COVID-19 Impacts & Response

EVALUATION OF DIRECT ENHANCEMENT SERVICES

COVID-19 Impacts & Response

COVID-19 continued to challenge the state and our area throughout 2020 and 2021. The majority of the Coalition’s 100+ employees continued to participate in work from home without a disruption of services to families and providers.

Professional development continued in a virtual format and the ELCHC conducted live webinars monthly to support the provider community as the CARES funding applications rolled out. CARES funding was designed to support providers experiencing a loss of income due to low enrollment and rising costs of goods during the pandemic. Phase 1-5 grants were paid to providers per the requirements established by the Division of Early Learning.

The Coalition received more than 2,117 applications for phased grant funding to contracted and non-contracted providers and distributed more than $10.9M to providers in fiscal 20-21. This phased grant funding was on top of $3.6M in phased grant funding to providers in fiscal 19-20.

# Of Providers Dollars

Phase 1 110 $ 435,200 Phase 2 108 $ 822,766 Phase 3 203 $ 780,674 Phase 4 772 $ 1,132,500 Phase 5 924 $ 7,812,000 Total 2,117 $ 10,983,140

Parents who want or need child care are faced with the challenging task of searching for quality services within a program that is also convenient, affordable, and aligns with their goals for their child’s educational attainment. In response, Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County’s (ELCHC) Family Services team has developed a holistic approach to delivering a variety of strategies and resources to support parents seeking the right place for their child. The ELCHC’s Family Services Specialists are trained as Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Specialists and offer unbiased information and guidance to families about child care options, information to help families identify quality early learning programs, financial assistance strategies and referrals to other community programs and resources as needed. CCR&R is a free service for all families in Hillsborough County.

In fiscal year 2020-2021, the majority of ELCHC Family Services team was successfully working from home to ensure families have the technical assistance needed to complete the online School Readiness (SR) and/or Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) application process. In addition, the ELCHC has partnered with seven Children’s Board of Hillsborough County Family Resource Centers, which remained open during COVID-19, to ensure families in all areas of Hillsborough County can easily access technology. In addition to supporting the School Readiness and VPK application processes, the ELCHC maintains a comprehensive database of child care providers throughout Hillsborough County, including licensed child care centers and family child care homes as well as license-exempt facilities. CCR&R Specialists use this data to create customized lists of facilities for families seeking child care.

During FY 20-21, the ELCHC: • Responded to more than 85,045 phone calls from Hillsborough County families interested in School Readiness, VPK and/or additional resources for young children.

The 2020-2021 fiscal year proved an opportunity for the ELCHC to leverage one of its Core Values, innovation, as nearly all in person events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing parents of young children with information about CCR&R and child care financial assistance programs, how to locate quality early learning environments, the importance of early literacy programs and ageappropriate milestones was still a priority. To promote awareness for services, ELCHC team members pivoted to virtual or drive through distribution of materials for families. In November 2020, the ELCHC partnered with Feeding Tampa Bay to bring a mobile pantry to the centrally located ELCHC offices and distributed books and other consumer education materials to families. ELCHC staff also conducted monthly parent engagement sessions in a series called Five For Five, which shares at home activities to develop the five stages of development in children before age 5. In December 2020, the ELCHC hosted a community outreach event sponsored by local funding to distribute developmentally age appropriate quality toys and learning resources to families during the holidays. In February 2021, Tampa Bay hosted Super Bowl LV (55). The ELCHC played a role in representing the importance of early learning as a pillar of the community impact from the Super Bowl. By May 2021, smaller, outdoor events had returned despite COVID-19 vaccination availability, the ELCHC returned to in person events, partnering with Hillsborough County School District Board Member, Stacy Hahn in her Early Literacy Campaign by distributing materials to families in a drive through event and sharing quality literacy opportunities virtually.