Proofread Grant

EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY
2020 - 2021 HEAD START BIRTH TO FIVE PROGRAM

CONTINUATION GRANT APPLICATION: 05CH010678
“Olivia was building her structure. As she got to the end, she was
getting frustrated because the parts were not fitting. Her teacher
stood close by and verbally encouraged her to try a concept that
they have been practicing daily. Olivia stopped what she
was doing and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and then
said, ‘stop, breathe and believe.’ Olivia then finished her project
and posed confidently for a celebratory photo.”
Governing Board Chairperson: Elder Tyson Parks

Policy Council Chairperson: Ms. Janelle Woods
Chief Executive Officer: Mr. John W. Edwards, Jr., MPA, CCAP, MCRT, CLC
Date: June 1, 2020
EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY

2020 - 2021 HEAD START BIRTH TO FIVE PROGRAM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 1. PROGRAM DESIGN and APPROACH TO SERVICE DELIVERY

PROJECT NARRATIVE: Page:
Sub-section Topic Page Number(s)
Coaches: Pages: 20 -21
Services for Children with Disabilities: Page: 47
Transitions: Page: 48
Services to Enrolled Pregnant Women: Page: 49
A Goals 2-7
B Service Delivery 10
C Governance, Organizational and Management Structures 53
SECTION II: BUDGET and BUDGET JUSTIFICATION NARRATIVE
Budget Narrative and Justification 66
Diaper and Formula Costs: Page 69
COLA Narrative and Updates: Page 72
Wage Study: Page 77
Rental Sites Details: Pages 78-79
CEO’s Salary Allocation: Page 79
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION AND APPENDICES
Selection Criteria Uploaded in HSES
Cost Allocation Plan Uploaded in HSES
2020 Self-Assessment/Improvement Plan Uploaded in HSES
2020 Training and Technical Assistance Plan Uploaded in HSES
2020 Governing Body and Policy Council’s Uploaded in HSES
Approval of the 2019-2020
HS/EHS Continuation Grant Application
2020 Community Needs Assessment Update Uploaded in HSES
2019 Annual Report Uploaded in HSES
East Central Illinois Community Action Agency (ECICAA)
2020 - 2021 HEAD START BIRTH TO FIVE

SECTION I. CONTINUATION GRANT, PROGRAM DESIGN / APPROACH TO SERVICE DELIVERY
1. Additions, Deletions or Revisions: East Central Illinois Community Action Agency’s Head Start Birth to
Five Program, hereafter referred to as the “Agency” submits this Continuation Funding Application to
extend the provision of Head Start and Early Head Start services to children and families in the Ford,
Iroquois and Vermilion counties into the upcoming program year 2020/2021. During the Program Year
2019/2020, the Agency met its funded enrollment of 417 children. This meant that the program served 347
students in Head Start centers, 16 infants/toddlers in Early Head Start classrooms and 54 infant/toddlers
and 13 pregnant women in its Early Head Start home-base services.
ECICAA 2020/2021Continuation Grant 1|

The Program Year 2019/2020 presented unique challenges for the Agency. The Agency’s Head
Start and Early Head Start Programs closed its center and home-based services on March 16, 2020 as a
result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. On April 23, 2020, Illinois’ Governor, J.B. Pritzker announced the
extension of the statewide stay-at-home order, previously set to expire April 30, for another 30 days (May
30, 2020), in attempts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus that are at peak levels in Illinois. (Source:
https://coronavirus.illinois.gov and https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-pandemic-
chicago-illinois-news) The extended mandated closures of home-based and center services shortened the
Head Start and Early Head Start program year by 12 weeks and two school days. The shortening of the
program year has had an effect on the outcomes of the program goals and objectives and other program
dynamics which will be discussed in this program narrative. The Agency provides an update on outcomes
of its Program Goals/Objective on pages 3 through 7. There were no additions, deletions or revisions to
the Agency’s 2019/2020 Program Goals, Measurable Objectives and Expected Outcomes.
2. 2019/2020 Program Goals Outcomes: The chart on pages 3 through 6 lists the outcomes of Program
Year 2019/2020 measurable objectives and the challenges in meeting some of the objectives. A summary
on the outcomes is found on pages 6 -7.
Program Goals: Measurable Objective 2019/2020 Progress/Outcomes 2019/2020 Challenges

Descriptions:
Goal 1: (a) The program will In 2019/2020, the program did not meet Challenge #1: There are 22
Education: see 70% of all this objective. The following are the cases of students with pending
ECICAA will fully enrolled HS and EHS outcomes in the School Readiness Goals IEP’s and IFSP’s who were
implement all children attain Attainment Rate per age and program: included in the aggregation of
aspects of the “proficiency” (Work the school readiness attainment
Head Start and Sampling) and or 4 year olds students: rates. These cases cannot be
Early Head Start “exceed”(Teaching 55% obtained “Proficiency” skill levels. removed from the aggregation
model to improve Strategies- Gold) 37.5% obtained “Meets” skill Levels. until the IEP’s and or IFSP’s are
school readiness categories in their obtained. The process of
in 100% of school readiness 3 year old students: finalizing the 22 IEP’s and
enrolled students skills by the end of 31% obtained “Proficiency” skill levels. IFSP’s were delayed due to
and to promote each program year. 58.4% obtained “Meets” skill levels. COVID-19 school closing.
and increase
long-term EHS Students: Challenge #2: The abbreviated
academic 12% obtained “Exceeds” skill levels. school year did affect the
readiness skills. 76% obtained “In Process” skill levels. “Proficiency” school readiness
skills level attainment rate in
Data Summary: Program-wide, the data some students. Some students
does show that 90% of the EHS, 3 and 4 simply needed more time in
year old students obtained the “MEETS” school to obtain the “Proficient”
skills level in their school readiness goals . or “Exceeds” skill levels.
(b) The program will In 2019/2020, the program did not meet The abbreviated school year did
see 100% of children this objective. affect the “MEETS” school
with IEP and or IFSP readiness skills level attainment
in the “in process” The Program served a total of 55 rate in 6 students with IEP’s. Of
category (Work students with Special Needs. Of those the 6 students, three had severe
Sampling) or are in served, 89.45% of the children with IEP’s disabilities and 3 students with
the “meet” category and IFSP obtained the “MEETS” skills health challenges that warranted
(Teaching Strategies level in their school readiness goals. more classroom time in
Gold) of attaining their obtaining the ‘MEETS” skill
school readiness The program provided IEP assistance to levels. Following discussions
goals. 47 Head Start students and IFSP with the Policy Council and
assistance to 8 Early Head Start Governing Board, the Agency
students. This year, there were 6 children may lower the objective from
who had health and disabilities 100% to 70% to accommodate
challenges that need more school time to students with medical conditions
obtain the “MEETS” skill level. and/or significant disabilities.
Goal 1: (c) The program will In 2019/2020, the program met this goal There are no challenges to
Education: see 100% of children and objective. report.
(Continued) who are Dual
Language Learners In program year 2019/2020 there are 9
ECICAA will fully (DLL) in the “in students who are Dual Language
implement all process” category Learners in the Head Start program. Of
aspects of the (Work Sampling) or the 9 students, 9 obtained the “MEETS”
Head Start and are in the “meets” skills level in school readiness skills
Early Head Start category (Teaching levels. 100% of all Dual Language
model to improve Strategies Gold) of Learners met their school readiness
school readiness attaining their school goals.
in 100% of readiness goals.
enrolled students (d) The program will In 2019/2020, the program met this There are no challenges to
and to promote use attendance data objective by reducing the Chronic report.
and increase and its monitoring Absenteeism rate by 10.2%.
long-term system to promote
academic and increase long- The program is entering its second year
readiness skills. term academic of data collection pertinent to Chronic
readiness and school Absenteeism. This plan increases
readiness skills parents’ awareness and knowledge of
attainment rates and how absences directly affect school

decrease chronic readiness attainment rates for individual
absenteeism by 10%. children, three times within the program
year.
In 2018/2019, the Chronic Absenteeism

Plan lowered the chronic absences rate
by 5%.
In 2019/2020, the same plan lowered the

program’s chronic absenteeism rate by
10.2%.
Goal (2): (a) 10% of all Head In 2019/2020, the program exceeded this Through collaboration and
Family Services: Start parents without goal and objective as 34% of Head Start partnership with the local
ECICAA will a GED credential will and Early Head Start parents obtained college, Danville Area
promote and enroll in a their GED credentials. Community College, the
provide quality GED program. program promoted the college’s
training, There are 73 Head Start parents who on-line GED classes that were
education and or entered the program with less than a developed in 2019/2020
services for HS GED credential. Of the 73 parents, 25 program year. The program still
parents and or parents earned their GED Diplomas works diligently to motivate
guardians to during the 2019/2020 program year. more parents to enroll in the on-
increase their line GED course.
education levels
by 5% each year. (b) 25% of all In 2019/2020, the program met this goal. There are no challenges to
By increasing the HS/EHS parents will report.
educational enroll in a parenting In Early Head Start, 18 parents or 25%
levels of parents, course that addresses attended parenting classes. In Head
parents will be healthy parenting Start, 155 or 44% Head Start parents
more apt to skills, behavior participated in a parenting course. The
increase their management and parenting courses provided parenting
children’s School increasing their child’s skills education, behavior management
Readiness skills. social emotional and social emotional health-based
health. trainings.
Goal (3): Health: (a) Nurture Healthy The program exceeded this goal. 100% There are no challenges to
Eaters: of the children with over-weight or obese report.
ECICAA will fully indicators participated in a locally
implement all 50% of the families designed Healthy Eating Plan.
Health and with Head Start and
Nutrition based Early Head Start Of the enrolled Head Start and Early
practices from students with over- Head Start students, 34 children’s BMIs
the National weight BMI indicators were listed in the over-weight categories
Center on Early will participate in a and 15 children were at risk for obesity.
Childhood Health locally designed Of the 49 children identified, 49 children
and Wellness Healthy Eating Plan. and families participated in a locally
(NCECHW) designed Healthy Eating Plan.
model to reduce

childhood obesity The program also reduced the obesity
by 5% and rate by 50.2%. In 2018/2019, the obesity
ensure that Head rate was 14.4%. In 2019/2020, the
Start and Early obesity rate decreased to 7.2%.
Head Start (b) The program will In 2019/2020, the program did not meet Of the 86 students needing
students are partner with parents this goal; however, the Agency reduced following up care, 19 Head Start
healthy. and health providers dental caries by 59.3%. parents refused dental follow-up
to reduce the number treatment through the Head
of dental caries cases In 2019/2020, the program provided Start Program. These families
identified by 80% dental screenings on 100% of the Head chose to use their dental homes
each program year. Start and Early Head Start students. Of and private family dental plans
those that were screened, 86 students for dental treatments. With the
required dental follow-up treatments. 51 COVID-19 closures of dental
students were provided follow-up dental offices to emergency
treatments; 9 students remain with appointments only, these 19
scheduled follow-up dental appointments students’ dental follow-ups
that were cancelled due to COVID 19 remain incomplete. The
closures. 19 students’ families declined program anticipates that when
dental follow-up care (see challenges); dental offices are open to non-
and 7 students dropped from the program emergency appointments, the
before dental follow-up treatments were number of follow-up dental care
administered. will be reduced.
Goal (4): (a)The program will In the 2019/2020, the program exceeded There are no challenges to
Community seek to promote and this goal by increasing the number of report.
Involvement and increase male male involvement by 42%.
Partnerships: involvement in parent
teacher conferences,In 2019/2020 the program increased the
ECICAA will home visiting and male involvement to 485 males who
increase the weekly classroom participated in home visits, parent teacher
number of Head sessions by 10%. conferences, program events and weekly
Start and Early classroom participation in the
Head Start classrooms.
volunteers to There is a special campaign called “Dad’s
increase the Bring their Kids to the First Day of
amount of School.” Almost every Dad and
monetary support Granddad participated in this event on
for programs by the first day of school. In comparison to
20% annually. the previous program year where 258
males participated in the Head Start and
Early Head Start program, the Agency
increased male participation by 42%.
(b)The program will In 2019/2020, the program did not meet The closing of the Head Start
seek to promote and this goal. However, the program was able and Early Head Start services
increase professional- to increase the number of professional reduced the numbers of
based Community volunteers by 41%. Classroom teams community volunteers in the
Volunteer were able to partner with community 2019/2020 program year.

