Office of Head Start play when an MIECHV program is monitored?"

Catherine: Okay. The Office of Head Start will monitor each grantee. And by – in the monitoring visit, the entire program of that grantee, including any expansion through MIECHV, will be monitored. As Adia mentioned before, the OHS monitoring looks at the program as a whole, and so it will be looking at all parts of the program including the expansion with MIECHV.

Christina: Okay, and our next question also comes from our chat session here; and it just says, "Will there be an additional reviewer to the review team when a grantee has an MIECHV project?"

David: We've discussed it with Adia and other members of our monitoring team, and what's going to happen is programs – the review team will know ahead of time that this is a grantee that has expanded slots through MIECHV so the review team will be prepared ahead of time to know what to look for.

Christina: Okay, great. Going to try to summarize our next question here. It just says, "How will the team leader of a triennial review team know if a program has MIECHV slots? If grantees report only in the PIR and not in the HSES, how will the review planners and teams know if the program has MIECHV funds and where they are located?"

Catherine: Okay, that's a very good question. The answer to that is that when – when the team lead and the team are preparing for a review, they're in contact with the program and receive information about the program before they go on site. So the program reviewers and the lead will know before they actually – as they're planning their review, they will know that the EHS they're monitoring does have MIECHV expansion funds.

Christina: Okay. Our next question just says, "Can the Office of Head Start discontinue a program's MIECHV funding?"

David: Okay, I'll gladly take that one. Just kidding. The Office of Head Start can discontinue federal Head Start funding but it would be up to the state as the funder for the MIECHV program to revoke MIECHV funding. But it's our hope and our belief that that wouldn't happen given the structural components that we've put in place to provide support not only for the state but also programs.

Catherine: Okay. And just to add a little bit to that, as we've discussed earlier, that in keeping with the model fidelity, it's likely that there wouldn't be a strong distinction between the parts – you know, the – the expansion. It's not like you would see one part of the program as Early Head Start and the other part as MIECHV. In – in the best scenario, it would be a seamless program.

Christina: Thank you. And our next question, it just says, "What happens when a program expanding through MIECHV funding is found to be out of compliance during a monitoring visit?"

Catherine: And that's a good follow-on to the last question actually because what will happen, as we've discussed in some of the previous questions and during the webinar, is that OHS will work – works closely with the state lead. And so if there is a finding during the monitoring visit, then OHS will send the report to the state and work collaboratively with the state to develop a corrective action plan. And through the T/TA network, OHS will work with the program to create a performance improvement plan and ensure that the areas of noncompliance are corrected. Again, it's likely that if there are any issues found in a monitoring visit, they would be taking place in – in the entire program and it would be a challenge to distinguish whether it was a problem with the, you know, MIECHV funding or the federal Head Start funding.

Christina: Okay. "Can a program that is in good standing be placed on the DRS list if there are concerns with the MIECHV expanding home visitation programs?"

David: Okay. Since the MIECHV expansion will be implemented with fidelity to the Early Head Start program, any concerns that would place, again, a program on DRS would likely be taking place in both the federally funded program and the state funded parts of the program. So again, it's probably more so of a comprehensive thing across the systems for the program and not just in one area.

Christina: Okay. "Can the Office of Head Start withdraw an MIECHV letter of support if areas of noncompliance persist and are not addressed in a timely fashion?"

Catherine: The short answer is yes. The Office of Head Start can withdraw a letter of support for an MIECHV program. As we discussed earlier, the Office of Head Start would not be able to remove the funding that's provided by the state through MIECHV, but the Office of Head Start could remove its support of that particular MIECHV grantee as an EHS model. And we – you know, the goal is through the ongoing monitoring and systems of support, including training and technical assistance, that all of the – any areas of noncompliance found would be able to be addressed and corrected in a timely fashion.

Christina: Okay, and we have another question coming in from our chat session. And it just says, "We have been told that the MIECHV awards contracts for a number of families; however, the Office of Head Start awards grants for the number of slots." And it just has in parentheses, number of children or the number of pregnant women. "How will we know whether the Early Head Start program is either under-

enrolled or meets the enrollment requirements between the MIECHV..." Maybe what I need to do, I think, is to try to clarify this. So the MIECHV program, the way that the states fund the programs is they fund them by the number of families served; whereas the Office of Head Start, we fund them based on the number of children or pregnant women served in the program. I think what the person who was asking this question is trying to find out is how will, I guess, a program specialist or a program know whether or not they're meeting their enrollment based on their grant funding. And it looks like Angie might want to try to jump in and answer this one.

