ENHANCE: Essential cHIld cAre Needs Covid & bEyond COVID-19 MONTANA CHILD CARE Needs Assessment – Survey Distribution: June 26 th , 2020 Contents Background and Significance:.........................................2 Consent.............................................................. 2 Methodology.......................................................... 2 Specific strategies of this survey...................................2 Contributing partners:............................................... 2 Child Care Provider Email............................................ 5 Child Care Provider Text Message.....................................6 Family/Caregiver Email............................................... 7 Family/Caregiver Text Message........................................8 Business Email....................................................... 9 School Districts Email.............................................. 10 Coalition leader Email.............................................. 11 General Email....................................................... 12 Social Media Post................................................... 13
Transcript
ENHANCE: Essential cHIld cAre Needs Covid & bEyondCOVID-19 MONTANA CHILD CARENeeds Assessment – Survey Distribution: June 26th, 2020
ContentsBackground and Significance:......................................................................................................................2
Family/Caregiver Text Message...................................................................................................................8
Business Email.............................................................................................................................................9
School Districts Email................................................................................................................................10
General Email............................................................................................................................................12
Social Media Post......................................................................................................................................13
Background and Significance:Montana's reliance on child care has never been more clear. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools, businesses and child care provider closures imposed a significant impact on the accessibility and affordability of child care. Essential workers with children were the most impacted with school closures and limited options for emergency child care at the start of the pandemic. As the state moves to reopen and business practices are unrestricted there is a need to identify current limitations and readiness of the overarching statewide child care infrastructure. This includes the needs of parents and families, child care providers, business and schools. This survey provides a statewide COVID-19 impact analysis across sectors to guide resources and reinforce the readiness and resiliency of our statewide child care infrastructure. This survey was designed by a collective led by the Montana VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters) Childcare Sub Committee in response to COVID-19. The sub-committee includes representatives from the various non-profit, volunteer, community and private sector organizations.
ConsentThe purpose of the survey is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the child care needs of parents and families, care providers, businesses and schools. Participation in this study is voluntary and information will not be shared with anyone outside the study staff.
MethodologyThe surveys will be shared by a network of organizations and partners associated with the VOAD group. Distribution will include email and social media messaging. All surveys will be completed electronically and the data will be securely housed at MSU. The only identifying information of respondents will be voluntarily provided email addresses, and identifying information will not be shared. Once the survey is closed, data will be analyzed and shared via webinars. Respondents who indicated an interest and provided an email address will be invited via email to the webinar events.
Specific strategies of this survey Gathering and chunking data to use in decision-making and evaluation Increasing family resiliency in the face of school closures amplifying the family voice and
enhancing family engagement Developing shared resources to support families; early childhood providers; school-age
programs to improve information consistency, coordination, and navigation Increasing collaboration across state organizations, programs for early childhood stakeholders,
and networks to reduce duplication, use resources better, and advocate for increased allocation of state funds
Educating community businesses on best practices to support employees with childcare needs Reinforcing child care providers in their business practices
Contributing partners: SciGaia https://www.scigaia.com/ A data driven software company that builds decision making platforms for pressing problems with the ultimate goal of creating solutions for sustainable wellbeing. SciGaia led the design of the survey, supporting the stakeholder groups and is hosting the platform for dissemination of the survey results. Key Contact: Amber Caldwell, Health Strategist [email protected]
Montana Child Care Resource & Referral Networkhttp://www.mtchildcare.org/Montana Child Care Resource and Referral Network unites Montana’s six Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and coordinates efforts to build a high quality, accessible early childhood care and education system that supports young children, parents, early childhood professionals, and member organizations.Key Contact: Meghan Ballenger, Network Director [email protected]