involvement activities volunteers who were willing to support the
by 50% to promote program’s literacy, science, math and
and increase the social studies lesson plans at a very
monthly literacy, steady pace.
science and math
domain activities.
In summary, the Agency was able to meet 60% of its 2019/2020 Program Year’s measurable goals and
objectives even though the calendar year was reduced by 12 weeks. This is a strong attestation of the
Agency’s diligence in providing a stable, data-driven, year-round approach to the attainment of the annual
Program Goals and Objectives. Some of the goal outcomes were missed by very small percentages . For
example, although the mandated school closings had a direct impact on some students achieving the
EXCEEDS or PROFICIENCY skills levels in their school readiness goals, 90% of the students have
obtained the “MEETS” skill level in all their school readiness goals. Goals/objectives that were dependent
on the amount of community volunteer support was affected by the school closure. One of the Agency’s
goals is to increase the numbers of volunteers by 50% more than the prior year. With diligent outreach and
partnerships throughout the 2019/2020 program year, the Agency was able to provide a 42% increase in
community volunteers and missed the goal attainment rate by 8%. In the Health objective, the Agency
needed more time to complete the numbers of dental follow-up appointments that were scheduled and
cancelled due to COVID-19 closures. Keep in mind, the program diligently provided complete follow-up
services for 51 students who each had multiple dental appointments in order to complete their follow-up
care. Without the COVID-19 closings, the program would have obtained this Health objective.
Research has shown that students in poverty are at a higher risk of losing academic gains during the
summer months. This is why, for many years, the Agency has worked diligently to ensure that children
transition into the school districts with “PROFICIENT OR EXCEEDS” skills levels in their school readiness
goals. When students transition into a school district with a “MEETS” skill level in their school readiness
goals, there are concerns that the students’ kindergarten experiences may be more challenging due to the
academic loss that may occur during the summer months. This concern is the same for children in poverty
who have special needs. As a result, the Agency has applied for a Summer Program grant that will provide
6 additional weeks of academic enrichment. Through the summer program, the Agency will attempt to
increase the kindergarten-bound students’ skills level to “EXCEEDS or PROFICIENCY,” meet their IEP
goals, and reschedule the follow-up dental appointments.
3. Describe any additions, deletions or revisions that were made to your program’s
School Readiness Goals since last year’s application.
In Program Year 2019/2020, there were no additions, deletions, or revisions to the EHS and HS School
Readiness Goals. Throughout the program year, the Head Start Leadership Team meets with local school
districts and home-visiting agencies in Ford, Iroquois and Vermilion counties to discuss the first and second
quarters of the school readiness outcomes and progression among enrolled students. These meetings
also reviewed the transition of students from Head Start to the local school districts and services for
children with special needs. A special meeting with the LEA and LIC was held on March 12, 2020 with the
purpose of reviewing the Head Start and Early Head Start School Readiness Goals. During this meeting,
the committee members concluded that the current Head Start and Early Head Start Goals were on target
with the school districts’ expected school readiness skills for kindergarten-bound students. Therefore, the
EHS and HS School Readiness Goals were not changed.
4. Additions, Deletions or Revisions of Program Goals; How Policy Council and Governing Body were
involved: The Program Goals and Objectives were not changed. However, On Friday, April 3, 2020, a web-
based meeting was held with the Policy Council, Governing Board and Head Start Management Team to
discuss the Program Goals and Objectives, Community Assessment Outcomes, Program Information
Report (PIR) preliminary reports and Grant Development. During the meeting with Governing Board and

Policy Council representatives, specific and lengthy discussions on the Program Goal outcomes pertinent
to Dental Follow-Up Services and the Head Start and Early Head Start parents’ GED goal attainment rates
were held as there were concerns about outcomes that were presented.
Dental Follow-Up Services: Of the 86 students needing following up care, 19 Head Start parents refused
dental follow-up treatment through the Head Start Program. There were concerns about the number of
parents who refused free dental follow-up care. The Health Services Coordinator presented to the
Governing Board and Policy Council representatives the explanation that 19 families chose to use their
dental homes and private family dental insurance for follow-up treatments rather than using the Agency’s
dental partnerships. Meeting participants were told that the COVID-19 closures resulted in dental offices
taking only emergency appointments. Therefore, the follow-up care for the 19 students who refused the
Agency’s dental services, along with 9 other Head Start students who had scheduled dental follow-up
appointments, remain incomplete. The Governing Board requested that a summary of the 19 dental
refusals be mentioned in the Continuation Grant application. The program anticipates that when dental
offices are open to non-emergency appointments, the numbers of incomplete follow-up dental treatment will
be reduced and the goal will be attained.
GED Enrollment Services: The percentage of parents who entered the program without a GED and the
percentage of parents who obtained their GED during the program year were presented. During the
presentation, the Community Assessment, PIR and the Agency Program Goals were compared. The
Governing Board and Policy Council discussed ways to enhance parents’ participation in the local college
GED on-line program. The Governing Board and Policy Council Representatives discussed how the
Agency can support more parents and what that service would look like. Meeting participants discussed
having more on-site access to the on-line course via computer usage at each center. The program will
survey parents in greater detail and provide more follow-up services as a means of increasing parents’ buy
in into the on-line GED program.

SECTION I. CONTINUATION GRANT, SERVICE DELIVERY UPDATES:
1. The Service and Recruitment Areas listed in this section have not changed. There still remains
enough income eligible students in the Agency’s service and recruitment areas; therefore, changes are not
required. Income eligible children and their families are recruited and served in the Vermilion, Ford and
Iroquois counties. The following provides information on each county according to the 2010 Census; the
2020 Census is currently in the data collection process.
Vermilion County: When compared to all the service areas, Vermilion County is the largest recruitment and
service jurisdiction. The City of Danville is the largest city in Vermilion County and four (4) of the Agency’s
largest Head Start centers are located in the City of Danville, Illinois. There are more children that are
served in the City of Danville than other areas in Vermilion County. In Vermilion County, children are also
served in two classrooms in the City of Hoopeston, Illinois and children are served in the two classrooms in
the City of Westville, Illinois. Between 2016 and 2017 the population of Vermilion County declined from
79,613 to 79,207, a -0.51% decrease and its median household income grew from $43,552 to $44,930, a
3.16% increase. The population of Vermilion County is 78.8% White, 13.9% African American, and 4.84%
Hispanic or Latino.
Child and Family Poverty Rates in Vermilion County, Illinois:
 20% of Vermilion County residents live at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) compared to
the State of Illinois rate of 14.4%;
 36% of students Birth, 1, and 2 years of age lives below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level;
 37% of the students ages 3 and 4 years of age lives below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level
(http://iecam.illinois.edu and the U.S. Census, 2018 Quickfacts.gov).

The households in Vermilion County have a median annual income of $44,930, which is less than the
median national annual income of $61,937. Therefore, the median income for the county is below the
national average. There are many families in Vermilion County who are employed and still meet the income
guideline eligibility for Head Start and Early Head Start services. In Vermilion County, the most common
non-English language spoken is Spanish. 2.95% of the overall population of Vermilion County are native
Spanish speakers.
Vermilion County Update and Summary of Challenges: In the program year 2019/2020, the number of
gang-related violent incidents in Danville, Illinois remains alarmingly high. With the state mandated
closures, the numbers of gang related incidents have decreased. Nevertheless, these incidents still have
had a negative impact on the attendance rate at two of the Head Start Centers that are located near public
housing communities. The rise in shooting incidents in the City of Danville has occurred mostly during the
evening and early morning hours. However, Head Start parents and the teaching teams have become
fearful of certain centers. The Mental Health Program design has changed in that the program has provided
increased mental health support services to the Head Start children, parents and classroom teams at these
centers. The program has also increased its engagement with law enforcement in efforts of increasing
safety at each Head Start center. The centers that are affected by the neighborhood shootings are
assessed regularly for environmental safety precautions and the teachers are given updates on active
shooter emergency lock-down procedures.
Iroquois County: Iroquois County is located near the border of Indiana and is located near the City of
Kankakee. It is the third largest county in the state in terms of land area, covering over 1,100 square
miles. The county seat of Iroquois County is the City of Watseka which is where one Head Start Birth to
Five center is located; 20 students are served in Head Start and 11 students are served in Early Head
Start. Twenty-two miles west of the City of Watseka is the City of Gilman. In the City of Gilman is a single
E C I C A A 2 0 2 0 / 2 0 2 1 C o n t i n u a t i o n G r a n t 10 |
Head Start center that serves 20 children. The City of Gilman has a high number of Hispanic and/or Latino
families whose home language is Spanish. The Gilman center is where most Dual Language Learners
receive Head Start educational services. Iroquois County’s population declined from 28,814 to 28,457,
which is a -1.24% decrease and its median household income grew from $47,823 to $48,857, a 2.16%
increase. The population of Iroquois County is 90% White, 7% Hispanic or Latino, and 1% African
American.
Iroquois County Updates: For the first time in many years, Iroquois County did not experience flooding that
created school closures. This year’s school closures were due to the COVID 19 Pandemic. Also, the bi-
product of the annual flooding of farm land areas and the reported high lead levels were all addressed and
resolved during the program year 2019/2020. The Agency monitors and tests the lead levels to ensure that
the classrooms and the water remain safe for the students and staff at both centers in the Watseka and
Gilman cities. With all the city upgrades and changes to the Head Start locations, the Agency did
experience a significant increase in the cost of rental space at the Watseka Birth to Five Center which is
located on city property. The City of Watseka was able to install levies that held and kept the cities of
Watseka and Gilman from flooding. The cost of rent increased as a part of the costly upgrades within the
community. The issue of poverty remains at an increased level in Iroquois County as this county is rural
and many families are located in remote areas were extreme poverty exists. The following is an update as
it pertains to children and families in the Iroquois County.
 16% of Iroquois County residents live at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) compared to the
State of Illinois rate of 14.4%;
Ford County: Ford County’s most populated city is Paxton; this is where a Head Start Birth to Five center
that serves 20 students in Head Start and 11 students in EHS Home-base is located. Twenty (20) miles
south of the City of Paxton is the City of Gibson City where a single Head Start classroom serves 16 Head
Start students. The population of Ford County is 94% White, 3% Hispanic or Latino, and less than 1%
African American. In 2017, Ford County had a population of 13.5k people with a median age of 43.2 and a
median household income of $50,851. Between 2016 and 2017 the population of Ford County, IL declined
from 13,758 to 13,470, a -2.09% decrease and its median household income grew from $49,257 to
$50,851, a 3.24% increase. This income increase can be deceiving as the Ford County rural area serves
children and families in extreme poverty. These families are in isolated areas where the Head Start
program provides a wealth of advocacy and resources to these hidden populations. The following is an
update as it pertains to children and families in the Ford County service area.
 16% of Ford County residents live at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) compared to the
State of Illinois rate of 14.4%;
2. Need of Children and Families: According to the 2019/2020 Community Assessment, high
unemployment, parents’ low education level attainment rates and high child poverty rates are some of the
risk factors and needs that children and families in Vermilion, Ford and Iroquois counties experience. High
unemployment rates that are displayed in the chart below are connected to the low-education attainment
levels of families in the service areas.
Unemployment Rates-February 2020
4.5 4.1 4.2
4 3.5 3.5
3.4
3.5
3 2.6
2.5 Unemployment Rates
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
U.S. Illinois Vermilion Ford Iroquois Champaign
High Unemployment Rates: According to the February-April, 2020 postings on Indeed.com, there are
1,150 jobs available in Vermilion County; 1,275 jobs available in Ford County, and there are 538 jobs
available in Iroquois County. With the listing of numerous job openings in the Agency’s service areas, two
counties’ (Vermilion and Iroquois Counties) unemployment rates were above the U.S. National
Unemployment rate of 3.5% and all three counties’ (Vermilion, Ford and Iroquois Counties) unemployment
rates are higher than the State of Illinois’ unemployment rates of 3.4%. There is a correlation between the
counties’ unemployment rates and the numerous job openings. The correlation is that the service areas
have individuals who lack the employment-readiness skills and education levels needed to fill vacant
positions. Many of the vacant positions in the service areas are classified as demand occupations in the
areas of Nursing (LPN and RN), electronics, CDL, certified medical assistant, computer communications
and mechatronics. (Source: Vermilion County Works; 2019;//www.dacc.edu/depts/vcw.) These career
pathways are competency-based and require education levels and skills above a high school diploma.
According to the 2019/2020 Program Information Report (PIR), 62% of Head Start parents and 56% of
Early Head Start parents had education levels that were at or below the High School/GED levels.
Additionally, the PIR reports show that 57% of the Head Start parents and 47% of the Early Head Start
Parents were employed, yet were still income-eligible for Head Start and Early Head Start services. It can
be safely concluded that parents are not able to obtain jobs that will meet the financial needs of their
families.
According to the 2019/2020 Community Assessment surveys that were completed by 1,325 participants
and 436 Head Start parents, the highest job readiness needs identified were: “(1) Knowing what jobs are
available; (2) Finding a permanent full-time job to support me or my family; (3) Getting an education for the
job I want; (4) Learning computer skills to apply for jobs and (5) Getting training for the job I want.” The
Community Assessment survey outcomes gives hope that many are aware that additional education and
job skills are needed to obtain a living wage for their families.
Parents Low-Educational Level Attainment Rate: As mentioned in the previous section and in the
2019/2020 Program Information Report (PIR) and Community Assessment, the low-education attainment
levels among Head Start and Early Head Start parents create barriers to parents’ ability to earn wages that
will effectively support their families. On page 14, the chart provides the actual numbers of Head Start and
Early Head Start parents’ education attainment levels.
Parent/Guardian Education Levels: Head Start: Early Head Start:

Percentag Numbers Percentage Numbers
e
Advance Degree or Baccalaureate Degree 3% 18 4% 3
Associates Degree 34% 139 41% 36
High School Diploma or GED 46% 190 43% 38
Less than High School Graduate 16% 62 13% 11
In summary, with 62% of Head Start (HS) and 56% of Early Head Start (EHS) parents having low-
educational attainment levels, more than half of the HS and EHS parents lacked the education levels
needed to obtain local jobs that would result in earning a living wage for their children and families.
High Child Poverty Rates and other Risk Factors: Along with employment and education risk factors,
children within Vermilion, Ford and Iroquois counties are at risk for many other factors, including poverty.
Please refer to the chart below:
County’s Facts on Poverty Rate Comparisons

(www.iecam.illinois.edu; Vermilion County 2017-2022 IPLAN; 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment;
U.S. Census, American Fact Finder, and Heartland Alliance Program-Report on Illinois and Vermilion County
Poverty, 2017)
Community Characteristics Rates Vermilion Iroquois Ford Illinois
County County County
Overall Poverty Rates 20% 16% 16% 14%
Childhood Poverty Rates for Children under 5 years 37% 28% 22% 21%
Children on Free and Reduced Lunch Rates 77% 50% 61% 50%
Rate of Children with Disabilities 16% 13% 14% 14%
Rates of Parents without high school completion 16% 12% 11% 14%
Rates of Limited English Proficiency 3.2% 4.8% .2% 10.7%
Rate of Indicated Child Abuse/Neglect per 1, 000 cases 38 13 22 10
Actual Number and percent of Children under age 5 197 69 25 17,169
years, placed in Foster Care; Report by County. children children children children
Source: IL Department of Children & Family Serv., 2020 4.1% 4.6% 3.2% 2%
District Rates of Drop-outs, Truancy and Retention: 18% 3% 9% 11%

Rates of Alcohol and Substance Abuse 18% No Data No Data 21%
Rates of Low Birth Weight or Prematurity 9% 6% 9% 8.0
Infant Mortality Rate per 1,000 live births 40 10 3 50
Suicide Rates 13% 17% No Data 10%
Vermilion County: In Vermilion County, 37% of the children under the age of five years live in poverty.
The percentage of children in poverty lowers as children progress between the ages of 5 and 17 years.
This data provides a glimpse into the significant economic hardships families with pre-school aged children
tend to experience. Single head of households and low-income working families with pre-school aged
children must secure childcare to maintain full-time employment. The cost of quality childcare and other
expenses plunge more than half of Vermilion, Iroquois and Ford County’s families with pre-school aged
population into severe poverty.
Iroquois County: In Iroquois County, 28% of the children live below the federal poverty level (FPL),
compared to the state rate of 21%. Although this county’s child poverty rate is 7% higher than the Illinois
poverty rate, poverty for families and children who live in rural communities have a greater impact. Take for
example, the chart that is listed on page 15 and look at the number of children who qualify for free lunches.
In Iroquois County, the data shows that 50% of the children in school qualify for free lunches. That is a
strong indication that half of the schools population in Iroquois County meet the poverty guidelines for free
nutrition. This issue becomes a compounded issue when the families who reside in isolated areas do not
have easy access to the grocery stores and or food mart. For rural families, poverty has a greater impact
as their resources cannot be reached via a city bus, taxi and/or train. These families, quite often are left in
isolation until help is brought to them. Therefore, a child poverty rate of 28% means that rural Iroquois
County children are at higher risk for having their basic needs go unmet, such as not receiving meals over
the weekends.
Ford County: In Ford County, 22% of the children live below the federal poverty level compared to the
State of Illinois rate of 21%. Similar to Iroquois County, Ford County is also a very rural county. Families in
rural communities experience extreme poverty because their residence isolates them and they do not have
easy access to the resources needed to assist these families during hardships and or crisis. Please note
that in Ford County, 61% of the children in their schools actually qualify for free school lunch. The Ford
County also has a high percent of neglect and abuse cases (22 cases per 1,000). Therefore, a child
poverty rate of 22% in rural Ford County means that there are a good amount of families who are at a
higher risk of having their basic needs for food and any other assistance go unmet.
Families who live in poverty experience various family stressors and frustrations that can lead to other risk
factors such as depression (listed as mental health), domestic violence, emergency food and shelter crisis,
substance abuse and DCFS interventions. The chart below lists the number of referrals HS and EHS
parents have either requested and/or been provided with during the program year 2019/2020.
2019/2020 Head Start and Early Head Start Parents/Family Stressors

Source: 2019/2020 Program Information Report (PIR)
Statistical Information on 2019/2020 enrolled Head Start and Early Early Head Head Start
Head Start Families family stresses that could lead to experiences of Start Program Program
Trauma. Source: 2019/2020 Program Information Report (PIR)
Number of children in Foster Care Services: 6 22
Number of children with open DCFS cases: 15 38
Number of families experiencing homelessness: 6 28
Number of families receiving emergency crisis intervention for food 18 203
and shelter
Number of families who were referred to Mental Health for Services: 20 110
Number of families who received substance abuse treatment: 14 52
Number of families who received child abuse and neglect services: 17 77
Number of families receiving assistance for an incarcerated parent: 12 20
Number of families who received services for domestic violence: 16 53
Homelessness: In 2019/2020, at enrollment and during the program year, a combined total of 34 HS and
EHS families were classified as homeless . During the program year, an additional 221 families required
emergency shelter assistance to avoid evictions that could have resulted in homelessness. In 2019/2020,
the Agency assisted HS and EHS parents with homeless prevention services through the Community
Services Block Grant Program that works with landlords in eviction prevention and housing counseling to
alleviate the chances of future evictions. Rapid homelessness is especially prevalent in Vermilion County.
Families with young children are afraid of having their homelessness discovered due to the fear of child
welfare intervention. As in prior program years, it is not uncommon to discover during the first and/or
second quarter parent/teacher conferences that families are experiencing homelessness. When an
Agency’s Family Advocate or Classroom Teacher discovers that the family’s address has changed to a
friend’s or relative’s home and determines the family’s new resting area is a sofa in a friend’s or relative’s
living room, homelessness is discovered. When homelessness dialogue is discussed with the families,
staff has reported that HS and EHS families do not view their plight of moving from one family’s sofa to a
friend’s sofa as homelessness. Our program, with gentle care and discreetness, provides resources to
alleviate homelessness.
Youth in Child Welfare: As of April 2020, Vermilion County had 197 children, Iroquois County had 69
children and Ford County had 25 children placed in foster-care homes. The rates of indicated cases of child
victim of abuse and/or neglect remain the same. All three counties’ data show a common trend of high risk
for children being victims of abuse and neglect when the counties’ data shows high percentages of children
in poverty. Among the percentages of indicated cases for abuse and neglect, African American children
under the age of five had the rate of 20.6 per 1,000 cases of abuse and neglect. This data provides
evidence that there are a high number of pre-school aged children who are severely at-risk in the program’s
service areas. (http://iecam.illinois.edu and Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Child
Abuse/Neglect Statistics Report, 2016 and 2020 Reports.)
The Need for Other Child Development, Childcare Centers, and Family Childcare Programs: The number of
available publicly-funded, part-day, pre-kindergarten slots has increased as displayed in the chart of page
18. However, the numbers of slots were not significant when compared to the number of eligible children in
the service area who were in need of early childhood educational services. The data shows that the HS
and EHS program has ample number of children to reach and provide services to.
Numbers of childcare services in the Agency’s Service Area:

Early Care Services Preschool Head Start Licensed Child License-Exempt Licensed Family
For All Licensed Care Centers Child Care Child Care
Centers Centers Homes
Ages of Children 3-4 years 3-4 years Birth-5 years Birth-5 years Birth-5 years
# of Sites in Vermilion County 10 6 8 5 101
Vermilion’s Potential Capacity 580 313 502 302 944
# of Sites in Iroquois County 6 3 2 2 26
Iroquois Potential Capacity 190 86 55 119 218
% of Sites in Ford County 3 2 3 1 25
Ford’s Potential Capacity 90 47 110 20 222
3. Chosen Program Options and Funded Enrollment Slots:
Per Indicators from the 2019/2020 Community Assessment, the Program Options and Funded Enrollment
Slots have not changed. The program will enroll 347 children in Head Start and 70 children in Early Head
Start for a total of 417 participants. The Agency provides center-based services in Head Start to serve the
working parents, parents in school and parents who are in the transition of entering employment. The
Agency’s EHS program provides center-based services to assist families in the same manner with the
addition of home-base services that provides educational assistance to assist expecting families and
families in the rural areas. The Head Start structure includes 347 full-day center base slots and the Early
Head Start structure includes sixteen (16) full day center base and 54 home base slots.
Center-Based Option: In the Head Start center-based option, the program provides 1,020 annual hours of
planned classroom operation over the course of a 9 month program year. Classrooms are staffed by two
Head Start teacher qualified personnel with a one (1) teacher to ten (10) Head Start student ratio. In the
Early Head Start center-based option, the program provides 1,380 annual hours of planned classroom
operation over the course of a 12 month program year. Classrooms are staffed by two Early Head Start
teacher qualified personnel with a one (1) teacher to four (4) Early Head Start infant/toddler students.
The Head Start and Early Head Start center-based option provides comprehensive services to include, but
are not limited to: health, nutrition, dental, mental health, developmental screenings and follow-up services,
family engagement, fatherhood and family goal setting services. Families are provided a minimum of two
home visits and two parent/teacher conferences where parents are provided information on school
readiness attainment, attendance data, IEP/IFSP services and other social services resources that assists
families who are economically in need.
In the Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms, the researched based curriculums, Creative Curriculum
(Head Start) and Creative Curriculum for Infants and Twos (Early Head Start) are used to provide early
learning educational experiences. Both the EHS and HS curricula align with the Head Start Early Learning
Outcome Framework: Ages Birth to Five (ELOF) and the State of Illinois Early Learning Standards. Both
curricula are used to promote measurable progress towards development and learning as outlined in the
ELOF. Both the Early Head Start and Head Start classrooms implement on-going assessment tools to
measure quarterly program progress of students’ school readiness goal gains. The Early Head Start
centers implement the Teaching Strategies Gold On-Going Assessment Tool and the Head Start centers
implement the Work Sampling On-Going Assessment Tool. Every three months, the program examines,
analyzes and aggregates data to ensure that students’ kindergarten readiness skills are attained prior to
transition into local school districts. Recently, the program began the aggregation of school readiness
outcomes on African-American Early Head Start infants and toddlers and on Head Start three and four year
old male children. This data is analyzed to determine the progress of African-American male children’s
school readiness attainment rates within the program.
Head Start and Early Head Start classroom and facilities are licensed by the Illinois Department of Children
and Family Services Licensing Division. This tri-annual DCFS licensing review also includes the passing of
various State of Illinois fire codes and inspections. All Head Start and Early Head Start centers are
licensed and have met all safety codes.
Coaching: The Head Start and Early Head Start Program uses the National Center on Quality Teaching
and Learning’s (NCQTL) coaching model called “Practice-Based Coaching”.
The Agency’s Head Start Management Team has observed direct benefits of having Educational Coaches
on board. The Educational Coaches are able to provide follow-up, one-on-one trainings with the classroom
teaching teams that are in need of additional instructional support. The follow-up support that is provided
by the Educational Coaches reminds teachers of how to implement and utilize the varying education and
social-emotional training concepts that were presented during education trainings.
The following is how coaching is introduced to the teaching teams:
 On-Boarding for Newly Hired Teachers: Coaches are introduced to newly hired teachers during
their on-boarding training sessions. Newly hired teachers are given information on how the
Educational Coaches support and provide resources to help them simulate into the classroom
routines.
 Newly hired teachers are given two days of on-boarding trainings; then weekly training sessions for
a total of three months. Coaches will assist with this process.
 Seasoned Teachers: All teachers are given a Teacher Needs Assessment- Self Evaluation form to
complete. The teachers will evaluate their teaching practices and teachers will determine if they
would like to receive resources and/or support from the Educational Coach. The form is forwarded
to the Educational Coach according to the teachers’ self-evaluation of need.
 If the teacher is open to receiving the Educational Coach’s resources and support, a Coaching
Contract between the teacher and the coach is developed which both the teacher and coach sign.
The teacher is given a copy of the contract.
 The teacher and coach meet and develop an Action Plan to work on a specific goal and detailed
steps to achieving the goal.
 Coaching sessions are scheduled. During the first session, the Educational Coach will observe the
classroom and document their observations on the Observation Log and Reflection Sheet.
 The Educational Coach will meet with the teacher and provide reflections and feedback.
 The Educational Coach and teacher together agree on days and times to conduct additional
observations.
 The Educational Coach and teacher together agree on days and times to conduct feedback
sessions.
 The Educational Coaches provide checking sessions to answer any questions and resources
needed to support the teacher in obtaining his/her goal.
 Coaches fill out Coaching Practices Strengths and Needs Assessment to relate their effective
coaching practices for supporting teachers’ learning.
Home-Based Option: In the home base option, teachers visit with parents and children for one and a half
hours each week over 50 weeks within each calendar year. Teacher’s caseloads comprise of up to 12
Early Head Start families. Using the researched based curriculum Parents as Teachers, or PAT, home-
based teachers work with parents to develop a lesson plan based on the child’s specific developmental
needs and encourage parents to participate in bi-weekly socialization sessions. The bi-weekly
socialization curriculum is also the Parents as Teachers curriculum with an adaptation of the Parents
Interacting with Infants and Toddlers model called “PIWI.” The Early Head Start home-based option
mirrors the comprehensive services that are provided to center-based children and families. The home-
based option provides the following services to families: health, nutrition, dental, mental health,
developmental screenings and follow-up services, family engagement, fatherhood and family goal setting
services. Families are provided a minimum of four (4) parent/teacher conferences where EHS parents are
provided information on school readiness attainment rates, attendance data, IFSP progress and updates;
and are given resources for pregnant mothers and their families and other social services resources to
assist families who are economically in need.
Both the center and home-based program options meet the needs of children and families in all three
counties we serve through the providing of information, training, education, and other services that support
our families in need. In the Head Start center and home-base options, families rely on the Head Start
program to provide health, dental and nutritional services. Without Head Start partnership and
collaboration with local health providers, many children in the home base and center base options would
not receive the extensive dental services, nutrition support and social-emotional wellness care that the
program provides. Children’s health, dental and developmental requirements are tracked and monitored
in ChildPlus by Family Advocates and the Health Service team. The program advocates in the community
for families and keeps the community abreast of the emerging needs of Head Start and Early Head Start
families. Advocating for families in the home based and center option has provided more opportunities for
Head Start children and their families to gain employment, medical services, trainings and health support
that would not be provided if the Head Start program did not exist.
4. Centers and Facilities: (Center locations have not changed.)