Angie: Thanks, Christina. Yeah, I'd be glad to answer that. Because programs get funding letters, and the funding letter from the federal government will have the number of EHS children that they are to serve. The funding letter from the state will have the number of families they are to serve. And there's not – they may be – you know, they may be using them differently. They will identify from MIECHV the expectant family, the pregnant woman, or the child that they will be serving and the number of slots.

They also use slots for both of them. And what they'll have to do is make sure that they're very clear in their funding what – where their enrollment is being funded for. So, it wouldn't be possible to have a short Early Head Start enrollment if you're looking at your federal funding because that would have a different – different list.

And one of the things that often happens in FAA letters is it identifies, you know, slots and where they are funded from, and that's quite – you know, I haven't seen all of the letters, but I know as we've been working with the models that we've been very clear that – with the programs that are using our model, that they – that they are clear in their funding guidance. And, you know – and again, I'm not going to – David and Catherine are so good at concise answers, so I don't want to run on here.

But again, what we're looking at are funding levels and how programs are funded. It's – it's really a paper issue. I don't expect, particularly those expanding with not a lot of slots – you know, if you're a program that is – that serves 72 children in home-based and you've added 20, there's going to be a real integration of services. So where you're going to look for the difference is on the paperwork that people are keeping, which is part of the ongoing reporting. Thanks, Christina.

Mary: Catherine or David, would you like to answer? Anything else further? No? David: No, I think Angie did a great job. actually.

Catherine: I agree. Mary: Thank you.

Christina: Okay, and I believe this will be our last question. It just says, "Who will provide support and guidance for programs at the conclusion of a monitoring visit when noncompliance issues exist, the state lead or the Office of Head Start?"

David: So again, given what we already sort of articulated in terms of the Office of Head Start supporting and working in a collaborative fashion with the states, this would be the case. We would work with the state leads to provide support. You know, depending upon the where the issue is couched – it's housed, if it's around benchmarks and construct data and it's just an issue of the program not submitting it in the way that the state requires, the state may sort of need to do more of the T/TA because it's an issue that they're sort of – you know, it's relevant to – to what their needs are. If it's something that more couched

in our expectations, Performance Standards, model fidelity, that sort of thing, then it probably would come through our T/TA system.

Christina: Okay. Thank you.

Mary: Thank you so much, Christina, and all of our panel for answering the questions so concisely and clearly. And I'm sure that people will have other questions as they go on afterwards and think about it and so forth. And this is just a reminder that the webinar will be posted on ECLKC shortly, so you will be able to go back and look at it because there was a lot of information today and a lot to take in. So, it will be posted there. And you should have received a copy of the PowerPoint itself, so you'll have that also to share with others if you'd like. If you did not receive it, just let us know and we'll send it out to you. And also, there is other information on monitoring on the ECLKC and you'll see some additional resources on your screen that will help you to look at some of the areas – some of the resources that are available to get more information and also some further references that you might want to look into.

David and Catherine and Angie and Adia, we thank you so much. And I don't know if you have any closing remarks that you would like to make, anything – any follow-up on anything?

Angie: I will close. I would also – I'd really like to thank Adia, who could join us long distance. And I appreciate your taking the time to come, Adia. Also thank Catherine and David both for their leadership and guidance with home visiting in the Office of Head Start. And thank all of you. It's been an interesting couple of years and we've had a lot of learning. I think Christina and I would – would both say that.

We've been together on this since the beginning and it's been wonderful; so thank you, Christina, again, for today. And thanks, all of you, for joining us. And do send us more questions. Thank you.

Mary: Thanks again. And if there are any additional questions that have come in that we haven't answered, we will post them later also. We'll send them out to those of you who are registered. So thank you so much for joining us. And this is the last of our three webinars in this series. And hopefully you have enjoyed them; and you can, again, refer to all of them and have access to them on the ECLKC. And we will be available through T/TA and all of your other sources for further information. So thank you very much and good luck with your programs.

Angie: And, Mary, this is Angie again. I was remiss in not thanking you for all three of the webinars that you and the folks at EHS NRC have provided for us; so thank you.

Mary: Oh, you're welcome. Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's webinar. We thank you for your participation.

Cerrar