GULF COAST COMMUNITY SERVICES ASSOCIATION
Head Start/Early Head Start Support Services
June 2024 Monthly Narrative & Year End Report
LEADERSHIPACTIVITIES
• Congratulations to Ms. Naiomi Carrero for her promotion to the position of Child Development Manager!
• Child andAdult Care Food Program (CACFP) The May 2024 Child andAdult Care Food Program (CACFP) claim was completed and submitted to the Texas Department ofAgriculture (TDA) for reimbursement. In May there were 21 food service days for the month. There were 16 eligible sites and 1,518 eligible children. The number of meals provided: 6,516 breakfasts; 6,601 lunches and 20,954 PM snacks served. Expected reimbursement for the month is $69,374.21.
• San Jacinto College Partnership – GCCSAis working with San Jac to provide information to staff that have no degree, to apply for scholarships to their campuses. They will participate in one of the Professional Development sessions to provide
• The Child Development (CD)team attended Coach Camp and returned with valuable information. The CD team requested a meeting with the CEO, Head Start/Early Head Start Director andAssistant Director to share the information and the support needed to be successful. They met this month. The information will be shared with all staff during Professional Development in July.
• Specialists’Outcomes Meetings were held this month. Content area specialists met to discuss the status of children and families enrolled in the program.
• Supervisors completed staff Performance Reviews as required by the agency. June was designated as Performance Review month, as they were due on the last day of June to the Human Resources Department.
• The Health & Nutrition Manager andAssistant Director met with the Internal Audit Specialist and the Finance Controller this month. Discussion included the end of the school year. CACFP findings and corrective actions. In this meeting we identified common findings as we prepare for training during professional development.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT (CD)
• Early Head Start was the only center that was session for children throughout the month of June.
• Centers completed their inventory this month preparing for next school year’s supply order.
• As we approach the end of the school year, the Child Development Team prepared for Summer Training 2024 and closeout the school year.
• Child Development supported teaching staff at all campuses to in completing the Circle Progress Monitoring Pre-K Assessments in English & Spanish for the End of Year Parent reporting and Individual EducationActivities planned through the end of the school year culminating in End ofYear (EOY)Assessment review. Children’s EOYassessments were completed and shared with parents.
• The Child Development team continued to work with our SHINE partner, Sonali Ravali in the roll out plans for the Teacher Success Rubric. Atool that will help them self-assess to improve their teaching skills.
• Child Development provided guidance, support, and encouragement to educators pursuing advancing their careers and contributing to their profession. (Child DevelopmentAssociate Credential (CDA), walkthroughs, mentoring, and coaching.)
• Child Development Specialists provided teaching teams with individual activities and support.
• Child Development Specialist in collaboration with Center Administrator conduct virtual interviews and submit candidate recommendations with supporting document to hire Teacher/ Teacher Assistants/TeacherAides
HEALTH&NUTRITION(H/N): HeadStartprogramrequireswithin 30 calendar days after the child first attends the program, the parent must be consulted todetermine whether each child hasongoingsources of continuous, accessible health care and health insurance coverage. Currently Head Start enrollment is at 1266 and EHS is at full enrollment of 80
Within 45 calendar days after the child first attends the program a program must either obtain or perform evidence-based vision and hearing screenings. Within 90 days HS must obtain determinations from health care and oral health care professionals as to whether or not the child is up to date on a schedule of age-appropriate preventive and primary medical and oral health care. This is based on the well-child visits and dental periodicity schedules as prescribed by the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program. EPSDT is a part of the Medicaid agency. Texas Health Steps is our state’s EPSDT program. Immunization recommendations are issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and any additional recommendations from the local health agencies and the GCCSA Health Services Advisory Committee based on prevalent community health problems.
END OFTHE YEAR MEDICALREQUIREMENTS MET:
• The Compliance Department has completed all 3 rounds of CACFP internal audits. Rucker Head Start did not have any findings in all 3 of this school year’s required audits. Raul Ysaguirre, Gregg and Codwell had 2 successful audits out of the 3.
• The Nutrition & Health Team attended Client Services’Healthy Texan Week event for recruitment
HEALTH & NUTRITION:
(continued)
• The nutrition team and Center Administrators continue to hold monthly check-in meetings with our vendor Healthy Lunch Box to express strengths and concerns. The meetings have been very productive, and improvement has increased.
• EHS, Reveille, Garden Villa, Richey, and Pasadena have completed the process of testing their center with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for lead in drinking water.