In program year 2019/2020, there are no changes in any of the ten (10) Head Start centers’ locations. All
centers are inspected annually and all centers have been issued certifications to operate by DCFS
Licensing, Local Health Departments and the State Fire Marshal. There are no centers with Federal
Interest.
Centers: Program Options:

East Central Illinois Community Action Agency – Admin. Office EHS Home-Base Services-
56 North Vermillion Street, Danville, IL 61832 (3 HB Teachers)
Family and Community Development Center 6 Head Start Classrooms
501 North Kimball Street, Danville, IL 61832 (6 full day sessions)
Fair Oaks Head Start Center 2 Head Start Classroom
1023 Belton Street, Danville, IL 61832 (2 full day sessions)
Laura Lee Head Start Center 1 Head Start Classroom
455 North Jackson Street, Danville, IL 61832 (1 full day session)
Roselawn Head Start Birth to Five Center (4 full day sessions) (2 EHS Classrooms),
302 West Roselawn Avenue, Danville, Illinois 61832 (2 HS Classrooms) & (1 EHS Socialization Room)
Trinity/Westville Head Start Center 2 Head Start Classroom
311 Moses Street, Westville, IL 61832 (2 full day sessions)
Hoopeston Head Start Session 2 Head Start Classroom
502 East Main Street, Hoopeston, IL 60942 (2 full day sessions)
Paxton Head Start Center 1 Head Start Classroom-
1195 West Pells Street, Paxton, IL 60957 (1 full day HS session), 1 EHS Home-base
Gibson City Head Start Center 1 Classroom (1 full day HS session)
401 North Church Street, Gibson City, IL 61832
Gilman Head Start Center 1 Classroom (1 full day HS center)
210 North Central Street, Gilman, IL 60938
Watseka Head Start Center, 1 HS Classroom (1 full day session) and
1001 East Grant Street, Watseka, IL 60970 1 EHS Home-base
In the HS and EHS budgets, in the building maintenance category, the program has allocated more dollars
that will be used to meet electrical upgrades, fire codes and maintain the installation of monitoring cameras
in each classroom. Many of the Head Start centers are now required to have a fire system that has ranged
in the cost of $15,000 per center. The Family and Community Development Center, in the program year
2020/2021, will need a complete roof replacement due to the aging of the building. In 2019, all centers, with
the exception of the Family and Community Development Center, required upgrades to address water lead
levels. The centers in the rural areas required more building maintenance to address lead in the water
systems. All centers are now compliant as the water lead levels were corrected through extensive city and
landlord pipe replacement and addition of filters. All other building repairs that are conducted on Head
Start centers are regular maintenance repairs that address the needs of normal wear and tear on the
buildings.
5. Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment and Attendance: (There are updates.)

Eligibility: To be eligible for Early Head Start services, a child must be an infant or a toddler younger than
three years old. For Head Start, a child must be at least three years old, or turn three years old by the date
used to determine eligibility for public school in the community in which the Head Start program is located,
and be no older than the age required to attend school.
Program staff will conduct an in-person interview with each family. Staff may interview the family over the
telephone if an in-person interview is not possible or convenient for the family. An over-the-telephone
interview will only be done on a case by case situation according to each family’s needs. Staff will
document in the participant’s file reasons why an in-person interview was not possible.
At least 90% of the children who are enrolled in each Head Start program must be from low-income
families. Up to 10% of the children who are enrolled may be children from families that exceed the low-
income guidelines but who meet criteria the program has established for selecting such children who would
benefit from Head Start services. The program’s eligibility requirements include: (1) Family income is below
the poverty line; (2) Family or child receives public assistance (SSI and TANF); (3) Family is homeless; and
(3) Child is a foster child. There are additional income-eligibility requirements: (1) Ten percent of children
enrolled in the program may be over the income threshold; and (2) an additional 35 percent of children who
are not categorically eligible may be from families whose income is between 101 and 130 % of poverty.
Recruitment: Recruitment is an ongoing process throughout the program year. Pre-application cards are
available at Agency functions and Family Advocates contact perspective families to take applications. All
staff receives training on how to take a Head Start application. Packets of application materials are kept at
Head Start sites.
Recruitment of Children with Disabilities, Homelessness, and in Child Welfare Services: Children with
disabilities, who are homelessness or are in child welfare services (and their families) will receive enhanced
recruitment services. The program’s recruitment effort will work with pediatricians, family practitioners,
WIC, Women’s Care Clinic, Aunt Martha’s Clinics, Child and Family Connections, Local Interagency
Council, Local Education Administrations, Department of Child and Family Services and other agencies to
refer diagnosed children and/or children needing special services. Members of the Local Interagency
Council and social service agencies will receive information about the requirements and benefits of Head
Start. Fliers and printed materials will include information that states “families with very young children who
have a disability are encouraged to apply.” The point system provides an additional level of preference to
families with disabled children, homelessness and children and families in child welfare services.
Selection: The program’s selection process consists of a team of staff, parents and policy council members
that sit down with collected data and propose a Priority Point Chart. The Priority Point Chart is to make sure
the children with the greatest needs are selected for the program first. Each family will complete a two
page application through a face-to-face interview with a Head Start staff member. The program monitors
each file for completeness and priority points will be assigned by ChildPlus, determining the children and
families of greatest need in each service area. A group of questions on the application have points
assigned to them in ChildPlus. This Priority Point System is used throughout the program year to select
children with the greatest need to place in classrooms and home base options. Families of children in
Head Start are mailed letters informing them of the first day of class, parent orientation and classroom
placement location.
Enrollment: Enrollment is the action of official acceptance of a family by the Head Start program and the
completion of all procedures necessary for a child and family to begin receiving services. A child is enrolled
when the following criteria are fulfilled: (1) The child’s file has all information completed; unless the child is
considered homeless, then the program will assist the family in obtaining records needed; and (2) Priority
points, as calculated by ChildPlus. Management Team members review priority points and have
determined that the child has high priority to be enrolled in the program. Families are informed by a letter
or personal contact that there is a slot available for their child.
Attendance: The Program has an Attendance Plan that supports the Goal and Objective: “To improve
school readiness in 100% of enrolled students”. The program will use attendance data and its’ monitoring
system to promote and increase long term academic readiness and school readiness skills attainment rates
and decrease chronic absenteeism by 10%. Attendance data was collected, aggregated, and analyzed
over a four-year period. The analyzation shows the following annual attendance rates:
Early Head Start Annual Attendance Rates Head Start Annual Attendance Rates:
FY 2017 attendance 79.47% FY 2017 attendance 81.59%

