Promising Minds Early Childhood Program Provider Application Online Application Deadline: Thursday, May 7 by 4 pm Hawaii Standard Time Child care, preschool, home visiting and other early childhood programs are invited to apply to participate in Hawaii Community Foundation’s new Promising Minds initiative through a collaborative learning program referred to as the Community of Practice (CoP).
Background HCF has identified the wellbeing and development of our children under age five as a critical community issue at the heart of strengthening Hawai‘i’s communities. Early childhood development is a smart investment. Promising Minds Initiative When the brain is developing at its most rapid rate and babies are forming important social connections, it is easier to lay the foundations for a lifetime of positive behavioral health and wellbeing. The Promising Minds Initiative exists to increase the healthy development of vulnerable children ages 0-5 and build resilience in those who have already experienced the negative effects of trauma in their short lives. Through the Promising Minds Initiative, we hope to set the foundations for positive early childhood behavioral health resulting in long-term benefits to individual children and families, as well as more children on-track for Kindergarten with social, emotional and academic readiness. A key goal of Promising Minds is to create trauma-responsive early care and education settings with well-trained practitioners who know how to support the healthy development of all children, including our most vulnerable children. Trauma-informed settings promote positive development and help families cope with challenges; these environments help to decrease family stressors and increase the quality of the child-caregiver relationship which can buffer against toxic stress and trauma. In traumaresponsive programs, practitioners know how to address challenging behavior and what is often underlying the behavior, as well as how to set up safe environments that promote social and emotional growth. The Promising Minds initiative is funded by Samuel and Mary Castle Foundation, Harold K. Caste Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Stupski Foundation, the Gwenfread Elaine Allen Fund, the Kōaniani Fund, and the Omidiyar Ohana Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.
Eligibility Organizations that currently serve children ages 0-5 in any of these four recognized early childhood settings: child care centers, family child interaction learning programs, licensed family child care, and home-based programs such as home visiting. Organizations may be public, private or non-profit entities.
In order to be considered, organizations with more than one program site should indicate a single site to participate in the CoP. Those unsure of the best site to select should contact Justina Acevedo-Cross to discuss ahead of the application deadline. The previous Community of Practices include the following programs: Cohort 1 Oahu Honolulu Community Action Program Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture Keiki O Ka Aina Parents and Children Together Partners in Development Foundation
Cohort 2 Hawaii Island Family Support Services of West Hawaii Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture Ka Umeke Kaeo Charter School Keiki O Ka Aina Parents and Children Together YWCA of Hawaii Island
Cohort 3 Maui Imua Family Services Keiki O ka Aina Maui Family Support Services Parents and Children Together Partners in Development Foundation
Cohort 4 Oahu Honolulu Community Action Program Kamehameha Preschools Keiki O Ka Aina Rainbow Schools Department of Education Windward District 619 Preschools
Cohort 5 Oahu U.S. Army Garrison – Hawaii Military Child Development Centers on Oahu
Grant Awards HCF will consider grant awards to offset costs associated with participating in the Community of Practice such as travel, release time and hiring substitutes, etc. Funds may also be used toward creating more trauma-responsive environment whether through training or materials for staff, families and children. We also believe it is important for programs to commit some of their own resources toward participation in this professional development opportunity for your staff. The grant award will vary based on number of staff participating, program site location (neighbor islands), and other considerations, not to exceed $3,000. The grant period would be 7-months to cover the range of time July 2020 to April 2021 of the Promising Minds Community learning gatherings.
Training and Support West Ed will provide training, peer learning, mentoring and facilitation of the Community of Practice sessions over a nine-month period. The WestEd Center for Prevention and Early Intervention (CPEI) has a long history of supporting infant-family and early childhood development and mental health and child and family wellbeing in California and nationally. West Ed has expertise in integrated approaches across infant and early childhood systems and have provided direction, training, and technical assistance to professionals providing early intervention, early care and education, home visiting, and infant/early childhood mental health services and supports. (See Trainer Biographies for more information about trainers and facilitators). Local trainers from Parents and Children Together (PACT) will provide additional support and help to integrate local knowledge into the CoP. Program teams (2-3 people) will be expected to attend four training and peer learning sessions. The Community of Practice sessions will focus “skilling up” teams with evidence-based strategies as well as focus on real-time issues facing CoP participants. These sessions are intended to be held in person but will be moved to a virtual platform if necessitated by the evolving Covid-19 pandemic. If sessions are held in-person, they will likely be split between Honolulu and your island in locations that are most convenient for the majority of selected participants. Additionally, participants will be expected to join monthly 90-minute CoP virtual sessions by computer/device/phone using the Zoom platform. What will your team gain? Through the facilitated Community of Practice teams will discuss strategies, share resources, and develop additional supports in meeting the needs of young children and their families, including the parent/primary caregivers. Participants will deepen understanding and build practical skills to cope with challenging behaviors, physical and emotional responses to family and community traumas, and personal responses to the stresses associated with meeting complex needs of Hawaii’s youngest keiki. Trainings and discussions during the CoP calls will be driven by the needs of the CoP and designed with the input of participants. Potential topical areas that could be addressed include: • • • • • • •
Brain development during the prenatal to age 5 period The importance of relationships in child development Implementing practical adult-child strategies that can be used daily in a variety of settings Collaborating with families, especially parents/caregivers, to identify supports to address challenges Moving from screening and identification of concerns to referrals and resources in communities Enhancing staff supports to reduce stress and burn-out Developing reflective practice/supervision skills
Criteria Successful applicants will show that they have a: 1. Demonstrated program focus on at-risk families and children birth to five years old 2. Strong leadership commitment to incorporating trauma-responsive strategies in daily routines, program environment, policies and other practices, as well as a desire to support parents/caregivers in translating practices for the home environment 3. Willingness to share and learn from peers in other organizations by active participation in the Community of Practice 4. Willingness to share information and data with a third-party evaluator, and participate in evaluation activities in the spirit of improving the Promising Minds Initiative strategies and approaches 5. Commitment by leadership and key staff to participate in all sessions.
