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With the fall comes college football, pumpkin spice lattes, and of course Open Enrollment here at DECAL and with the State of Georgia. Open Enrollment begins October 16, 2023, and ends November 4, 2023,  at 12:59 a.m. ET for active eligible employees and COBRA beneficiaries. Open Enrollment is a time to review, enroll, make changes to your Flexible Benefits plan options, including dental, vision and life insurance coverage. Joining us to talk about Open Enrollment here at DECAL is HR Operations Supervisor Sabrina Henry.  

There are over 4,400 licensed child care programs in Georgia….that’s child care learning centers and family child care learning homes. The vast majority are in good standing with DECAL, meeting our rules and regulations for health and safety. But what should you do if you have concerns about your child care program? Joining us to talk about reporting concerns with your child care program is April Rogers, Director of Enforcement Operations in our Child Care Services Division, and Tahishe Smith, Intake Unit Manager.  

This year DECAL and Voices for Georgia’s Children are celebrating the 13th Annual Georgia’s Pre-K Week, October 2-6, 2023…our 31st year offering Pre-K to students and families here in Georgia.  Joining us to talk about Georgia Pre-K Week is Caitlin Dooley, Executive Director of Voices for Georgia’s Children, and State Representative Teri Anulewicz (District 47-Smyrna). 

Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs responds to questions about some of the current issues now facing the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. 

October is National Farm to School and Early Care and Education Month…an innovative way to build children’s relationship with food and the local food system through hands-on food education and gardening experiences, interactive and adventurous taste testing, and inclusion of local items into meals and snacks. DECAL and our Nutrition Team fully support the program. It’s a great way to increase access to healthy foods, boost physical activity and mental wellbeing, and support local farmers and communities. Joining us to talk about October Farm to School Month is Diana Myers, Nutrition and Physical Activity Supervisor here at DECAL. 

Here at DECAL, we believe that a stable early care and education industry made up of thriving child care businesses is important to the state’s economic growth and to preparing future generations of young learners for academic success. A new program called the Thriving Child Care Business Academy is designed to help owners and administrators of early learning programs learn best business management practices, much like the training they receive in best early childhood education practices on other platforms. It’s another way we hope to help the child care industry in Georgia navigate through some difficult times. Joining us to talk about the Thriving Child Care Business Academy is Quality Innovations and Partnerships Communications and Outreach Manager Sonja Steptoe and from Professional Learning, Community Manager Laura Reid.  

It is back to school time in Georgia and when you think about a child’s success in school, you may focus on cognitive skills of learning and understanding…but research shows that social, emotional, and behavioral competence is equally important. Here at DECAL, we have a special helpline designed to assist you…child care teachers, parents, and caregivers…in developing social emotional early development strategies for success. We call it SEEDS, a listening ear from birth to thrive. Joining us to talk about the SEEDS Helpline is Shayla Lewis, SEEDS Helpline Coordinator, and Veronica Thomas, Program Director for our Inclusion and Behavioral Support Program. 

For the first time ever, tens of thousands of young children across Georgia are preparing to enter Georgia’s Pre-K Program. We’re expecting 70,000 and more this school year. Several areas of the state started school in late July, but the majority are starting now. Joining us to talk about starting school are Megan McGraw and Jessi Slater from our Inclusion and Behavior Support Division, and Karen Mobley and Megan O’Bara, both specialists in Georgia’s Pre-K Program. 

Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs is interviewed by John Clark from the Georgia News Network for their weekly public affairs program Georgia Focus. 

CAPS is Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services…a federal program administered by DECAL that helps pay for the cost of child care so parents can work or attend school.  CAPS also helps families find high quality early learning environments and stability in their child care arrangements and connects families with resources to help them become self-sufficient and engage in two-generation strategies that support the whole family. Joining us today with an update on CAPS is Elisabetta Kasfir, Deputy Commissioner for Federal Programs and Arlene Green, a Scholarship Administration Specialist at CAPS.  

The data says Americans today are working longer and retiring later. Thirty years ago, the average retirement age in the US among men was 62, 59 among women.  By 2021, those numbers had gone up by three years…some blame a lack of savings, some blame reduced social security benefits, and some blame COVID. Whatever the case, retirements here at DECAL always come with mixed emotions. Joining us to talk about retirement is Faith Duncan, Director of Georgia’s Pre-K Program, Judy Carter is a Georgia’s Pre-K Regional Manager. Also joining us is Sabrina Henry, HR Operations Supervisor here at DECAL.