FY2020 attendance 85% FY 2020 attendance 81%
The data shows that in program year 2019/2020 the EHS students increased their attendance rate and
achieved the attendance rate of 85%. The HS students’ average attendance rate decreased slightly to
81%. This year’s attendance rate was affected by the 12 week COVID-19 school closures. Typically,
attendance rates for students in the Head Start program increase after the winter season when frequent
absences occur due to colds and flu. In 2019/2020, the Agency entered its’ second year of implementing
its Chronic Absenteeism Plan. The plan was effective in reducing the annual chronic absenteeism rate by
10.2%.
Education and Child Development: (There are updates.) The Agency fully implements the research-based
curriculum, Creative Curriculum. The program also uses the research-based literacy curriculum, Trophies
Curriculum. The Trophies Curriculum was added as an enhancement to the literacy portion of the lesson
plan in order to engage the children in conversations, increase an appreciation for books and increase the
children’s vocabularies and phonological skills. Research has shown that children in poverty are engaged
in less conversation and hear fewer words within a day. (Source:
http://www.urbanchildinstitute.org/articles/research-to-policy/policy/poverty-can-jeopardize-the-
development-of-literacy-and-early.) Also, as stated in the 2019/2020 Community Assessment, due to a
large number of EHS and HS parents who have less than a high school diploma, a literacy curriculum
enhancement was needed to increase the number of words and books children explored on a daily basis.
Both the Creative Curriculum and Trophies Curriculum align with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes
Framework (ELOF) and the Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards (IELDS). Both curriculums
are geared to provide instructional guidance to a teaching team who serves children within the age groups
of three to five years and for children who are Dual Language Learners (DLL). The Creative Curriculum
provides examples of how to develop activities that can be written in the lesson plans for children that are
three, four and five years old. Therefore, the teachers are guided on how to provide high-quality, age and
developmentally appropriate activities for three, four and five year old children.
Creative Curriculum: The Agency believes that it is important to lay a formal foundation at an early age for
children’s growth and development and to ensure future success. What we teach and how we teach young
children, ages three to five years, are founded in the growth and development of the young child. The
standards for the curriculum are based on a developmentally appropriate model. This means that, as a
program, we take into account each child’s development to prepare a curriculum that is age and individually
appropriate. We are aware that each child has their own needs and interests. Therefore, we work to build a
curriculum based on those individual rates of development, as well as individual interests, temperaments,
languages, cultural backgrounds and learning styles.
Using the Creative Curriculum, children are provided with various materials, activities and experiences that
promote their physical, intellectual, social and emotional development. Educational materials are brought
into the home and appropriate objects in the home are used for activities. The Creative Curriculum
addresses the domains of development in the following ways.
Physical: The Creative Curriculum provides a guide for teachers to explore four learning objectives for
physical development with children individually and as a group. The curriculum guides the teacher to assist
children in demonstrating traveling skills, balancing skills, fine-motor manipulative skills and gross-motor
strength and coordination. The curriculum promotes activities that encourage large and small muscle
movement throughout the school day. Teachers are able to provide one hour of large muscle activities
such as hopping, skipping, jumping, riding trikes, and balance during outdoor and indoor activities. During
fine motor activities, teachers will assist children in writing, cutting with scissors, tying shoe laces, braiding
yarn and more in order to develop motor skills.
Classroom Routines: (Updates on the continued use of Active Supervision Techniques) The Creative
Curriculum promotes development of classroom routines that include regular physical activities. It links
daily physical routines to the improvement of children’s health, social, cognitive, emotional, and
physiological well-being. In response to the COVID 19 Pandemic, the curriculum’s required washing of
hands with soap and water before eating, after using the bathroom, or after blowing nose will be increased.
The curriculum guides the teachers in how to encourage children to take more responsibility in personal
self-care skills such as buttoning, snapping and zipping. The curriculum guides teachers in identifying a
variety of healthy and unhealthy foods and demonstrates a basic understanding that eating a variety of
foods helps the body grow and be healthy. This is widely promoted in the science lesson plan and this part
of the curriculum will be enhanced with more safety measures in response to the COVID 19 Pandemic. In
the science lesson plans, children will learn how foods grow and how, by eating nutritious foods, the body
grows strong and healthy.
Classroom Routines Updates: On-Going Monitoring of Active Supervision in Classroom Routines: The
Agency continues to provide on-going layering of daily, weekly and monthly monitoring of the classroom,
center safety practices and safe environments through classroom observations that are conducted weekly
and documented bi-weekly on a classroom observation form. Assistant directors and site supervisors are
required to conduct weekly classroom observations and document bi-weekly observations of all
classrooms. Daily observations are conducted by site supervisors and classroom teams. The classrooms
are monitored to ensure that active supervision redundant counts; proper zoning and classroom ratios are
conducted daily by classroom personnel to ensure that children are never left alone and or unsupervised.
The outcomes of these observations are provided to the classroom teams and management team. The
outcomes are reviewed and discussed for areas of improvement, changes, and professional development.
Strategies to Put Active Supervision in Place: Educational trainings are provided to teaching teams to
ensure that active supervision strategies are in place that allow children to explore their environments
safely. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers must be directly supervised at all times. This includes during all
daily routines such as sleeping, eating, and diapering or bathroom use. The Agency provides trainings on
active supervision to ensure that children are never left unattended.
Strategy 1: Set Up the Environment: Staff set up the environment so that they can supervise children and
be accessible at all times. When activities are grouped together and furniture is at waist height or shorter,
adults are always able to see and hear children.[3] Small spaces are kept clutter-free and big spaces are
set up so that children have clear play spaces that staff can observe.
Strategy 2: Position Staff: Staff carefully plan where they will position themselves in the environment to
prevent children from harm. They place themselves so that they can see and hear all of the children in their
care.[4] They make sure there are always clear paths to where children are playing, sleeping, and eating so
they can react quickly when necessary. Staff stay close to children who may need additional support. Their
location helps them provide support, if necessary.
Strategy 3: Scan and Count: Staff is always able to account for the children in their care. They
continuously scan the entire environment to know where everyone is and what they are doing. They count
the children frequently. This is especially important during transitions when children are moving from one
location to another.
Strategy 4: Listen: Specific sounds or the absence of them may signify reason for concern. Staff who are
listening closely to children should be able to immediately identify signs of potential danger. Programs that
think systemically implement additional strategies to safeguard children. For example, bells added to doors
help alert staff when a child leaves or enters the room.
Strategy 5: Anticipate Children's Behavior: Staff use what they know about each child’s individual interests
and skills to predict what he/she will do. They create challenges that children are ready for and support
them in succeeding but they also recognize when children might wander, get upset, or take a dangerous
risk. Information from the daily health check (e.g., illness, allergies, lack of sleep or food, etc.) informs
staff’s observations and helps them anticipate children’s behavior. Staff who know what to expect are better
able to protect children from harm.
Strategy 6: Engage and Redirect: Staff use what they know about each child’s individual needs and
development to offer support. Staff wait until children are unable to problem-solve on their own to get
involved. They may offer different levels of assistance or redirection depending on each individual child’s
needs.
Cognitive: The Creative Curriculum focuses on the classroom “set-up” that enhances a child’s ability to
show curiosity, observe, explore, problem solve and manipulate objects to understand their purposes. The
classrooms must be arranged into learning centers that enable the child to use various materials and their
imaginations to explore objects and abstract ideas. There are four cognitive objectives in the Creative
Curriculum: “(1) demonstrates positive approaches to learning, (2) remembers and connects experiences,
(3) uses classification skills, and (4) uses symbols and images to represent something not present.”
Through planned math and science activities, children are exploring thoughts and ideas, using all their
senses to make sense of the world around them, predicting outcomes, practicing problem solving and,
through the assistance of their teachers, asking questions that promote complex and critical thinking.
Language: In Creative Curriculum, there are three learning objectives in language development : “(1) listens
to and understands increasingly complex language, (2) uses language to express thoughts and needs, and
(3) uses appropriate conversational and other communication skills.” Lesson plans and classroom
activities are created to help children learn the ability to listen, understand and to use their words to express
their thoughts, ideas, and needs. Language learning activities will guide the children to learn about the
structure and sequence of speech, sounds, vocabulary, grammar and the rules for engaging in appropriate
and effective conversation. The teacher regularly reads to the children, asks open-ended questions about
the story and prompts the children to use new words that were introduced throughout the day.
Social-Emotional: In Creative Curriculum, there are three learning objectives in social-emotional
development: “(1) regulates own emotions and behaviors, (2) establishes and sustains positive
relationships, (3) participate collaboratively and constructively in group settings.” The Agency uses the
Conscious Discipline strategies along with the Creative Curriculum learning objectives to promote social-
emotional self-regulation and self-awareness in the classroom. The classroom learning center for the
social-emotional area is called the “safe place”. In the safe place, the children will learn about their feelings
and how to use various breathing techniques to release their emotions. The type of books that are placed
in the safe place learning center, where children can read about their feelings and social behavior, are
regulated by Creative Curriculum. Lesson plans and classroom activities are developed to teach the
children the social skills of sharing, taking turns, problem solving and how to interact with their friends.
Through the use of Creative Curriculum, the Agency’s goal is to enhance the development of the whole
child and to provide learning experiences that will promote school readiness.
The Agency’s early learning services are written into weekly lesson plans where the activities are guided
through the research approved curriculum called Creative Curriculum. The Creative Curriculum format of
activities aligns with the Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards and the Head Start Early
Learning Framework. The chart that is listed on the next three pages, gives specific examples of how the
Agency’s early childhood classroom activities and routines align with the ELOF.
ELOF Domains: Examples of classroom activities:
Approaches to Learning: Head Start Classroom Examples: The children are given musical instruments and
puppets to explore and express their feelings while talking, singing and dancing.
Daily the children are provided with an easel, large unlined paper, crayons, play
dough, paint, pencils, sponges, cotton swabs, and various sizes of paint brushes to
explore self-expression or draw parts of the world that they were introduced to
through a story or computer activity. Teachers will engage the children with open
ended questions and listen to children’s expressions though art and dramatic play.
The teachers will talk about families and the different types of living environments.
Early Head Start Classroom Examples: Teachers will support infants and toddlers
Early Head Start: as they learn to manage their feelings, emotions, behavior, and actions. Children
Approaches to Learning: will engage with a familiar adult to calm them self, respond using words such as
“stop” or “no”, show interest and imagination with a new toy, or find new things to
pretend by using a cooking pot for a hat or drums. The teachers will introduce to
the infants and toddlers playful songs, finger plays, and games to get them to use
their imagination by using sounds, gestures, and words.
Language and Head Start Classroom Examples: With assistance from the teacher, children are
Communication: introduced to books throughout the day: circle time, meal times, small and large
groups and individual times. Teacher will ask child to retell the story that was just
read in the order of which events occurred in the story. Teacher will ask open
ended and specific questions to encourage the child to identify details such as
similarities and differences in pictures and incidents that occurred in the book.
Dual Language Learners: Children who are dual language learners will have classroom environments that
are print rich in English and the home-spoken language. The teacher will greet the
child and their parents in the home spoken language. The teacher will read books
in the child’s home language. Homework will be provided in both the English and
child home-spoken language.
Early Head Start Classroom Examples: Teachers introduce new words to infants
Early Head Start: and toddlers by talking and singing to them. Babies learn to communicate with
Language and facial expressions, gestures, and looks. Teachers encourage infants to move from
Communication: babbling to understanding receptive language through many words spoken to
them. Teachers will read books and point out pictures by naming the objects to
encourage infants to utter or sing their first words (expressive language) and get
toddlers to speak new words to express their needs, ask questions, and engage in
short conversations.
Mathematics and Head Start Classroom Examples: The teacher introduces numbers through visual
Development: cues, pictures, counting and singing numbers, counting forward and backwards
and finger plays, recognizing numbers and the quantity of the numbers. Teachers
will play games in counting the number of girls verses boys in the classroom as a
way of introducing more and less concepts.
Early Head Start: Early Head Start Classroom Examples: Teachers support infants and toddlers in
Cognition: feeling safe and secure while they are exploring their environment. Infants and
toddlers are given opportunities to use their senses and bodies to explore, discover
how a pull toy works, how to roll over to reach for a toy, to match and sort objects
by color, shapes, or size, and how to turn on a faucet. Teachers introduce a
variety of symbolic activities to teach drawing and pretend play.
Scientific Reasoning: Head Start Classroom Examples: The teacher introduces the science of the
weather, seasons, and weather patterns and makes the connection to use
umbrellas, rain coats, winter coats, sun hats, gloves and scarves and how children
are to dress to keep themselves safe in the different seasons. Children learn when
the farmers plant, grow and harvest their crops. Children are introduced to the
types of foods and their growing seasons. All classrooms participate in a local day
event called “AG Day” at the local college.
Perceptual, Motor and Head Start Classroom Examples: The Agency has adopted the Special Olympics,
Physical Development: Young Athlete’s Program to complement its gross and fine motor experiences in
the classroom. During this event, children will demonstrate how they balance on a
balance beam, kick the soccer ball into a net, throw and catch a ball with their
peers, participate in a relay race, run an obstacle course that includes hopping
over cones and crawling in and out of tunnels. There are also eye-hand
coordination activities that promote fine-motor skills in the classroom or on the
playgrounds. Children and their teachers may tie strings on the playground fence,
string beads, cut paper with scissors, pour and scoop water into various containers
for measurements and practice tying their shoe laces.
Early Head Start Classroom Examples: Teachers will provide infants and toddlers
Early Head Start: opportunities to understand objects and explore the environment by observing,
Perceptual, Motor and handling, using their senses, balancing, and movement. Teachers encourage
Physical Development: infants and toddlers to develop their skills through giving floor time so they can
learn to raise their head, roll over, sit up, and reach for a toy, crawl, and learn to
walk. Infants and toddlers learn to use their hands to reach for objects, use their
index finger and thumb to grasp cereal to learn to feed themselves, and use their
whole hand to grasp objects and bang those objects together.
Social Emotional Head Start Classroom Examples: In order to create classroom environments and
Development: daily routines that support the child’s social-emotional development, the classroom
team incorporates the “Conscious Discipline” strategies. Each classroom has a
“safe-place” where the children can explore their feelings. The safe-place has
print rich facial expressions or “facial emoji” that displays the types of emotions the
child may be experiencing. The child will sit with their teacher or peer in the safe
place, explore their feelings and perform breathing techniques to safely manage
and release their emotions.
Early Head Start Classroom Examples: Teachers will provide a positive, nurturing
Early Head Start: environment to help infants and toddlers build a secure relationship by responding
Social Emotional to their needs, predicting their wants, and consistently comfort them when they feel
Development: distressed or stressful. Teachers will read books using their different voices to
teach infants and toddlers about different feelings such as cry when feeling sad or
laugh when you feel happy. Children will gain self-confidence and a sense of
belonging by participating in back and forth social interactions and familiar routines.
Home-based Curriculum: The program uses the Parents as Teachers (PAT) curriculum to provide a 12
month home visiting service to an Early Head Start population that is comprised of pregnant women,
infants, toddlers and their families. PAT is a research-based curriculum that was established on four-model
components: (1) personal visit, (2) screenings, (3) group connections and (4) resource networks in our
communities. The focus of each visit is based on the infant’s and or toddler’s age and family needs.
Parents are introduced to the concept that learning takes place in the context of their relationship with their
infant and or toddler. Home visiting experiences promote the main thought that each child learns from their
interactions with their parents and other children in the home. The program teaches parents that their child