Online Submission Please submit applications online at: https://nexus.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/nonprofit (Or click on “NONPROFIT GATEWAY” at the top of the HCF homepage). If you are a new user, click “New User Registration;” the registration process may take up to 2 days so please register early! Application Instructions • Only complete applications will be accepted. Applications missing information or required attachments may be administratively denied. • The online application has fillable boxes with character limits. The character counts in MS Word may not match the character counts in the application. If you cut and paste your work into the application, please be sure your text fits the space provided. We will not accept documents that are larger than the maximum character counts. • We recognize the significance of diacritical markings in written Hawaiian as pronunciation guides; however, the online application system is unable to accept diacritical marks. Please do not include these in your narrative it may cause errors in the way the online system processes your proposal.
Narrative Questions The following character counts are approximate to the specified page lengths based on single-spacing in Arial 12-point font with 1-inch margins. Background: 1. Organizational background. Please include your primary services and key populations served. (2000 characters max) 2. Primary community served? Please list all, as you define them. (500 characters max) 3. Number of full-time (FTE 32 hours/week or more) staff? PT staff (PT less than 32 hours/week)? (250 characters max)
4. Annual number of children served ages 0-5? Birth to 3? Ages 3-5? (250 characters max) Family concerns: 5. For the families you serve, what are the greatest challenges they face? Please think about the children as well as the parent/caregivers. How do you identify the challenges? (2000 characters max) 6. What is your program doing that is helping families build resilience and strength in coping with challenges? (2000 characters max) Child concerns: 7. What kinds of behavior challenges do you see in the children you serve? (1000 characters max) 8. What formal and informal screening and assessment tools are you using? Check all that apply i. Ages and Stages ii. Ages and Stages-SE iii. PEDS iv. Other, please note the tool(s) below Staff concerns: 9. Please indicate if you agree or disagree with this statement -- We see staff turnover that affects the service and support we can offer young children and their families i. Strongly Disagree ii. Disagree iii. Neutral iv. Agree v. Strongly Agree b. Additional comments (250 characters max) 10. How do you help your staff deal with stress to avoid burnout? Is there any formal self-care policy? (1000 characters max) Program practices: 11. Do you keep records of participants? Please check all that apply. a. Demographics i. Age ii. Birth date of children iii. Race/Ethnicity b. Attendance i. Program attendance ii. Enrollment start and end dates c. Assessments beyond the tools mentioned above d. Behavior incidence reports e. Suspension, expulsion or recommendations to family to find a new program provider 12. Do you currently have access to a behavioral health consultant? If so, what does the consultant do for your program and staff? (1000 characters max) Involvement in the Promising Minds Community of Practice: 13. If your organization operates multiple sites, which site(s) would you like to become traumaresponsive program sites through participation and support in the CoP? For your application to
be considered indicate a single site (or regional area if you are part of a home visiting or early identification service) to participate in the CoP. Those unsure of the best site to select should contact Justina Acevedo-Cross to discuss. (1000 characters max) 14. Why do you want your program to participate in the trainings and Community of Practice offered through the Promising Minds initiative? (2000 characters max) 15. Which key staff do you recommend as participants in the Promising Minds Community of Practice? Please name up to three staff and include at least one leadership level staff member. i. Name ii. Role iii. Length of time at organization iv. Email address v. Direct phone number ATTACHMENTS The following attachments must be uploaded to the online application: 1. Current operating budget, including sources of income and expenses. 2. Previous year’s operating budget, including income and expenses. 3. Current program site specific budget, if available, for any sites applying FILE NAMING FORMAT FOR ATTACHMENTS Please use the following descriptive file name format when uploading your files: 1. Your Org Name_Name of File (for example, ‘HCF_2017-18 Budget.pdf’); 2. Do not use apostrophes, #, or parenthesis in your file name; 3. Each file must have a unique file name; and 4. Each file size should be kept below 5,000 KB. DEADLINE: Submit your application by clicking the “Submit” button at the end of the application no later than 4 pm HST on Thursday, May 7, 2020.