SPECIAL SERVICES (SS):
• Head Start and Early Head Start requires that 10% of the Funded Enrollment includes children with disabilities. Head Start only recognized children with a disability that are eligible for services under Individuals With
• Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).At the end of June 2024, it was determined 35 children have applied for our Head Start program and no children have applied for our Early Head Start program that are identified with disabilities and expected to attend the 2024-2025 program year. Thirty-one (31) children are identified with a speech impairment, 2 withAutism and 2 with Non-Categorical Early Childhood and 2 with Other Health Impairment and 1 with Hearing Impairment.
• In addition, the Special Services Department has 34 suspected children who have applied for our Head Start program and 0 have applied for Early Head Start program.
• IDEAis a law that makes available free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children who are identified with a disability. The Local EducationAgency (LEA) holds the authority to identify children with disabilities.
• . As of the end of June 2024, based on applications for the 2024-2025 program year, 23 children have suspected speech concerns, 2 children have suspected Autism, 3 children have suspected social emotional concerns, and 6 children with both disability and social emotional concerns for a total of 34 suspected children suspected children
• Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings: The department assists with monitoring Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meetings. MDT meetings are held to ensure that children who are enrolled or who have applied, are given the opportunity to maximize the benefits of the program. For the month of June 2024, the Special Services Department obtained and attended 3 new MDT meeting reports from the agency’s content areas for a total of 3 meetings year to date.
GCCSA’s Special Services Department has continued to work towards recruitment of children with disabilities. Noelia Sanchez and Cynthia Hickman attended a summer recruitment event with the Houston Food Bank
GCCSA Disabilities and Mental Health Providers Services - (Advance Plus, Carr Speech, Personal Touch, Eaden Counseling, Providential Counseling andANC-D Psychological Services) The 2024-2025 program year is a bidding year and therefore the Special Services Manager is working with the Procurement team in establishing the RFP to be sent out to prospective providers.
DEPARTMENTACCOMPLISHMENTS FROM THE PREVIOUS MONTH:
• Specialists Outcomes meetings were held to discuss and collaborate on the needs of children and families enrolled in the program.
• End of the (EOY) Children’s Data Review was held this month. Each CenterAdministrator met with their designated Child Development Specialist and the Assistant Director to discuss and analyze their children’s assessment data. Assessment tools used: HS stand-alone centers and HISD centers use CLI Progress Monitoring Tool; Raul Ysaguirre utilizes Gold and Early Head Start uses Early LearningAccomplishment Profile (E-LAP).
Site Observation June 2024 Report:
The Site Observation Summary chart indicates the center visits made by the Health & Nutrition Associate, Health & Nutrition Manager, Child Development, Family Empowerment, Health, Nutrition and Special Services Specialists for the month of May 2024. All GCCSA Site visits are required to provide support and meet the needs of children and staff at GCCSA Head Start and Early Head Start Centers.
HS/EHS Professional Development:
• AChild DevelopmentAssociate (CDA) Credential Information Meeting was held for Teacher Aides that are seeking to obtain their credential. Classes will be provided in July by Elite Educational
UPCOMINGACTIVITIES/EVENTS/TRAINING HOSTED BY DEPARTMENT:
July 1 – 5 Bonus Holiday
July 23– 16 New Hire Orientation CDAClasses
July 23 – 26 HS/EHS Professional Development
July 29 – 31 GCCSAProfessional Development Institute
July 17
August 5
August 12
August 13
GCCSA/Office of Head Start Meeting w/Ms. Tarrant
CPR First Aid Classes
HISD/Raul Ysaguirre First Day of School
PISD First Day of School
REQUIRED TRAININGS: (Training that must occur because of funding or regulatory requirements)
• CACFP Required Training & Bi- Weekly CACFP & Cook Training
• CDA Training
• Civil Rights Training (annual)
CLASS and Teacher Success Rubric [Grab your reader’s attention with a great quote from the document or use this space to emphasize a key point. To place this text box anywhere on the page, just drag it.]
• Training for new and returning staff.
• Child Abuse and Neglect Training annually
• CPR & First Aid Training
• Coaching and Mentoring Strategies CD Specialists & Teachers
• Conscience Discipline Training (overview)
• Disability & Mental Health Training & Social Emotional Development for Children
• ERSEA Training - required annually.
• Food Handlers Certification
• Developmentally Appropriate Practices, Health and Safety, Teaching and Learning Environment, Curriculum & Assessment
• HS/EHS Policies and Procedures Training: Practice-Based Coaching, Effective Classroom Management.
• Medication Administration Training
• Orientation for New Employees, Parents & Providers
• Pedestrian Safety at First Parent Upcoming
• Technology in the Classroom Training
• SIDS/ Shaken Baby training.