must feel safe emotionally and physically in order to learn. Through this message, parents learn that they
are their child’s first and most influential teacher because of the loving relationship they learn to develop
with their infant and/or toddler.
Therefore, home-base lesson plans are developed by the parent and home-base teacher. The home-base
teacher promotes parents’ participation by encouraging them to choose the topics that are most beneficial
to the child’s emotional growth while providing the structure needed to meet the benchmark requirements of
the PAT curriculum. The curriculum guides the home-base teacher to provide suggestions on the types of
activities that integrate the five (5) ELOF domains of language and communication, perceptual, motor and
physical development, cognition, approaches to learning and social-emotional.
In the EHS Home-base program option, 50 annual visits are planned with EHS families. The EHS services
combined with the Parents as Teachers (PAT) curriculum have proven to produce successful outcomes for
numerous at-risk families. If socio-economic or family well-being conflicts exist, the home-base teacher is
one of the first outside entities that become aware of the conflict. It has been our experience that the
greatest gains in family well-being have occurred in Home-base because services are provided in a
transparent arena—the family’s home.
Families in EHS Home-base are recipients of weekly 90 minute home visits, 50 visits annually, and 24 bi-
weekly socialization group sessions. Home-visitors assist with the attainment of health, nutrition, dental,
behavior and developmental screenings. On-going assessments are held and reported four times per year
to parents, Governing and Policy Council bodies and the community. Children in home-base who are
identified with special needs are immediately referred for services and IFSP development. Once the EHS
child reaches 30 months, a formal transition plan is written and the process of moving the child toward a
Head Start center option begins. If the family is no longer income eligible, the family is introduced to other
centers within the community. During transition, the EHS child visits the centers and is gradually
transitioned into center-base for continuity of services.
Upon hire, home-base teachers are provided a formal, three-day training on the PAT curriculum. Following
the PAT curriculum training, home-base teachers will be paired with a fully-trained home-base teacher to
be mentored and observe home visit sessions and lesson plan composition. Home-visitors are trained and
accompanied on all home visits during the first months of hire; this insures fidelity to the PAT curriculum.
The supervisor conducts weekly reflective supervision with the home-base teacher. Each caseload is
discussed to ensure progress of families in the home-base service. This is also the time that supervisors
will provide the needed support to ensure that home-base teachers are receiving mental health support
while serving at-risk families who tend to become dependent on the services that home-base teachers
provide.
Monthly professional development trainings that are specific to home-base services are provided one day
per month. Home-base teachers will learn about resources and gain the skills necessary to help their
families. Training may include, but are not limited to, the following topics: on-going assessment
implementation and interpretation, lesson plans, car seat safety, Conscious Discipline techniques, social-
emotional well-being services, health and dental monitoring specific to birth to three, socialization routines,
and home-safety trainings.
Each month, home-base teachers are given social-emotional discussion sessions with an infant/early
childhood mental health consultant through the University of Illinois, Urbana Campus. Monthly sessions
are held with the mental health consultant where home-base teachers may express their burn-out concerns
and challenges in serving at-risk families.
Update to Address Challenges: Recent quarterly outcome data on African-American male school
readiness outcome reports have revealed that additional attention is needed to address the needs of these
little boys. Specific summer trainings will be provided for Home-Base and EHS Center teachers, teaching
teams and parents to address the school readiness achievement level gaps in EHS African American infant
and toddler males. A special focus to lesson plan development and specific coaching of the center and
home-base teachers and EHS parents will be provided as a proactive means of increasing school
readiness attainment levels in the program year for African-American EHS males.
Socialization: Families in EHS Home-base are recipients of 24 bi-weekly socialization group sessions. The
sessions are guided by the PAT curriculum and the Parents Interaction With Infants and Toddlers (PIWI)
model that was developed by Dr. Tweety Yates of the University of Illinois, Urbana. Children and families
experience their first classroom environment bi-weekly. In the socialization session, learning takes place
through hands on experiences to develop and refine their abilities. The intent of the socialization
experience is to: (1) Provide an opportunity to explore; (2) Improve the understanding of practice; (3) Assist
parents in developing; and (4) to build skills in assisting parents in discovering more about their infant and
or toddler. The socialization routine is as follows: Part 1: Welcome children and parents - children and
parents will introduce themselves to the group; Part 2: Circle time with Mom and Dad - parents learn
activities for the day and which domains and EHS school readiness goals support the activity; Part 3:
Parents, infants, toddlers and peers engage in play; Part 4: Hand washing and meal time - parents reflect
on playtime experiences. Part 5: Depart time - parents and children end with a good-bye routine. Bi-
weekly socialization sessions are held for two wonderful and fun filled hours.
Child Development Screening Tools: The program uses the Early Screening Inventory-Revised, (ESI-R) to
individually screen and identify children between the ages of three and five years who may have indications
of a developmental delay or disability. The program also uses the Ages and Stages Three, ASQ-3 to
individually screen and identify children between the ages of 6 weeks and 36 months who may have
indications of a developmental delay or disability. The Agency’s specially trained classroom and home-
base teachers administer the screening tools individually with children and parents during the first week of
school. Both tools are available in English and Spanish, and teachers will administer this tool in the child’s
spoken home language. The ESI-R and ASQ-3 instruments address developmental, sensory, and
behavioral concerns in the areas of visual motor and adaptive?, language and cognition, gross motor skills
and speech development. The specially trained teachers will administer the screening tools by asking the
child questions and asking the child to demonstrate a series of tasks. For the birth to three aged child, the
parent will be asked questions and parent responses are recorded. The child’s responses are observed,
recorded and scored. During the English proficiency portion of the screening tools, the screener listens and
observes to determine if the child comprehends the verbal cues. If the child shows confusion, the
screening tool is administered in the child’s home language. The scores and interpretation are based on
age norm and outcome categories. Children with scores that indicate a suspected disability are identified
for a referral to a Part C and/or Part B provider in the school district and/or Easter Seals for further
evaluation following parent consent. After scores are tallied and before the outcomes indicators are
discussed with parents, every child’s scores are monitored and reassessed by the Agency’s Special
Needs/Mental Health Coordinator for accuracy. Once the scores with indicators of a possible special need
are verified by a second party, the developmental scores and outcomes are revealed to the parent with
information on the options for the next steps in preparing their child for kindergarten. Parents are provided
written copies of their parental rights, the Individual Disabilities Act, written consent to release information
forms and a special needs referral form. The entire process is explained and forms are signed by the
parent if the parent agrees to the next steps. The child, with written parental consent, is referred to a Part
C and/or Part B provider for further evaluation. Following the evaluation, children with delays are provided
with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and or Individual Family Services Plan (IFSP) and special
education supportive services. The child’s IEP and/or IFSP goals are integrated into the classroom’s daily
routines and/or home-base daily routines through the help and support of the classroom teachers,
education team, and/or parents. Parents are routinely surveyed to ensure that their voices are heard and
so that feedback on the quality of the Agency’s services is known and improved.
Opportunities offered to parents and family members to be engaged in their child’s education:
From the first day of contact, HS and EHS parents are encouraged to participate in the home-base and
center-base program in order to increase their support of their child’s education. In home-base, the lesson
plans are developed with the parent and home-base teacher. The home-base teacher promotes parents’
participation by encouraging them to choose the topics that most beneficial to the child’s academic growth
while providing the structure needed to meet the benchmark requirements of the PAT curriculum. The
curriculum guides the home-base teacher to provide suggestions on the types of activities that integrate the
five (5) ELOF domains of language and communication, perceptual, motor and physical development,
cognition, approaches to learning and social-emotional. Curriculum activities are brought into the home
and left in the home so that the EHS parent can practice the learning opportunity with their child after the
home visit. Parents are also given the opportunity to participate in the development of lesson plans for the
planning of socialization curriculum activities. EHS parents are given weekly opportunities to engage their
children in academic enriching, early learning experiences.
In EHS and HS centers, parents are given daily opportunities to visit the classrooms and volunteer in the
children’s early learning experiences. Different events are held that promote and provide various literacy
and math and science experiences for parents to participate in while in the classroom. Parents are given
the opportunity to take books home through the classroom lending library as a part of continued literacy
experiences in the homes. Finally, parents are given the opportunity to provide feedback on a lesson plan
survey sheet that is located in each classroom. Teachers are instructed to invite parents to give them
feedback on the lesson plan and curriculum usage.
7. Health Services (There are updates.) Upon entry into the Head Start program, Head Start and Early
Head Start children are issued the following health screenings: dental, vision, hearing, nutrition, height,
weight, head circumference measurements, behavior and developmental screenings. Health data is
entered into the ChildPlus system, and Dental, Health Services, Nutrition, and Mental Health consultants
review the screenings and make recommendations for follow-up care. All screenings are logged into a
ChildPlus monitoring system to ensure that 45 day, 90 day and follow-up screening and referral deadlines
are met. Parents are informed of needed follow-up care and family support workers provide the necessary
supports (transportation, telephone calls, and mentoring) to ensure that follow-up services are
accomplished. The follow-up care is also monitored by the Health Services Coordinator in conjunction with
the parent. During the follow-up care, the parent is supported through a number of visits until the parent
feels comfortable managing their child’s health independently. Once the parent takes over the follow-up
visits of their child’s health and/or oral health appointments, the Health Services Coordinator still monitors
the child’s follow-up process to ensure that the parent remains diligent to the follow-up regiment.
For mental health and social-emotional wellness services, the program will provide the parent with the
necessary supports (transportation, telephone calls, and mentoring) to ensure that follow-up services are
accomplished. This process is monitored by the Special Needs/Mental Health Coordinator. During the
follow up care, the parent is supported through a number of mental health visits until the parent feels
comfortable managing their child’s mental health appointments independently. Once the parent takes over
the mental health follow-up visits, the Special Needs/Mental Health Coordinator still monitors the child’s
follow-up process to ensure that the parent remains diligent to the mental health follow-up regiment.
Updates: Health Monitoring of Lead Levels: In the program year 2019/2020, there were several discoveries
of high lead levels in the water at the Head Start centers that are located in the rural communities. The
Heath Services Team monitored the children’s lead level screenings for all sites. During the 2019/2020
program year, there were extensive building maintenance and pipe replacements that were able to
eradicate the high lead levels in the water at the rural Head Start centers. These issues are now resolved;
however, the high lead in the surrounding community’s water remains unchanged in most rural areas.
The program remains pro-active in carefully screening the Head Start students in the rural areas and the
Agency continues in the educating of parents on the long-term effects of lead poisoning.
Health Updates: Vision Screenings: During the program year 2019/2020, 48 HS students failed their vision
screening. Through partnership with the Lions Club in the service areas, 40 children were given vision
follow-up screenings of which resulted in 20 children being issued glasses, 9 children did not require
glasses and 11 children’s vision follow-up care vision appointments were cancelled due to COVID 19
school closures.
Health Updates: The Decrease of Childhood Obesity Rates: 100% of the children with over-weight or
obese indicators participated in a locally designed Healthy Eating Plan. Of the enrolled Head Start and
Early Head Start students, 34 children’s BMIs were listed in the over-weight category and 15 children were
at risk for obesity. Of the 49 children identified, 49 children and families participated in a locally designed
Healthy Eating Plan. The program also reduced the obesity rate by 50.2%. In 2018/2019, the obesity rate
was 14.4%. In 2019/2020, the obesity rate decreased to 7.2%.
In 2019/2020, the program did not meet this goal; however, the Agency reduced dental caries by 59.3%.
Health Updates: Dental Treatment: In the program year 2019/2020, the program provided dental
screenings on 100% of the Head Start and Early Head Start students. Of those that were screened, 86
students required dental follow-up treatments. 51 students were provided follow-up dental treatments; 9
students remain with scheduled follow-up dental appointments that were cancelled due to COVID 19
closures. Seven (7) students dropped from the program before dental follow-up treatments were
administered and 19 students’ families declined dental follow-up care. Of the 86 students needing follow-up
care, 19 Head Start parents refused dental follow-up treatment through the Head Start Program. These
families chose to use their dental homes and private family dental plans for dental treatments. With the
COVID-19 closures of dental offices to emergency appointments only, these 19 students’ dental follow-ups
remain incomplete. The program anticipates that when dental offices are open to non-emergency
appointments, the number of incomplete follow-up dental care treatments will be reduced.
8. Family and Community Engagement (There are no updates.)
Throughout the program year, families are engaged and receive regular and on-going verbal and written
communication in their native language in effort of building trust and increasing positive relationship
experiences. Communication and parent engagement occurs through intentional warm and friendly daily
greetings and conversations at the centers with parents to create a welcoming and trusting environment for
parents, fathers and their children. The Agency conducts parent orientations, home visits, parent teacher
conferences, monthly parent meetings and parent training sessions. Monthly classroom newsletters are
written by the classroom teachers that provide parents with updates on important information about the
lesson plan goals, letters of the week, Conscious Discipline techniques to practice at home and the
homework calendar that is due each day of the week. Bi-monthly parent newsletters are sent by the Parent
Engagement Coordinator to remind parents to visit the center, volunteer in the classrooms and/or at
community based events that are scheduled where parent volunteers and community supports are needed.
Parents will receive parent event-training flyers, phone calls, and automated phone texts and phone blasts
to ensure that parents are notified of emergencies or are given important event reminders of family
education, community resources, student learning and academic gains. To enhance a meaningful two-way
communication between the program and the parent, the parents are given an Agency magnet and a
parent handbook with the center’s contact email and telephone numbers. Parents are reminded to visit,
call and/or email the Agency personnel for assistance. Parents may also contact the Agency through the
Agency’s Facebook pages. There are a myriad of ways in which the parent may contact and communicate
with the Agency. The Agency distributes and analyzes parent surveys to ensure that parent engagement is
continuous, open and meaningful. The Agency’s goal is to create and establish a welcoming early learning
environment where parents and children associate positive experiences with an education system.
The Agency extends daily invites to parents to volunteer in the classrooms. Parents are mentored by the
teaching team to read, converse and engage with the children in a positive way and support their school
readiness goals. The Agency provides parents with daily homework materials for parents to complete with
the children daily and to strengthen the child’s skills in specific domains. The Agency also conducts a
lending library where a book (in English and or Spanish) is sent home for parents to read to their children in
their home language. On a quarterly basis, the teaching staff provides the parents with an academic
progress report that lists their child’s individual performance and skills level in each domain. The parents
are also given a report on their child’s attendance rate and information on how poor attendance could mean
fewer academic gains for their child. All centers are provided with data boards that display how children
are attaining their school readiness goals as a group. Parents are given a portfolio that documents their
child’s growth and challenges in school readiness. The teacher is able to mentor the parent with in-home
activities that strengthen the child’s skills in the domains that need improvement.
The following are additional activities that the program implements to promote positive parent-child
engagement and academic development.
During the month of September, on the first day of school, the program hosts a “Million Dad March” event
where fathers and family male role models are invited to bring their children to school on the first day. A
special wrist band is issued to each father or male role model as a symbol of their work in supporting their
child on the first day of school.
During the month of October, the Agency has a designated week for grandparents. During Grandparents’
Week, grandparents are invited to volunteer in the classroom in support of the school readiness goals.
Grandparents will participate in supporting the school readiness goals by reading to the children, as well as
participate in the creation of art and science experiments and sharing a nutritious meal with their
grandchild.
During the month of November, fathers, uncles, male cousins and grandfathers are invited to a “Fatherhood
