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BI-CAP Head Start: Prenatal to Five

Annual Report

7-1-2019 through 6-30-2020

Bi-County Community Action Programs, Inc.

6603 Bemidji Avenue North Bemidji, MN 56601

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BI-CAP Head Start must make available to the public a report published at least once each fiscal year. (Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 Sec. 644. ADMINISTRATIVE RE-QUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS [42 U.S.C. 9839]) The report must disclose the following information from the most recently concluded fiscal year: PAGE

The total amount of public and private funds received and the amount from each source ......................................................................................... 3 An explanation of budgetary expenditures and proposed budget for the fiscal year ..................................................................................................... 4-5 COVID-19 Pandemic Overview of Services Provided ………………………..6 The results of recent monitoring review by the Secretary of Health and Human Services .......................................................................................... 7 The total number of children and families served, the average monthly enrollment, and the percentage of eligible children served .......................... 8 Financial Audit .............................................................................................. 8 The percentage of enrolled children that received medical and dental exams ........................................................................................................... 9 Information about family involvement activities ............................................ 10 Parent, Family & Community Outcomes…………………………………...11-14 BI-CAP’s efforts in School Readiness to prepare children for Kindergarten. ................................................................................................ 15-16 Any other information required by the Secretary .......................................... na

BI-CAP Head Start Mission Statement

“BI-CAP Head Start gives children and families a head start for kindergarten and for life.”

Head Start Philosophy The philosophy of BI-CAP’s Head Start and Early Head Start program emphasizes that

the parent is the primary teacher and influence in their child’s education and development. BI-CAP strongly encourages all parents to become involved in the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in many ways including volunteering in the classroom, participating

in parent committees and serving on the Policy Council.

Introduction and Table of Contents

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Public and Private Funds Received

Head Start FY 2019-20: Year 1 Combined Head Start Revenue Total = $4,215,095

The Federal and State Grant’s FY is July 1 – June 30. Earned Program Revenues during the program year are not included in these totals.

USDA ~$130,000 expected ERATE ~10,000 expected Travel/Transportation (Earned from other department’s use of HS vehicles) ~$1,000 Donations- ~$15,000 expected Other Grants to enhance programming: BASC $3,500; Child Care Aware $7,000

Salary and Fringe are approximately 85% of the total budgets Federal and State grants are separated into Head Start and Early Head Start budgets Federal funding is based on child count:

HS Enrollment of 188 @ $12,422 per child EHS Enrollment of 84 @ $20,500 per child

State funding is based on a State percentage formula of Federal funding The Federal Grant requires a 25% In-Kind Match which totals HS/EHS $863,355

State Grant $447,675;Pathways 2 $150,000; Pathways 1 $55,600; Transportation/professional/parent In-kind $210,100

FEDERAL HEAD START 05CH11067

FEDERAL EARLY HEAD START 05CH11067

182 CHILDREN 58 CHILDREN

Base Grant $2,238,116 Base Grant + Ex-tended Hours

$1,170,689

Training/Tech Asst. $26,293 Training/Tech Asst. 18,322

TOTAL $2,264,409 TOTAL $1,189,011

Total Federal Funding = $3,453,420

STATE HEAD START SFY19 STATE EARLY HEAD START SFY19

6 (6 NFS) CHILDREN 26 CHILDREN (18 NFS Children)