DECAL’s Nutrition Services Division administers the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Happy Helpings, Georgia’s Summer Food Service Program. These federal nutrition programs, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), ensure eligible children and adults have access to nutritious meals and snacks. Joining us this week to talk about Happy Helpings and CACFP is Tamika Boone, Nutrition Services Director, and Cindy Kicklighter, Nutrition Marketing and Outreach Manager.  

These days finding traditional child care in Georgia Monday through Friday, from 6:00 AM to 6:30 PM, can be challenge enough.  But what about when you need non-traditional child care in the evenings, overnights, or on weekends?  Through extensive engagement with families, child care providers, and other stakeholders, DECAL has learned that many families have child care needs during nontraditional hours that are not currently being met by available child care.  That’s why we are offering our new EXPAND Grants….which stands for Expanding Parents’ Access to Nontraditional Delivery.  Joining us to talk about the new EXPAND Grants is Dr. Bentley Ponder, Deputy Commissioner for Quality Innovations and Partnerships; Jill Taylor is Manager of Community Partnerships and Projects; Valerie Perez is Research Analyst; and Shayna Funke is Lead Policy and Business Operations Analyst.  

As most people know, the program in Georgia that provides financial assistance with child care is called CAPS, or Childcare and Parent Services, and its administered here at DECAL. We are excited to announce that DECAL will soon begin administering the provider management function of the CAPS Program, work that is currently, and has historically been performed by our contractor, Maximus. Joining us to talk about the new CAPS Provider Relations Unit is Kay Mayfield, CAPS Provider Relations Director at DECAL, and Ann Panzica, CAPS Provider Relations Manager.  

A graduation ceremony was held recently at the Loudermilk Center in downtown Atlanta for a group of students from state agencies who have spent the last ten months looking at ways Georgia can serve children and families through a two-generation approach.  The 2Gen Leadership Academy is sponsored by the Georgia Children’s Cabinet.  Joining us from DECAL to talk about their experience from the Academy is Rebecca Ellis, Director of Practice and Support Services; Megan Fickes is Early Head Start Partnership Director; and Rob O’Callaghan is Senior Research Analyst in the Quality Initiatives and Partnerships Division.

School’s out for summer but still so many things happening here at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning….we thought it was a good time for a Chat with Commissioner Jacobs, taking a wide variety of questions from our DECAL team as well as the early childhood care and education workforce and the general public on social media. Let's get started! 

There’s a new resource in Georgia to assist families in locating the services they need…from financial assistance and food pantries to medical services and child care. Find Help Georgia is a collaboration by DECAL, Technical College System of Georgia, and Prevent Child Abuse Georgia. Here to talk about Find Help Georgia is Amanda Tarpley, CAPS Family Support Director for Operations; Amy Roys is CAPS Director for Development and Partnerships; and Jennifer Stine is Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse Georgia. 

www.findhelpga.org 

For the 12th year, DECAL is offering an intensive academic program for rising Pre-K and rising Kindergarten students called the Summer Transition Program.  The program was created to support students who either did not attend Georgia’s Pre-K Program or Head Start or who need additional help before taking that next step. Joining us to talk about the Summer Transition Program is Meghan McNail, Summer Transition Program and Outreach Manager; Yehymmy Mora is a Transition Coach who works with families during STP at The North Fulton Child Development Center; LaKeisha McClendon is a Rising K teacher at Newton County Head Start; and Deana Snowden is a lead teacher for the Rising Pre-K class at Cornelia Elementary School in Habersham County. 

Summer officially arrives on June 21….many consider it Memorial Day, May 29….either way, temperatures are rising and the danger of a child dying alone in a hot car becomes even more of a threat. For the tenth consecutive year, DECAL is calling for families and caregivers of children to Look Again…and increase awareness of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles. Joining us to talk about our annual Look Again campaign, this year May 22-26, is University of Georgia Professor Dr. Andrew Grundstein, a Geographer-Climatologist with interests on the impacts of weather and climate on human health; Rukiya Thomas, CCS Regional Manager; Kesha McNeal, CCS Regional Coordinator; and Lisa Dawson, Director of the Injury Prevention Program within the Division of Health Protection at the Georgia Department of Public Health. 

This year we’re celebrating the 30th year of Georgia’s Pre-K Program and the 10th year of Quality Rated.  Next year marks the 20th year for the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning and when the agency was created in 2004, the same legislation mandated that the new department have an advisory board to support our work. The board meets quarterly and is composed of 14 members appointed by the Governor, with one member from each of Georgia’s 14 congressional districts. Joining us to talk about the Board of Early Care and Learning are board members Luann Purcell, a charter member since 2006; Susan Harper joined the board in 2009; and current board chair Phil Davis joined the board in 2009.