Activity Week”. Fathers are invited into the classroom to participate in specific educational activities which
include creating a postcard for the Veterans in the community. The Agency hosts a Thanksgiving Lunch
where the family attends and experiences a wonderful holiday meal with children in the classroom.
During the month of December, the Agency hosts a “Make-it and Take-it” school readiness activity. The
parent and child will participate in an art/craft project that supports the literacy, math or social-emotional
school readiness domains and activities.
During the month of January, parents are at the centers for parent and teacher conferences. During the
month of February, fathers and mothers are invited to the centers to participate in the making of friendship
cards. Cards are created using letters, numbers, shapes and free style writing and children are assisted in
expressing their ideas and well wishes for their peers. Cards are displayed at the center and issued to
senior citizens at the local nursing homes.
During the month of March, the Agency hosts a Family Literacy Night at all centers. The entire family
including young siblings is invited to participate in the literacy event. Each child leaves the event with a
new book. During the month of March 2020, the centers were closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
However, if the mandated school closures did not occur, the following activities would have been held:
During the month of April, the Agency hosts a Special Olympics Event where children showcase their gross
motor development through various obstacle courses. Parents, grandparents and other family members
are invited to assist children at each station and through the obstacle courses. Families of kindergarten
bound students are invited to attend field trips to the school that their child will attend in the Fall. The
Agency partners with various community schools to provide this experience for parents and their
kindergarten bound student.
During the month of May, in celebration of Mother’s Day, the Agency hosts a Math and Literacy Make-it and
Take-it event where mothers visit the classroom and assist their child in a math and literacy art project.
The Agency also celebrates “May is Community Action Month” where several community volunteering
tasks are conducted with the help of Head Start parents.
During the month of June, in celebration of Father’s Day, the Agency hosts a Science Make-it and Take-it
event where fathers visit the classroom and assist their child in a science activity. This is done in honor of
Father’s Day and to keep fathers engaged in their child’s early learning experiences. The Agency also
hosts an “End of the School Year” celebration where family members are invited to celebrate the transition
of kindergarten bound students into the school districts.
Parenting Curriculum Updates: In Early Head Start, 18 parents or 25% attended parenting classes. In
Head Start, 155 or 44% Head Start parents participated in a parenting course. The parenting courses
provided parenting skills education, behavior management and social-emotional health-based trainings.
The program continues to uses the “ Make Parenting A Pleasure ” Second Edition parenting curriculum.
This is a research-based curriculum but it is not preferred by the parents, many enjoyed the Conscious
Discipline Parenting Curriculum that was used in the past. However, the program believes that with more
parental involvement, the “Make Parenting A Pleasure” curriculum will also be successful in providing
parents with specific techniques in developing nurturing and trusting relationships with their children. This
is the program’s first year in using this curriculum; therefore, family dynamic changes among parents who
participate in these trainings have not been fully evaluated. Throughout the year, the “Make Parenting A
Pleasure” parent trainings were offered to parents. The chart on page 47 gives a snapshot of some of the
parenting skills that are provided through this training:
Make Parenting a Pleasure 12 Learning Objectives
1. Our Values and Goals 7. Family Helpers
2. Caring for Ourselves 8. Communication
3. Special Time 9. My Child’s Emotions
4. Understanding Stress 10. Discipline is Teaching
5. Stress Busters 11. Strategies for Effective Discipline
6. Who is my child 12. Reflection and Celebration
Family Partnerships and PFCE Goals: During the parent orientation session, the classroom teacher will
introduce parents to an Education Parent-Family Agreement form. The Education Parent-Family
Agreement form guides the parent in understanding that they are their child’s first true teacher and the
types of healthy family routines that will enhance their child’s early development.
The form guides the teacher to talk about the types of screenings that will be conducted and the type of
support the parent will receive through the Agency. Because the form is a partnership agreement between
the parent and the classroom teacher, the form guides the parent to know what the teachers’ expectations
are in supporting their child in early learning development and the types of services parents should expect
from their child’s teachers. In keeping the partnership agreement, the parent will be given updates on the
child’s progress. Teachers will write encouraging notes to parents that make a connection to the child’s
academic growth as results of the parent’s diligence in homework completion. Finally, parents are given the
opportunity to set and fulfill the goal of being a “Parent Educator” by setting an academic goal for their
child. The program will align with the Head Start Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework
(PFCE) when setting academic and family wellness goals with parents. The parent and teacher will
develop the steps needed to accomplish the goal.
Tracking Updates: The outcome of the parents’ goals are tracked through the ChildPlus System and each
stage of progression in attaining the goal means the parent is moving closer to self-sufficiency. In
2019/2020, HS and EHS Parents set 843 goals. Of the 843 goals, 113 goals showed no progress;
however, HS and EHS parents had started and began to show progress in 729 of the goals. Of the 729
goals, 71% of the goals were “in progress” stage up to accomplishing ¾ of the goal; and 183 goals were at
the “met” or completion stage. This data shows an indication that all HS and EHS parent made some gains
in the families’ level of self-sufficiency. On average, 71% of the HS and EHS parents were in progress of
meeting their goals; however some of the goals may take longer than a program year to meet. One such
example is the education goal. There were 239 education goals that involved parents obtaining their GED,
Associates and/or Bachelor’s degrees. Parents who are attending school for higher levels of education may
require up to four years for goal attainment. The next highest goals set by parents were goals pertaining to
Finance/Budgeting. EHS and HS parents set 106 goals that were based on budgeting their family’s income
wisely or establishing a savings account. Other goals that were commonly set by parents were goals in the
areas of housing, employment, and parenting. Overall, HS and EHS parents were working steadily at
accomplishing the various stages of their goals. The monitoring and tracking of goals continued through
the COVID school closures. However, many of the HS and EHS parents’ goals were placed on hold due to
staying home with young children and the closing of many educational institutes. Goals will be revisited and
tracked during the 2020/20201 program year.
As it pertains to HS and EHS parents’ reaching competencies in the 16 Parent, Family and Community
Engagement Framework (PFCE), the data shows that 85% of the HS and EHS parents were on their way
to reaching the maximum score in each of the 16 competencies. The PFCE Competency with the highest
attainment rate was “ Promoting Language and Safety” The second highest attainment rate was “ Safety,
Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Health, Transportation and Housing” competencies. The third highest
attainment rate was “Nurturing Relationships”. The lowest competency attainment was “Leadership and
Advocacy”. The Agency will work to give parents more opportunities to expand their roles in leadership.
Community Partnerships: The Agency remains diligent in maintaining its 32 written Memorandums of
Understanding (MOU) agreements with members of the community that serve young children and families.
The MOU reflects the active collaborations that include regular meetings, coordination of services and joint
trainings and activities. Two of our most successful MOUs are the active partnership the Agency holds with
the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the partnership with Crosspoint, a McKinney-
Vento liaison. Both agencies play a vital role in referring children in child-welfare and/or children who are in
homeless families.
The MOU reflects the process of referring families to the provider and follow-up documentation describes
the type of service that was rendered to the family by the community provider. The Agency maintains
active linkage to community social service resources, including housing services, adult literacy and
education programs, financial asset building services, domestic violence and substance abuse programs,
and cultural resources that address family needs and provide children and families with opportunities to
engage in cultural and social enrichment. The connection with these community providers may assist
Head Start families in the attainment of their education, social-emotional wellness, financial goals and/or
home-attainment goals. There are some challenges in the partnership agreement between the Agency and
DCFS. Building trust with the families who are referred to our services from child-welfare agencies is a
slow process. The program regularly discusses the trust building/trust challenges with child-welfare
agencies and has had some success in assisting families in still meeting their PFCE goals.
9. Services for Children with Disabilities: (There are updates.) In 2019/2020, The program served a total
of 55 students with special needs. Of those served, 89.45% of the children with IEPs and IFSPs obtained
the “MEETS” skills level in their school readiness goals. The program provided IEP assistance to 47 Head
Start students and IFSP assistance to 8 Early Head Start students. This year, there were 6 children who
had health and disability challenges that need more school time to obtain the “MEETS” skill level. The
abbreviated school year did affect the “MEETS” school readiness skills level attainment rate in 6 students
with IEPs. Of the 6 students, 3 had severe disabilities and 3 students with health challenges warranted
more classroom time in obtaining the “MEETS” skill levels. Following discussions with the Policy Council
and Governing Board, the Agency may lower the objective from 100% to 70% to accommodate students
with medical conditions and/or significant disabilities.
The program provides special education supports and services for children with varying skills, knowledge,
backgrounds, and abilities. The program partners with Part C and Part B providers, therapists and the
child’s parents to provide the effective teaching methods and approaches to learning techniques needed to
individualize and enhance the child’s ability to learn and thrive in the classroom. Individualizing for children
with special needs may require the support of special needs equipment and a personal aide in order to
ensure an effective teaching environment for children with disabilities and other special needs. The
classrooms implement the IEP goals into the teacher’s lesson plans in order to create an inclusive
classroom environment that supports children’s IEP goals and school readiness abilities. The program
collaborates with community-based resources such as AMBUCS, United Way, and other community-based
foundations to ensure that indoor and outdoor play equipment and environments allow inclusiveness for
children with special needs to participate in, enjoy and learn. During the transition of kindergarten bound
children with special needs, a transition meeting is held with parents, therapist, the Agency’s Special
Needs/Mental Health Coordinator and the school district to ensure successful transition of the IEP and
other pertinent documents to the child’s new school. The Agency ensures that support is given to families
during the transition of their kindergarten bound child with special needs.
10. Transition: (There are updates.) EHS Transitions: Transition services are comprehensive and strongly
encourage parent participation. Services include pre-transition meetings for children with special needs,
children transitioning from Early Head Start to Head Start or from Head Start to kindergarten. Parents are
an important part of the transition meeting and school visits are scheduled to ensure that: (1) parents are
aware of the process and (2) the transfer of the child’s records is conducted expeditiously. Once the EHS
child reaches 30 months, a formal transition plan is written and the process of moving the child toward a
center option begins. If the family is no longer income eligible, the family is introduced to other centers
within the community. During transition, the EHS child visits the centers and is gradually transitioned into
center-base for continuity of services.
In serving expecting mothers, quite often, home-base teachers are invited into the family’s birthing
experiences and easily transition the child into the home-base option or into center-base if the parent is
employed or in school. Two weeks following delivery, the mother is visited by the Health Services team for
a postpartum screening and wellness check. Services continue with the newborn and new mother in the
form of home visits, referral to WIC, and postpartum visits with the primary care physician. In EHS centers,
once the EHS center-based child reaches the age of 30 months, a formal transition plan is written and the
process of moving the child toward the center option begins. If the family is no longer income eligible for
HS services, the family is introduced to other centers within the community. During transition, the EHS child
visits the centers and is gradually transitioned into center-base for continuity of services.
Head Start to Kindergarten Transitions: In 2019/2020 there will be 210 children transitioning into local
school districts. Due to the COVID-19 school closings, the Agency has applied for funding to conduct a 6
week summer program. Through the summer program, the Agency will endeavor to transition students into
their local school districts.
The Agency’s transition services are comprehensive and strongly encourage parent participation.
Transitional services include pre-transition meetings for children with special needs and services for
children transitioning into kindergarten. At the beginning of the school year, four year olds who are
kindergarten bound are identified by the Agency’s Transition Coordinator. A series of activities will occur in
preparation for successful transition into kindergarten. (1) During the first parent/teacher conference, the
parent is notified that their child will enter kindergarten at the end of the school year. The parent is given a
schedule of transition events that will occur at the centers. (2) At the centers, kindergarten bound children
will plant tulip bulbs in the playground garden. Children are taught that when the tulips bloom, it is time for
their parents to sign them up for kindergarten. (3) When the tulips have bloomed, the parents and the
kindergarten bound child visit their assigned kindergarten school and classroom. (4) The Agency hosts an
on-site transition registration event for kindergarten bound children and families to attend. At this event, and
following the parents’ written consent, the school district nurse reviews all health documents and informs
the parents on what health information is needed to transition to kindergarten. The Agency assists the
parents in completing school registration forms and successfully transitions all pertinent documents to the
school district’s secretary who completes the child’s registration prior to the end of the program year. (5)
The Agency hosts an “end of the year” celebration where parents are given the child’s final portfolio, their
final Work Sampling Systems summary and a back-pack filled with school supplies in preparation for the
next school year.
11. Services to Enrolled Pregnant Women: (There are no updates.) Expecting mothers/couples are given
a program orientation that introduces them to the home visiting program and the topic of continuity of
services after birth is clearly stated. During the first home visit, a pregnancy risk assessment screening
occurs to determine if the mother has primary health and dental care visits established. If primary health
and dental care visits have not been established, arrangements are made through the program’s Health
Services Coordinator. Weekly home visits and lesson plans provide prenatal and postpartum education.
The home-base teacher introduces the expecting mother to topics such as breast feeding benefits, fetal
developmental stages, healthy eating patterns, infant and toddler nutrition, the birthing experience,
postpartum depression. Quite often, home-base teachers are invited into the family’s birthing experiences
and easily transition the child into the home-base option or center-base if the parent is employed or in
school. Two weeks following delivery, the mother is visited by the Health Services Coordinator who is a
registered nurse. A postpartum screening and wellness check is conducted in the privacy of the mother’s
home. Referrals and follow-up services are provided as requested and/or warranted by the registered
nurse’s professional judgment. Services continue with the newborn and new mother in the form of home
visits, referral to WIC, and postpartum visits with the primary care physician. For some parents who are
working parents, infants are given home visits for the first six weeks of life and then transitioned into the
EHS center services if a center-base slot is available. Otherwise, most EHS home visits continue until the
child is 30 months of age and ready for transition into the Head Start centers.
12. Transportation (There are updates): In program year 2019/2020, the program eliminated the Agency’s
transportation services. With the aging fleet of school buses, the Agency experienced challenges in
managing the transportation budget and bus repairs. Therefore, transportatione is no longer a service the
Agency provides.
1. Governance, Organizational and Management Structure Updates during 2019/2020:
The East Central Illinois Community Action Agency’s Governing Board is comprised of 15 members. The
Chairperson of the Board is Elder Tyson Parks. The Board’s fiscal expert is now Jennifer Modest.
The early childhood education expert is now Dr. Alicia Geddis, District 118 Superintendent, and the
licensed attorney familiar with program governance and family law remains to be Alderman Thomas Stone,
Attorney. Additional members on the governing board who are Head Start and/or former Head Start
parents are: (1) Policy Council Chairperson, Ms. Janelle Woods, Ms. Jennifer Modest, Ms. Tyressa Parks.
The 2019/2020 Policy Council Chairperson, Ms. Janelle Woods, provides Head Start and Early Head Start
Action Items and Status Reports to the Governing Board on a monthly basis. The Policy Council is
comprised of 25 Head Start home-base and center-base parents and two community members who are
elected annually by Head Start and Early Head Start parents.
Processes Updates: The Governing Board and Policy Council meet 10 out of 12 months each year. Each
year, there is a holiday break taken during the July and December months. The Policy Council and the
Governing Board members are active in monitoring Head Start and Early Head Start Program performance.
Program reports and other required reports are provided to both governing groups to ensure that both
governing groups are able to monitor program operations and production. Listed in a chart on page 54 are
examples of how the Governing Board and Policy Council members conduct on-going monitoring of the
Head Start and Early Head Start Program performances.
Examples of How Governing Body and Policy Council Use Key Program Information to Conduct Responsibilities:
Date: GB and or PC Monitoring Conducted: Summary of Outcomes as documented in PC and