Base Grant $78,675.00 Base Grant $533,000

Total State Funding = $611,675

Parent Aware Scholarships

Pathway 2- 20 Scholarships @ $7,500 = $150,000

* Expected Pathway 1- 10 Scholarships @ $5,560 = *$55,600

DONATIONS

Expected $15,500 undesignated

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Head Start Budget

HEAD START BUDGET EARLY HEAD START BUDGET

OBJECT CLASS OBJECT CLASS

Personnel 52% Personnel 55%

Fringe Benefits 22% Fringe Benefits 22%

Travel-out of area <1% Travel-out of area <1%

Supplies 3% Supplies 2%

Contractual 1% Contractual <1%

Other 7% Other 5%

Indirect Cost Rate 15.2% Indirect Cost Rate 15.6%

Personnel Category Personnel costs include administrative staff to oversee and direct operational personnel. Supervisory staff provide a manageable ratio of staff to supervisors. Area Managers, Family and Classroom Sup-port Coordinators and Health Coordinators provide support to families and teaching staff, enhance quality, and assist with fulfilling Head Start Performance Standards. Fringe Benefit Category Fringe benefits are determined based on standard agency calculations. All full-time employees received the following benefits: FICA (.0765) Worker’s Compensation (from .34 to 8.77 per 100) Unemployment Compensation (5.64%) Pension (5%) Health/Dental/Life/Disability Insurance (Dental from $26.70-$71.70; Health is from $470 to $945per month; Life is 1.5% of wages)

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Travel Category All local and out of area travel is reimbursed at the federally approved rate of $.535/mile for personal vehicles, when an agency vehicle is not available. Employees are expected to use agency vehicles wherever available. Contractual Category Contractual costs include: Software Support, Network Support, ERATE Consultant Supplies Category Classroom, Formula and Diapering , Reference and curriculum and assessment , Materials, Subscriptions, Spe-cial Needs Adaptations, Meetings and Advisory Board, Office Supplies and Bathroom/Cleaning, Medical sup-plies Food services (not reimbursable through Child and Adult Care Feeding Program Indirect Cost Rate 19.1% Salary & Fringe of Executive Director, Human Resource Manager, four Fiscal Staff, two Receptionist, Janitor, travel expenses, Office supplies, MIS Network Support Contract, SAGE Accounting Contract, legal & profession-al fees, depreciation and rent, general utilities, phones, copy leases, photocopies, janitorial and cleaning sup-plies Other Category Rent Utilities, Telephone Building & Child Liability Insurance Building Maintenance/Repair Local Travel - mileage reimbursement, gas, repair, insurance Nutrition Consultant Child Services Provided by Consultant—Mental Health Parent Services- assistance to families including childcare, limited transportation assistance, car repair, etc. Accounting Audit and Legal Services Advertising/Printing/Postage/Copies Medical Expense Dental Expense Janitorial Services Dues and Licenses

Head Start Budget (continued)

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COVID-19-19 Pandemic Overview of Services Provided March 2020—June 2020.

Mid March through May 2020 Cleaning supplies 6

Educational Packets and supplies Every EHS and HS enrolled child 272 Mental Health Referrals – (Paula’s numbers) 5 Gas cards 5 Ruby pantry or Grocery gift cards Other services: Diapers, wipes, phone cards, clothing, free internet referrals, hous-ing, unemployment help/referrals, furniture, Local Service Providers: CRC (Family Resource Center), Legal Aid, Churches United, BRIC, Mental Health, Crisis Cen-ters, Homeless Shelters 35 Daily Meals: breakfast, lunch and snack - 43 families Bemidji, 30 families Black-duck and 14 families Backus. 87 Home Learning Early Head Start 84 Home Learning Head Start 188

Challenges and Barriers for Families and children due to COVID-19: Cancelled dental appointments and needed follow up for scheduled appointments Well child physical appointments—the fear of going and unable to get scheduled when

shutdown began Employment—Business shutdowns—not knowing when they’ll return to work or get their

next paycheck Challenges to access needed community resources who were shut down. This disrupted

families pursuing their goals Unable to go to parks, family fun events and social gatherings Unable to visit family members in nursing homes The lack of face to face contact… peer interaction The instant switch to home learning and not having enough technology devices for all

children, trying to keep in contact with all of the teachers for each grade Family routines disrupted Lack of childcare for parents still able to go to work Anxiety and stress added to depression and mental health needs of families Adjusting to a new world of uncertainty and all services disrupted Financial insecurity because of difficulty getting unemployment Thrift stores closed so families couldn’t access thrifty resources for clothing Essential items out of stock or extremely low supply. Rationing of hygiene items Parent/child in person activities & events cancelled including our Head Start program and