Timeline April 1 April 3 April 8 May 7 June 12 July 14
Online Information session on Promising Minds opportunity to apply. Wednesday, April 1, 2:30 - 3:30 pm HCF releases application Online Information session on Promising Minds opportunity to apply. Wednesday, April 8, 12 - 1:00 am Applications due from programs, submitted online by 4 pm HST. Selected programs notified. First CoP session. Please hold the date on your calendar. Neighbor island participants may need to plan to travel.
It is expected that all participants will participate in the in-person gatherings. In-person Community of Practice sessions will be all-day, tentatively on: • Tuesday, July 14 • January 2021, exact date TBD • Wednesday, October 14 • April 2021, exact date TBD
Questions about this RFP If you have questions about this RFP or the application process, please contact Justina Acevedo-Cross at 566-5587 or jacevedo-cross@hcf-hawaii.org. We hope you join us for one of the online information sessions about this opportunity. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Amani Love, alove@hcf-hawaii.org or 808-566-5554.
Trainer Biographies Karen Moran Finello, PhD, is a Project Director in WestEd’s Center for Prevention & Early Intervention. She is an applied developmental psychologist with a specialization in birth to five-year-olds and their families and is certified as a school psychologist in California. Dr. Finello has developed, directed, and evaluated home-based programs focused on infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with behavioral, developmental, health, and mental health issues since 1983. She provides training, technical assistance, and consultation to school districts, hospitals, and community, state, national and international organizations in the areas of infant mental health, early intervention, early childhood development, reflective supervision, evaluation, and program development. Dr. Finello currently leads California Project LAUNCH funded by SAMHSA, directs a California State-wide Screening effort focused on primary care, and provides training and technical assistance to Part C states across the country. She is endorsed as a B-5 Mental Health Specialist and a Reflective Practice Mentor in California and is retired faculty in the Emeriti Center at the University of Southern California. Dr. Finello earned her PhD in Psychology from the University of Southern California in 1984. Lilia M. Rodriguez is Program Associate at WestEd’s Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. Mrs. Rodriguez is endorsed as an Infant-Family & Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist and a Reflective Practice Facilitator II in California. She has over 12 years of experience providing mental health treatment services to children between birth and 5 years of age in home, community, school, hospital, and clinic settings. She provided mental health consultation to Early Head Start and Head Start programs in underserved communities in Los Angeles for 7 years and has worked as a home visitor for 28 years providing support and services to Latino infants and children with medical and developmental disabilities. Michelle Zapata Berrios was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She graduated in 2000 from the University of Hawaii with a Bachelor degree in Family Resources. She has been working at Parents And Children Together (PACT) Early Head Start/Head Start (EHS/HS) Program for over 10 years. While at PACT she has held many positions such as Teacher, Mentor Coach, Area Manager, Comprehensive Service Manager her current position as Child Care Partnership Program Manager. She is certified reliable in the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Toddler and CLASS Pre-K. She is also a trainer for “I’m Moving, I’m Learning”, Second Step and WestEd. April Pana has worked in the field of Early Childhood Education for 14 years. She has held various positions with Parents And Children Together Early Head Start/Head Start on Hawai’i Island over the last 8 years such as Teacher, Area Manager and her current position as the Education/Disabilities Specialist. Through her work at PACT she has built her skills and knowledge to support, coach, train and guide education staff on their professional development journey. Jowett Chew-Marumoto has worked with Early Childhood programs for over 30 years. She has a commitment and passion for supporting the next generation of Early Childhood practitioners as they move
forward with professional development. She believes that a strong commitment to Family Engagement as a vital key for continued success for all children. Jowett has had extensive experiences as a former Teacher both Preschool and Toddler, Home Visitor, Director, EC-IT Specialist for HS Region IX TTA Office for Hawaii & the Outer Pacific and is a Certified PITC West Ed IT Trainer, community-based trainer, mentor, coach & Early Childhood Education Lecturer. She currently works at Parents and Children Together Early Head Start/Head Start on Hawaii Island as the Early Childhood Education Coach. Silvia Sharrar has worked in the field of Early Childhood Development for 25 years. Her career began as an Infant/Toddler Educator under the guidance of Magda Gerber and the RIE approach of respecting babies in their space while observing and interacting naturally. She has a Bachelor degree in Family Resources from the University of Hawaii Manoa and a Master of Education degree in Child Development from Chaminade University of Honolulu. Silvia has worked for Parents And Children Together Early Head Start/Head Start for 8 years. Her Head Start journey began as an Early Childhood Mentor-Coach and currently she is Assistant Program Director. Silvia has a passion for changing and transforming teaching practice through reflective coaching and professional development. Silvia is certified in PITC West Ed, PreK CLASS and Toddler CLASS reliable, has been a PACE (Professional And Career Education for Early Childhood) instructor for Honolulu Community College, and is past president of HawaiiAEYC.