Head Start-Child Care Partnerships Work!
by Senaida Garcia, Project Director, and Pamela Gomes, Fiscal Manager, Tulare County Office of Education- Child Care Educational Program
Everyone is talking about Head Start-child care partnerships. It is a great strategy for maximizing monies and providing services for families, especially in light of welfare reform efforts.
Since, 1967, the Tulare County Office of Education has operated a co-located - or blended - program. Full-day services are provided with funding from both Head Start half-day funds and State California Child Development Division General Child Care funds. The Tulare County Office of Education operates eight different direct service child development programs.
Creating a blended program
For a program to change from a separate, distinct program to a blended one, program staff must decide which programs will be combined. Issues to be considered include the purpose of combining funding, eligibility guidelines, delivery of services, days of services, staffing patterns, program monitoring, reporting, and the allocation formula.
The next step in the conversion process is to work with fiscal staff to create the allocation formula. The formula must be justifiable to all funding sources, and to external auditors. This requires a sound basis for creating the formula. Issues to be considered in developing the formula include days of operation, number of children funded, and total amounts of each grant. It is also critical that fiscal staff have a basic understanding of the program requirements of each funding source.
After you've developed an allocation formula, it must be reviewed by an external auditor. This is crucial to determining whether there are problems with the formula. The external auditor can be a good ally when working with different funding sources and can help you avoid audit exceptions or disallowed costs.
The funding sources then approve the concept. They should be sent as much documentation as possible about how and why this change is being made. Work with your funding sources to determine the best ways to meet their individual requirements. From the start, the Policy Councils and the executive boards should have been informed, involved, and their approvals received for moving forward.
Lastly, a comprehensive implementation plan must be developed and then constantly evaluated until all problems and setbacks are dealt with.
In Tulare County
In Tulare County, the allocation formula combines three funding streams- Head Start, State Preschool, and General Child Care. Each center has children co-located, and they receive identical services regardless of which program they are enrolled in and whether they attend half-day or full-day. Staff is paid through the allocation formula, based upon a combination of numbers of children served and funded amounts. the General Child Care eligibility requirements and the Head Start income guidelines are used to determine who is eligible for this funding method. The formula is approved annually by the Head Start Regional Office during the re-application process.
For more information, contact:
Tulare County Office of Education-
Child Care Educational Program,
7000 Doe Avenue, Suite C,
Visalla, CA 93291.
T: 209/651-3022, F: 209/651-3802
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