with collaborative partners, especially school districts

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The most recent Federal review(s) occurred in Program year 2019-20. BI-CAP Head Start and Early Head Start programs were reviewed Focus Area 1. October 7-11, 2019. The BI-CAP Head Start programs are found to be in full compliance. It was suggested to work with OHS Regional Office for Support in three areas. Area of Concern: Program Design: The grantee’s program design and structure takes into account communi-ty strengths and needs, but improvement is needed. AOC 1302.101(b)(2)Timeframe for Cor-rection: Follow up with Regional Office for support 1302.101 Management system. (b) Coor-dinated approaches. At the beginning of each program year, and on an ongoing basis throughout the year, a program must design and implement program-wide coordinated ap-proaches that ensure: (2)The full and effective participation of children who are dual lan-guage learners and their families. The program relied on translators who provided limited services to support children and fami-lies. The management team could not describe how the program designed and implemented a coordinated approach to program-wide DLL services. With limited coordinated services, the children and families may not be able to effectively participate and benefit from compre-hensive services. Our program is working with the Office of Head Start’s Teaching and Technical Training Pro-gram Early Childhood Specialist to review and create updates policies and procedures to en-sure quality programming for all children and their families.

Opportunity for Continuous Improvement:

Alignment with School Readiness: The grantee’s approach to school readiness aligns with the expectations of receiving schools, the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Frame-work (HSELOF), and state early learning standards, but improvement is needed. The grantee experienced inconsistency in the level of collaboration with the different school districts in the program's service area. The grantee meets with each Local Education Agency (LEA) to learn the expectations and how Head Start may address them. The Education Coor-dinators stated some LEAs have expectations that did not fit with developmentally appropri-ate practice. The grantee's goal is to help educate LEA staff about the link between expecta-tions and social-emotional development. The grantee is developing a strategy to ensure that consistent collaboration among all school districts in the program service area. The grantee is planning on implementing the strategy in the program year 2020.

Fiscal Infrastructure, Capacity, and Responsiveness: The grantee’s fiscal staff have the qualifications needed to provide oversight of the grant, but improvement is needed. The Fiscal Officer identified a need for additional staffing within the fiscal department. The additional hiring of a part-time employee to the fiscal team would ensure budget alignment with program goals, adherence to best practices in accounting, and strengthen internal con-trols to ensure fiscal responsibility. The current fiscal staff is adequate in meeting the Head Start Program Performance Standards requirements and the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP); however, the Fiscal Officer would like to build capacity for increasing pro-gramming and services.

Federal Monitoring Review

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Funded Enrollment

Total Number of children and families (cumulative) served

Average monthly enrollment (%)

% of Eligible Children served

Head Start 188 210 100% 94%

Early Head Start 84 110 100% 95%

Results of the Most Recent Review and the Financial Audit

The Fiscal Audit completed by BerganKDV for Fiscal year ending September 30, 2019 and have

issued a report dated April 9, 2020. There were no Head Start questioned costs. A copy of the

Auditor’s Report in it’s entirety is available at BI-CAP.

Number of Children and Families Served, Average Monthly Enrollment, and

Percentage of Eligible Children Served

A total of 188 Head Start and 84 Early Head Start children were served

with state and federal funding.

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*Infants identified as being behind for dental exams include those who are typically not seen

by dentists at the age of one or younger. It may also include families who dropped and follow

up dentals were not completed by the family.

When children go in for a physical, the clinics are not completing the blood lead test and in

order to count our physical, there must be a lead completed or at the 12 or 24 month well

baby check, according to the Early and Periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment schedule

set by the Minnesota Department of Health.

