Date: Monday January 26, 2026
Time: 1:00-2:30pm
Location: Zoom
Meeting Minutes
Welcome (Leah Spangler)
Opening Remarks (Shante’ Brown)
PA Budget/ funding (Shante’ Brown)
- 2025-26 OCDEL Budget Initiatives
- DHS
- Early Intervention Birth-3
- $13.18 million INCREASE, appropriation of $198.43 million
- Child Care Works (CCW)
- Child Care Services – $298.08 mil
- Child Care Assistance- $123.255 mil
- Child Care Recruitment and Retention Community-Based Family Centers-$25 million
- Retention of front-line workers is the #1 issue that faces the system. The new investments are designed to be provider-facing; the provider can apply for the awards at their local ELRC. Approx. $450 per qualified childcare worker.
- Community-Based Family Centers
- Nurse Family Partnership
- PDE
- PA Pre-K Counts–$9.029 mil, total $326.813 mil
- Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program- $90.878 mil
- Preschool Early Intervention, 3-5- $453.284 mil
- Gov Budget Address
- Feb 3, 2026
- DHS Appropriations Hearings:
- Senate: Feb 25, 2026
- House: Mar 4, 2026
- PDE Appropriations Hearings:
- Senate: Feb 23, 2026
- House: Mar 3, 2026
- Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)
- No funding or reporting changes at this time.
- OCC monitoring were previously scheduled and unrelated to recent scrutiny of CCDF (week of April 13, 2026)
State Advisory Council (Netta Radzinski)
- Statement of Financial Interest (SFI)- Exec SAC members only
- Statement of Financial Interest Forms are due by May 1, 2026
- Online or mail
- Online filing instructions at pa.gov
- Subcommittee Updates (Co-chairs)
- Access to Programs
- Recent identified themes: Zoning, insurance, leadership/mentors, connection for Home Based providers
- Recommendations being drafted by AP to increase utilization of PSS and COMPASS (findchildcare.pa.gov)
- Conducted provider engagement and feedback activities
- Met with Trying Together
- Themes: Utilization of PELICAN PSS features: Capacity, vacancy, and waitlist are low.
- Continue research and stakeholder engagement. Develop recommendations and communicate with PELICAN Steering and OCDEL Leadership to plan and prioritize system changes.
- Child Care Certification & Quality Rating (CCQR)
- Regulatory compliance guide and regulatory burdens to providers
- CCQR positioned to provide feedback
- Physical, Behavioral, Mental Health (PBMH)
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- ECCS and Parent to Parent will be hosting their annual open day Lifting Family Voice workshop in May 2026 in Western PA.
- Family Leadership conference- invite only
- Family Leadership toolkit
- Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome journey mapping-referrals to EI.
- Positive Behavior Support and Restraint Procedures
- Public comment ended 1/19/26
- The EIFS Bureau is reviewing the comment and will issue the announcement in the future.
- Professional Development
- Recommendations:
- Uniform data collection
- TEACH data added to Registry
- Increase application completion
- Greater support for prospective PKC Teachers
- Expand income eligibility
- Expand pool of PQAS instructors
- Increase access to PD opportunities
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB)
- SAC Subcommittee demographics analysis: 44% of subcommittee members are current or retired providers
- SAC Subcommittee application process
- Application window opens July-Sept. 2026 (tentative)
Workforce Support
- Child Care Staff Recruitment & Retention (Nia Harris)
- Reviewed qualifications for CCSRR award eligibility for childcare providers
- Career Pathway (Luisa Olivo-Wolf)
- Video recording will be shared with SAC
- Workforce Ad Campaign (Colin Day)
- Debuted 30-second Advertisement
- Rapid Response Team (RRT) (Brandy Fox)
- Why was RRT given an extension? Due to the budget impasse, we were able to extend for close-out activities.
- All 19 grantees have accepted one-year extension
- Thrive Grant (Tracy Duarte)
- $100,000 grants to 10 states. (PA selected)
- Key activities:
- Cross-sector education and awareness
- Training and capacity building
- PQAS Workgroup (Marnie Aylesworth)
- Easily accessing PQAS credit for EI courses
- SAC PD Subcommittee recs
- Specialty discipline
- Director Credential requirements and processes
- Certification Updates (Ruby Martin)
- Impact project: completed revisions and rewrites
- Orientation training facility at the Pennsylvania Key- 3rd floor
- Health assessment and immunization tracking
- Early Intervention Updates (Kim Rode)
- Positive Behavior Supports funding: preschool EI-15 programs have applied
- Positive Behavior Supports announcement
- EI Family survey- reviewed response rate
- 2026 determinations- issued in January to programs
- FY 25/26 fee schedule: IT EI- rate increase in routing for approval. Will be retroactive to July 1, 2025.
Public Participation and Open Forum (Leah Spangler)
- Open Discussion
- Provider, Damaris Alvarado, requests guidance be sent to ECE programs to know their rights when/if immigration officers come to facilities.
- Dep Sec Brown advised that guidance must come from the Governor’s Office in order for a program office (like OCDEL) to distribute.
- Others recommended SAC share resources (CLASP and Ed. Law Center)
Upcoming SAQ Quarterly Meetings (Leah Spangler)
2026 Quarterly Meetings 1:00-2:30pm
- Monday April 27, 2026
- Monday July 27, 2026
- Monday October 26, 2026
Created in 2007 by the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), The Pennsylvania Key implements the work and supports the policies developed and managed by OCDEL. Learn More. >