Office of Child Care Technical Assistance Interest Form: Improving Child Care and Part C Integration or Disability Inclusion in Child Care

INTEREST FORM

Supporting States and Territories to Improve Integration of Child Care and Part C Early Intervention Services

Background: The Office of Child Care (OCC) is partnering with Guidehouse and Start Early on a project to support approximately five state/territory lead agencies to integrate IDEA Part C Early Intervention (EI) services and supports in child care settings. This project will provide customized technical assistance (TA) to help advance an implementation plan for policy and systems change. The TA may focus on policy, practice and system improvements that lead to:

• Increased delivery of services and supports in child care settings for infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities, and infants and toddlers who are at-risk of developing delays (based on the state’s IDEA Part C EI definition for at-risk);

• Improved access to high quality child care with coordinated and integrated services aligned to the developmental needs of the child; and

• Improved service delivery of Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) in coordination with child care providers.

Criteria for Participation: Interest forms will be accepted from State and Territory CCDF lead agencies. State/territory indicators of readiness to participate for this initiative are:

• Existing relationship(s), partnership(s), or plan(s) to partner between CCDF lead agency and IDEA Part C;

• Capacity to dedicate time to the project (approximately 10 hours per month for both the CCDF administrator or designee and the IDEA Part C EI coordinator or designee); and

• Willingness of CCDF lead agency and IDEA Part C to work with key partners, including families, child care and EI providers, and other community members, to engage in a needs assessment process and develop and implement efforts to make progress toward a policy/systems goal.

This interest form should take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete. We expect five state or territory lead agencies to be selected for a brief virtual meeting to further discuss the project.

Interest Form

1. Briefly describe your state/territory’s interest in this TA opportunity and how it can support your efforts to advance integration of Part C Early Intervention services in child care. [200 word maximum]

2. Please list the two required individuals and any others who should be involved in this effort. This does not need to be a complete list of team members. Note: teams may include: individuals with lived experience (ex. families, providers, community leaders), other state/Territory leads, advocates, leaders from other systems such as Medicaid, child welfare, home visiting, infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH), data, and/or research and evaluation partners, early learning council, State Interagency Coordinating Council, healthcare, or philanthropic partners.

Agency/Organization/Role	Name/Title	Status confirmed, likely, unsure
CCDF Lead Agency Representative (required)
Part C Agency Representation (required)

4. Can the lead agencies commit to the following expectations for participating in this technical assistance project over a 10-month period?

Expectations for Participants	Checkbox (Yes/No/Unsure)
CCDF lead agency and Part C EI lead could commit to:
Finalize a core team (as described in the Description of Opportunity) within one month of the project launch
Engage in the needs assessment process to understand how well the state/territory currently supports integration of Early Intervention services in child care settings by the end of the fourth month of the project launch (may include family/community engagement and review of policies/systems/practices).
Develop and make progress toward a policy/systems goal and implementation plan throughout the duration of the project period (approximately 10 months).
Hold routine – approximately twice per month – core team virtual meetings with the national TA team.
Both the CCDF administrator or designee and the IDEA Part C Early Intervention coordinator or designee dedicate at least 10 hours per month to this project, inclusive of core team virtual meetings and calls with the national TA team.
Sustainability
Develop a plan to sustain progress beyond the project period.
[Optional] Please provide context on any items above:

Questions or requests for accommodations can be sent to ACF_OCC_Engagement@Grantsolutions.gov.

Contact information for the person completing the Interest form:

State/Territory:	Region:
Name/Title:	Organization:
Phone Number:	Email Address:
Alternate Point of Contact Name/Title:
POC’s Phone Number:	POC’s Email Address: