The 2017 North Carolina Child Care Health Consultant Association Conference began Wednesday afternoon, March 8th, with an introduction to Dr. Tamar Ringel-Kulka, the new Project Director and Jacquie Simmons, the new Project Coordinator for the North Carolina Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center.
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| Dr. Tamar Ringel-Kulka |
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Jacquie Simmons
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The conference continued with a session with updates and new initiatives from the Division of Child Development and Early Education, led by Lorie Peugh and Laura Hewitt.
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| Lorie Peugh |
Initiatives presented were the Race to the Top / Early Learning Challenge Grant results, Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) requirements, and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultantion grant.
The Child Care Commission and their relationship with the child care rules were explained in detail, and a special emphasis was made on the important role of the voices of Child Care Health Consultants to the rule making process during public hearing and public comment. They continued with a discussion of the temporary rules put in place in September 2016 to meet CCDF requirements and the relationship to the permanent rules which will be put into place spring 2017. The tentative date for the public hearing of rules is May 8, 2017. The Resource Center will send a notification to all CCHCs when the permanent rules are published (in April) and details about the process of public comment and public hearing.
They also introduced DCDEE WORKS - a new Workforce Online Reporting and Knowledge System which will function as a single portal of entry for workforce education and professional development to collect, report, and track child care workforce information needed to support education requirements