The program numbers are very skewed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been

problematic for parents as they are still wary about bringing their children to the clinics to

accomplish the needed health / dental Head Start requirements. Family Advocates and

Teachers encourage families to accomplish the needs for the physicals and immunizations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the dental providers in the area will only provide care to

individuals with emergency care needs. Private dental practices have been opening up, but

limited to those they may serve and do not serve those clients with MA - only their private pay

clientele.

Percentage of Enrolled Children Received Medical and Dental Exams

Enrolled Children

(including drops)

Physical Exams

Completed

Dental Exams Completed

Immunizations

Head Start 210 37% 74% 98%

Well Baby

Exams Completed

Immunizations

Early Head Start 110 68% 26%* 74%

Early Head Start Pregnant Women

6 100% 0% n/a

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BI-CAP believes the parent is the primary teacher and influence in their child’s education and development. The BI-CAP Head Start program strongly encourages all parents to become involved in the Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Families are also offered numerous parent involvement activities throughout the entire time their child(ren) are enrolled. They include center parent meetings, family events, parent training opportunities, Policy Council meetings, Health Advisory meetings, program Self-Assessment participation, classroom volunteering, parent/child activities in the home, field trips, home visit and classroom lesson planning, ongoing monitoring activities, and program planning.

Family Involvement Activities

FAMILY INVOLVEMENT EARLY

HEAD START HEAD START

Emergency/crisis intervention needs (food, clothing, shelter)

31 79

Housing assistance (subsidies, utilities, repairs) 17 33

Mental health services 19 38

English as a Second Language (ESL) training 2 2

Adult Education (GED, programs and college selec-tion)

13 10

Job training 8 8

Substance abuse prevention 5 1

Substance Abuse Treatment 3 3

Child abuse and neglect services 4 4

Domestic violence services 7 3

Child support assistance 5 4

Health education 11 53

Assistance to families of incarcerated individuals 4 4

Parenting education 35 67

Relationship/marriage education 7 4

Asset Building Services (Financial Education, open-ing savings-checking, debt counseling)

11 27

WIC\SNAP 129 247

Father involvement activities 24 49

Services to homeless families 16 34

Foster care-out of home placement # of children 12 23

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Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework

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2019-20 Parent, Family and Community Engagement

Family Outcomes

The following categories for family goals (highest in order):

Housing/Emergency Assistance 42% families needing services mid-year and 51.73% after COVID Pandemic began.

Unemployed 31% families mid-year families and 26% after COVID Pandemic began. Total Number of enrolled children experiencing homelessness:

2019-20: EHS 18.27% Head Start 18.97% This corresponds to housing being the top goal staff work on with families.

Total Number of enrolled children in foster care: 2019-20 EHS 12.90% Head Start 12.30%

Enrollment numbers are up slightly for homeless and foster care children in both Head Start and EHS since mid-March when the pandemic began.

Parents enrolled found the “two generation” approach (supporting both the child and the

parent) key to encouraging and sustaining their drive for more job training and education. 49% are single-parent families.

Early Head Start: 1) Housing; 2) Employment; 3) Health; 4) Parenting/Routines; 5) Clothing

Head Start: 1) Housing; 2) Employment; 3) Budgeting; 4) Health; 5) Parenting/Routines

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Scoring Legend: 5.0 - Thriving 4.0 - Self-Sufficient 3.0 - Stable 2.0 - Vulnerable 1.0 - In-Crisis

4.1

3.3 3.13.7

4.1

3.42.9 3

3.3 3.4

4.7

3.7 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.5 3.3 3.54 3.9

Ass

essm

ent

Sco

re

Area of Assessment

Early Head Start Family Outcomes

Baseline Final

4.63.9

3 3.1

4.1

3 2.7 3

4.1 3.9

4.94.1

3.5 3.64

3.5 3.33.8 4.1 3.8

Ass

essm

ent

Sco

re

Area of Assessment

Head Start Family Outcomes

Baseline Final

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Family Engagement

Family Engagement is also a priority in our school readiness emphasis and includes

engaging families in a multitude of ways, inclusive of:

Volunteerism

Parent Trainings (budgeting, grandparents raising grand children, etc.)