Montana Afterschool Alliancehttp://www.mtafterschoolalliance.org MTAA supports and advocates for sustainable, high quality afterschool programs by drawing together key decision-makers committed to improving outcomes for youth, their families, and communities.Key Contact: Laurie Bishop, Executive Director [email protected]
Zero to Fivehttps://www.zerotofive.org The Zero to Five statewide office works to establish statewide partnerships and improve systems capacity, while also providing support, resources, and guidance to local Zero to Five collaboratives.Key Contact: Caitlin Jensen, Executive Director [email protected]
Healthy Mothers Healthy Babieshttps://hmhb-mt.orgImproving the health, safety, and well-being of Montana families by supporting mothers and babies, ages 0 to 3.Key Contact: Stephanie Morton, Program Director [email protected]
Greater Gallatin United Wayhttps://www.greatergallatinunitedway.org We empower donors, volunteers, businesses, governments, nonprofits, and community groups to invest in neighbors to improve quality of life for everyone here. Working together, we identify the community’s most critical needs in the following four impact areas and implement collaborative, innovative solutions to improve lives in Gallatin, Madison, Meagher and Park Counties.Key Contact: Sarah Krumm, Early Childhood Impact Coordinator, [email protected]
Gallatin Valley YMCAhttps://www.gallatinvalleyymca.org Strengthen community through youth development, healthy living, and social responsibilityKey Contact: Andrea Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer, [email protected]
Zero to Five Missoulahttps://www.zerotofive.org/missoula Zero to Five Missoula is creating a community-wide movement to make sure every resident of Missoula County understands the importance of this critical period of life, and to connect parents and caregivers to the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to help children thrive.Key Contact: Grace Decker, [email protected]
HRDC delivers programs and supportive services which encourage self-sufficiency and community collaboration for the betterment of Montana’s most disadvantaged.Key Contact: Jessica Stover, Outreach and Communication Specialist, [email protected]
Child Care Connectionshttps://cccmontana.org Child Care Connections is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as the only child care resource and referral agency in Gallatin, Park, Meagher, Broadwater, Jefferson, and Lewis and Clark Counties.Key Contact: Kristin Horn, Emergency Preparendess Lead, [email protected]
Family Connections MThttps://familyconnectionsmt.org Family Connections is a child care resource and referral agency serving north central and north east Montana. Family Connections utilizes the strength of community to support exceptional early childhood experiences.Key Contact: Heather McCartney-Duty, Outreach and Consumer Education Specialist, [email protected]
Child Care Provider EmailSubject: Providers: we need to hear from you!
For those of us that work directly in the early childhood profession, we are already concerned about providing the best learning environment for children and a stimulating work environment for teachers. With COVID-19, our community has experienced a trauma shift, our workforce has changed dramatically, and the safety of our children is at risk. The Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) Child Care Task Force is conducting a comprehensive statewide needs assessment of Montana’s early childhood and school-age systems. To help with this assessment, we are asking families and caregivers to complete a survey so we can learn from your experiences trying to access services, navigate the system, and engage with providers.
Contributing partners include: Scigaia, MT Child Care Resource & Referral Network, MT Afterschool Alliance, Greater Gallatin United Way, Zero to Five Statewide, Zero to Five Missoula, Child Care Connections, Family Connections MT, Gallatin Valley YMCA, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies and, HRDC 7 Child Care.
This Task Force is collaborating to support solutions that move our economy forward, provide safe care for our children, and profession support for our educators. This is not a problem one organization can tackle alone. Together we are leading with empathy, passion, data, and expertise to solve these problems.
We invite you to be part of this movement.
We are interested in partnering with those on the front line – child care providers. If you work directly with children and families or program administration, we ask that you complete this survey in an effort to rebuild and sustain our child care infrastructure from the damage of COVID-19.
Early childhood and school-age systems are vast and comprehensive, and the COVID-19 crisis is multifarious. In other words, the survey is long. We expect that it will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete.
Child care providers work for some of the lowest wages across industries, while an incentive does not make up for that loss, we hope to encourage providers to complete this survey with $50 Amazon gift cards for 35 randomly selected providers. Further we will offer a free webinar to publicly share the results of this survey and introduce the task force action plans.
Together we can find solutions to the problems we face,XX
Child Care Provider Text Message Hello (name)! We need your help in gathering stories from child care providers. Fill out this survey and enter your email for the chance to win a $50 gift card. https://www.enhancemt.org
Family/Caregiver EmailSubject: Survey for families
Parents finding themselves with increased levels of responsibility as the result of closed schools and day cares, stay-at-home orders, and new social distancing measures. Children are facing higher levels of isolation—unprecedented in our time—resulting in a mental toll on many.
The Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) Child Care Task Force is conducting a comprehensive statewide needs assessment of Montana’s early childhood and school-age systems. To help with this assessment, we are asking families and caregivers to complete a survey so we can learn from your experiences trying to access services, navigate the system, and engage with providers.
Your participation will enter you into a raffle to a $50 Amazon gift card!
Contributing partners include: Scigaia, MT Child Care Resource & Referral Network, MT Afterschool Alliance, Greater Gallatin United Way, Zero to Five Statewide, Zero to Five Missoula, Child Care Connections, Family Connections MT, Gallatin Valley YMCA, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies and, HRDC 7 Child Care.
This Task Force is collaborating to support solutions to move our economy forward, safe care for our children, profession support for our educators. This is not a problem only one organization can tackle, together we are leading with empathy, passion, data, and expertise to solve these problems.
We invite you to be part of this movement.
We are interested in learning from families who have: Experienced a shift in child care needs related to COVID-19, school closures and employment
changes, Used on wanted to use emergency child care services, relief programs or any type of health
services Have concerns about the upcoming school year and future child care needs as the state
continues to reopen
We want to hear from parents, grandparents raising grandchildren, foster families, and every other type of caretakers. We need to hear from as many voices as possible to help us understand how we can improve the safety and care systems that support you and your children during COVID-19.
The response to the global COVID-19 pandemic has affected every industry but seems to have hit parents, caregivers, and their children with even greater risks. There are four basic problems in our child care systems that did not exist before: increase parental responsibility for daily child care; increased isolation for children; decrease child care options; and decreased productivity for virtual workers.
The goal of the assessment is to understand the affect of COVID-19 on the early childhood and school-aged systems and define ways to improve service to families. The purpose of this survey is to:
Gather information that can be acted on by the task force to provide resources and services, Identify specific needs that can be addressed through collaborations, Create a platform to share information and reinforce efforts to support child care beyond
COVID-19
This assessment is a part of a project lead by SciGia, a data driven software company that builds decision making platforms for pressing problems with the ultimate goal of creating solutions for sustainable wellbeing. Please follow us here to learn more: https://www.scigaia.com/ or contact: Amber Caldwell, Health Strategist [email protected]
For our children and our future, XX
Family/Caregiver Text MessageHi, (name) Will you fill out this survey to tell us about your child care and summer camps needs are during COVID? https://www.enhancemt.org
Business EmailSubject: How COVID-19 effects the Child Care industry
As you are probably aware, consumer demand has rapidly and dramatically changed in response to this global pandemic. The economic downturns and hardships we face are swift, heavy, and challenging as we navigate the unknown situations. While we have never been in a situation quite like this one, we have a history of other crisis to glean wisdom and learn.
Niccolo Machiavelli who wrote, “Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.” We can choose to be overcome or we can choose new opportunities that we thought were once impossible.
The child care industry is no exception. Many point out that it was an unstable system before the crisis but there are “four basic problems that now exist that were not present before: increase parental responsibility for daily child care; increased isolation; for children; decreased child care options; and decreased workplace productivity for virtual workers.” (Great Falls Development Authority Report)
Parents have now spent 13 weeks—more time than a typical summer break—at home, attempting to work, and provide full-time care to their kids. Districts are wrapping up the school year, 11 weeks of Montana summer are upon us, and essential summer programs are opening their doors. However, new challenges arise: parents are needing more child care and few programs exists due to COVID-19 health precautions.
We know that childcare needs will impact the workforce and essentially affect your business. We invite you to contribute to this survey to share your perspective of how COVID-19 has impacted your workforce, if and how the child care needs of your employees has impacted your business productivity and insight into best practices for accommodating these needs as we move beyond COVID-19.
The results of this comprehensive survey will be publicly shared through a free webinar to introduce action plans that engage with community business leaders. We encourage you to contribute to this survey and share it with your colleagues as the more input we receive the better we are able to address the needs of our community.
School Districts Email Subject: COVID-19 and Schools: what does reopening mean?
Across Montana, school districts have been impacted in unprecedented ways by the COVID-19 pandemic. And Montana’s public schools have risen to the challenge with unwavering commitment and creativity. Remote learning. Virtual staff meetings. Supporting children and families in new ways. Delivering meals. Drive-by graduations.... and much, much more.
