Building Bright Futures
Regional Council Meeting
Agenda
August 1st, 2016
Emory Hebard State Office Building
Room 250
1-2:30
Present: Debbie Manning, Colleen Morre de Ortiz, Carly Fredrickson, Linda Michniewicz, Carmen Tarbox, Liza Fleisher, Julie Lavine, Lorraine Vernet, Brenda Machado, Heather Cole, Sylvie Corriveau, Diane Nichols-Fleming, Chris Nelson, Martha Braithwaite
Updates
Carly Fredrickson is the new Maternal Child Health Coordinator at the Department of Health. Welcome, Carly!
CIS has had some staffing changes. Dawn Powers stepped down as CIS coordinator in the southern region (St Johnsbury). Erin Dobbins has replaced her. Liza Fleisher will be taking over Erin’s duties as supervisor in the Newport region.
Lets Grow Kids: It’s fair season! Brittany is tabling at local fairs, dairy days and field days. She is looking for volunteers to help out at the Orleans County Fair. Shifts can be anywhere from 2 hours to all day. Lets Grow Kids will pay your admission to the fair if you volunteer.
The Blue Ribbon Commission held public forums across the state recently. The closest was in St. Johnsbury. Regional Council Members attended, including Ivy Crowe, Colleen Morre de Ortiz. Karen Chitambre and a parent who is Colleen’s neighbor also attended. The discussion centered around the lack of high quality care in our region, the lack of accredited centers, and the crisis of affordability and in ability for providers to earn a livable wage. Attendees take away was the need for the state to make an investment in Early Care and Education. The Blue Ribbon Commissions report will be made public in November.
Regional Action Team Update: Colleen and Martha met with NVDA to discuss the status of town plans in our region and examples of how early care and education can be incorporated into town plans and planning process. No August meeting is planned for the Action Team. However, there will be a meeting in September. The Action Team will likely take part in planning candidates’ forums in the fall.
Head Start: Early Head Start in North Troy has hired staff and is up and running. Early Head Start is looking to hire a home visitor for Newport. Both programs have openings for families. The program is looking to hire a Spanish language interpreter to work with Spanish speaking families.
Newport and Derby Head start also have current openings. Newport is a part day part year program. Derby is full day full year.
Children with Special Health Needs – has hired a new social worker who will be covering Essex and Caledonia Counties. Debbie Manning will continue to cover Lamoille and Orleans Counties. The new social worker wills tart August 8th.
Act 166/Public Pre K
Brief overview of legislation
How it fits with the goals of the State andRegionalCouncilActions Plans
Representative from each Supervisory Union Presentprograms in their SU
Current enrollment
Opportunities they see
Challenges they experience/anticipate
Experience of private providers
Small group discussions: what are you hearing in your community? What are you hopes for public Pre K? What are you concerns?
Key Discussion Question: Oneyear from now, how will we know if it is working? (3 years from now, 5 years from now)
Next Meeting: Monday, September 12th
Location TBD