Specific opportunities for Father Engagement

Enriching Family Relationships

HOVRS (Home Visitor Observation Rating Scale) measures parent and child engagement

during home visits.

Staff are trained in facilitating home visits to increase family and child engagement and de-

velopment through school readiness goals.

Center base programs encourage parent and child engagement with parent and child activi-

ties that are founded in school readiness goals.

Working together with parents on SMART family goals. (Specific; Measurable, Attainable,

Relevant and Time Sensitive)

“Make Parenting A Pleasure” Parent Education Curriculum offered at sites.

Parent classroom, home visit and fieldtrip volunteering is welcomed and encouraged. Monthly

parent meetings and/or parent trainings are offered at each site.

BI-CAP Head Start and Early Head Start staff strive to offer the best and most comprehensive

services to children and families in Beltrami and Cass counties.

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As per the Head Start Act of 2007 requirements, BI-CAP Head Start works with staff, parents

and schools, utilizing the MN Early Learning Standards and the Head Start Early Learning Out-

comes Framework to develop School Readiness Goals. Our School Readiness outcomes are

tracked throughout the year using My Teaching Strategies Gold (TSG) and Desired Results

Developmental Profile (DRDP). All assessments and outcomes are reviewed and analyzed to

determine strengths and weaknesses in the program. Strategies are put in place for improve-

ment throughout our program management systems, in efforts to improve Head Start’s com-

prehensive model of service delivery, and ultimately, Head Start children’s school readiness.

BI-CAP Head Start: Prenatal to Five’s goal: To have all children experience increased

growth in all developmental domains throughout the program year. Upon Kindergarten eligibil-

ity 60% of four-year-old children will demonstrate school readiness.

PRESCHOOL

Our Strengths:

Three and four-year-olds showed growth in all developmental areas from Fall to Winter. Spring

data was not available due to COVID-19-19 transition to home learning in March. The strong-

est areas of development were Social Emotional and Physical for both age groups at the Win-

ter Checkpoint (February).

Areas for Growth:

According to the Winter Checkpoint data, math is our lowest area for both age groups, followed

by literacy for three-year-olds, and cognitive for four-year-olds. Historically, the largest amount

of growth takes place from the Winter to the Spring checkpoint.

INFANT/TODDER

Our Strengths:

Children birth to three showed growth in all developmental areas from Fall to Winter. Spring

data was not available due to COVID-19-19 transition to home learning in March. The strong-

est areas of development were Language and Literacy for the one and two-year-olds. The in-

fants strongest area of development was Physical for the Winter Checkpoint (February).

Preparing Children for Kindergarten Birth to Five

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Preparing Children for Kindergarten Birth to Five

Areas for Growth:

According to the Winter Checkpoint data, cognitive is our lowest area for all age groups. Histori-

cally, the largest amount of growth takes place from the Winter to the Spring checkpoint.

BIRTH to FIVE

Barriers:

COVID-19-19 presented the biggest challenge. With classrooms unable to be open and

teachers and children having to adapt to a non-developmentally appropriate learning plat-

form we are unsure of the outcome.

Analysis of the data indicates a need to:

Continue with our focus on social emotional learning to build each child’s ability to learn. In

teacher training for the next year we will focus on the teacher’s facilitation of learning to in-

clude cognitive skills.

Support staff with practice-based individualized coaching.

Home Learning:

Looking at the Spring 2020 Home Learning practices, we will develop a stronger and more

consistent plan to support teachers in a Home Learning model, should we need to return to

that. We will establish a way for data to be collected in the Home Learning model. We are

also planning to empower families to take a more active approach as their child’s first teach-

er.

We are implementing the Learning Genie platform as an easier way to engage families and

track involvement.