And now, school districts are preparing for the coming school year, and making plans to meet the myriad challenges of operating in the age of COVID-19.
The VOAD, a multisector group of community organizations, and its child care subcommittee, representing child care, education, afterschool care, health, social services, businesses, and families from across the state are developing recommendations for funding and statewide collaboration. We are asking you, and school personnel from across Montana, to share your current plans and preparations, as well as the challenges you foresee.
Please complete this brief survey as soon as possible. Your input will help us develop recommendations that most closely match your needs and challenges. The results of this comprehensive survey will be publicly shared through a free webinar to introduce action plans that engage with educational leaders. We encourage you to contribute to this survey and share it with your colleagues as the more input we receive the better we are able to address the needs of our schools.
Coalition leader EmailSubject: Please email your families
I am working with The Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) Child Care Task Force. This group is conducting a comprehensive statewide needs assessment of Montana’s early childhood and school-age systems. To help with this assessment, we are asking families and caregivers to complete a survey so we can learn from your experiences trying to access services, navigate the system, and engage with providers.
This is a voluntary, project based on the critical needs arising in our communities across the state.
1. Send the survey to all early childhood providers (includes child care, preschool, health, mental health, early intervention, nutrition, home visiting, and other family support providers.). Ask providers to send this survey to their families
2. Send the survey to families3. Email or call unlicensed providers and ask them to complete the survey and send it along to
their families 4. Send the survey to businesses or your local chamber
We have email text for outreach to providers as well as families, both pasted below and in the attached document. I have also attached a flyer advertising the survey which can be hung in your program office lobbies, if appropriate, and sent to providers to display.
Please feel free to edit any of the language as you like, and let me know if you need anything else to support distribution and outreach.
We would, of course, love for you all and you to complete the survey as well - your insight is valuable!
Contact Meghan Hollifield [email protected] with any questions about the Task Force Contact Stephanie Morton [email protected] to partner in state-wide solutions for better child care
General EmailSubject - Your input is needed to ENHANCE Montana!
I need your help! The economic downturns and hardships due to COVID have been swift, heavy, and challenging. While we have never been in a situation quite like this one, we have a history of other crises to glean wisdom and learn. Niccolo Machiavelli who wrote, “Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.” We can choose to be overcome or we can choose new opportunities that we thought were once impossible. The child care industry is no exception to COVID hardships. Many point out that it was an unstable system before the crisis but there are “four basic problems that now exist that were not present before: increased parental responsibility for daily child care; increased isolation; for children; decreased child care options; and decreased workplace productivity for virtual workers.” (Great Falls Development Authority Report) Parents have now spent 13 weeks—more time than a typical summer break—at home, attempting to work, and provide full-time care to their kids. Districts are wrapping up the school year, 11 weeks of Montana summer are upon us, and essential summer programs are opening their doors. However, new challenges arise: parents are needing more child care and few programs exist due to COVID-19 health precautions. We know that childcare needs will impact the workforce and essentially affect Montana's ability to reopen stronger and more resilient. We invite you to contribute to this survey to share your perspective whether you are a parent, a care provider, a business owner or represent a school - we want to hear from you and how COVID-19 has impacted your life. The insight you share into best practices for accommodating needs will be applied as we move beyond COVID-19. The results of this comprehensive survey will be publicly shared through a free webinar to introduce action plans that engage with community leaders including care providers, schools and businesses. We encourage you to contribute to this survey and share it with your colleagues as the more input we receive the better we are able to address the needs of our community. Survey Link: https://www.enhancemt.org/ Time: 20 MinDeadline: July 10Questions? Amber Caldwell [email protected]
We can build a better new normal in which children, families, and child care workers all have what they need to succeed. #investinchildcare This pandemic has revealed what's been true all along, that child care is an essential public good for our state. We must #investinchildcare and build a stronger system for children and families. Will you fill out this survey to tell us about your child care and summer camps needs are during COVID? https://www.enhancemt.org We need your help in gathering stories from child care providers. Fill out this survey and enter your email for the chance to win a $50 gift card. https://www.enhancemt.org