Representative Names or GB meeting minutes, meeting attendance
records:
11-18-19 GB: Tyson Parks Head Start Director’s 11-18 = 10 PC Participated in person
12-19-20 GB: Brenda Brown Report and Program 12-19 = 7 participated in person and 3 was called
1-15-20 PC: Janelle Woods Operations Reports issued 1-15 = 5 participated in person and 4 was called
2-19-20 PC: Tamara Benson in PC and GB packets 2-19 = 7 participated in person and 2 was called
3-25-20 3-25 = 10 participated via e-mail
4-15-20 4-15 = 12 participated via e-mail
Shared monthly reports and discussed school
events.
Analyzed classroom attendance and developed a
plan to create a monthly perfect attendance wall of
fame at each classroom with the children’s
pictures that has 100% perfect attendance and a
certificate for the child to take home. Before the
school closing with COVID-19, both groups
reported each month the classroom they visited
seeing the pictures of children with 100% perfect
attendance on the wall or talked about their child
receiving a certificate.
Same PC: Jasmine Roan Program Operations Shared child and family outcomes, number of
dates as PC: Jessica Stout Reports on Head Start and meals served, screenings provided and follow up
above Early Head Start Health completed. Policy Council members discussed
and Nutrition Policies how important the child’s attendance at school was
to their growth and learning new skills. Members
agreed to take back to the parent meetings to
discuss with the parents at their centers.
Same PC: Austin Betourne In-Kind Reports Parents discussed how to increase in-kind at their
dates as PC: Miranda Lewis centers by getting more parents to complete the
above PC: Jamie Carswell forms correctly.
4/3/2020 GB: Brenda Brown 2019/2020 Community GB Members and PC discussed GED class
GB: Tyson Parks Assessment Report and assessment and ways to increase more parent
GB: Tricia Teague participation in GED programs.
GB: Thomas Miller 2019/2020 Program
PC: Tamara Benson Information Report
PC: Tyressa Parks
Date: GB and or PC Monitoring Conducted: Summary of Outcomes as documented in PC and
Representative Names or GB meeting minutes, meeting attendance
records:
2-19-20 GB: Tyson Parks Self-Assessment Planning Both the PC and GB representatives participated
2-25-20 GB: Brenda Brown and Improvement Report in the self-assessment data meetings to review
2-27-20 PC: Ruby Williams Development data collected past and present years to give their
3-6-20 PC: Michele Rice recommendations on how we can improve the
3-19-20 program. Members from PC, GB, management
4-1-20 team, family advocates, home visitors, teachers,
4-7-20 and community representatives reviewed data
4-15-20 through previous monitoring of the various
4-28-20 program reports: CLASS scores, dental, vision,
obesity, disability, incidents, in-kind, eligibility,
family outcomes, child outcomes, attendance,
safety and active supervision protocols were
monitored.
4/3/2020 GB: Brenda Brown 2020/2021 COLA, Quality GB and PC members participated in Grant
GB: Tyson Parks Improvement and Proposal and Budgeting for the 2019/2020
GB: Tricia Teague Continuation Grants program year. Spending patterns from 2018/2019
GB: Thomas Miller discussed and planned. were discussed and budget line items were
PC: Tamara Benson increased and decreased to meet the 2019/2020
PC: Tyressa Parks program year.
In order to ensure that Governing Board and Policy Council members are able to provide monitoring of
program operations, joint trainings are provided that equips them with how read their reports. Governing
Board and Policy Council packets includes the following key information for each governing body to make
decisions but are not limited to: the annual self-assessment, financial audit, agency progress reports on
programmatic and fiscal provisions, agency's grant application, corrective actions plans, personnel policies,
monthly major financial expenditures of the agency, annual and monthly operating budget and financial
statements on the agency; audit findings, OHS Information Memorandums, OHS Program Information
Memorandums, monthly financial statements, including credit card and credit account expenditures,
monthly program information summaries; program enrollment reports, including attendance reports for
children whose care is partially subsidized by another public agency; monthly reports of meals and snacks
provided through programs of the Department of Agriculture; the financial audit; the annual self-
assessment, including any findings related to such assessment; the communitywide strategic planning and
needs assessment of the Head Start agency, including any applicable annual updates; communication and
guidance from the Secretary; and the program information reports.
Policy Council: The Policy Council meetings are scheduled to occur before the Governing Board meetings
so that the Policy Council can meet and submit their decisions to the Governing Board. The Policy Council
Chairperson attends each Governing Board meeting to present the Policy Council’s decisions,
concerns, action and information items regarding the Head Start program. A
Governing Board member who attended the Policy Council meetings also assists the Policy Council
Chairperson by providing the board with any additional information from the Policy Council group.
Parent Committees: Three Parent Committee Meetings were held in the 2019/2020 program year. The
fourth meeting was cancelled due to COVID-19 school closures. Parent Center committees are comprised
with parents of enrolled children in the Head Start and Early Head Start home and center-based options.
During the developing of the parent committees, parents work in conjunction with the classroom teams to
host parent committee meetings. Parents are informed by their PC representatives of policies, procedures
and program changes that were suggested. During the Policy council meetings, time is scheduled to have
a PC Representative share information, concerns and feedback that were voiced during the parent
committee meetings.
Relationships: The Agency provides Training and Technical Assistance which includes an orientation
to the Governing Body, any advisory committee members, and the Policy Council, including Head
Start Program Performance Standards, Head Start Act, program performance standards, school readiness
goals, ERSEA, Community Needs Assessments, Uniformed Guidance, budget reports, CACFP program
trainings to ensure the members understand the information they receive and can effectively oversee and
support the Head Start and Early Head Start Programs.
Conflict of Interest: Upon entry in the Governing Board and Policy Council appointment, members
are provided trainings that clearly defines conflict of interest. Both bodies are issued a “Conflict of Interest”
form. This form outlines and defines what the term “conflict of interest” means and governing board
members are asked to verify that a “conflict of interest” circumstance is not present.
Joint Decisions: Joint Governing Board/Policy Council trainings are provided to ensure that meaningful
consultation and collaboration around decisions are continuous between both governing groups.
Additionally, a representative from the governing board attends all policy council meetings and a
representative from the policy council attends the governing board meetings. This allows additional
collaboration between both groups to be consistent and transparent during decision making sessions.
2. Human Resource Management: An Organizational chart has been uploaded into the HSES System.
Criminal Background Systems: Before a Head Start and Early Head Start person is hired, directly or
through contract, including transportation staff and contractors, the program conducts an interview, verifies
references, conducts a sex offender registry check and obtains the following: (i) State criminal history
records,
including fingerprint checks; (ii) Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history records, including
fingerprint checks; (iii) Child abuse and neglect state registry check. The program reviews the information
found in each employment application and complete background check to assess the relevancy of any
issue uncovered by the complete background check including any arrest, pending criminal charge, or
conviction and uses Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) disqualification factors described in 42
U.S.C. 9858f(c)(1)(D) and 42 U.S.C. 9858f(h)(1) to determine whether the prospective employee can be
hired or if the current employee must be terminated.
Staff Orientation Updates: The Agency has a large number of teachers who may be retiring or are
anticipating retirement within the next year. In order to prepare for the continuous turn-over in teaching
teams, the Agency has extended its staff orientation process to a 16 week training process. Newly hired
teachers will attend two hour classes per week for 16 weeks in order to equip them with the T/TA services
needed for Head Start and Early Head Start teaching teams. Educational Coaches are also involved in
providing additional trainings sessions as a part of on-going monitoring and training of newly hired
employees. The Agency provides an orientation to Head Start and Early Head Start services that includes
a series of professional development experiences for all staff that will increase their skill levels and
knowledge, based on current research and best practices, to improve outcomes for children and families.
The orientation process starts during the first week of employment and extends to 16 weeks of training
supports.
Staff On-Going Trainings: Each month, the Agency’s orientation process expands into the provision of
education meetings and professional development activities that are designed to enhance the professional
knowledge, skills, and attitudes of educators so that they might, in turn, improve the learning of children on
an on-going basis. The topics covered during these monthly education meetings are based on the
recommendations from the education coaches who have either: (1) conducted classroom observations, (2)
conducted professional development needs surveys or self-evaluations with the teachers, and/or
(3) detected common challenges in the teachers’ classroom “Instructional Support” scores from the
Classroom Assessment Scoring Systems (CLASS) tool or trainings are developed through data analysis of
incident reports. The topics covered monthly are also derived from the Work-Sampling Systems, child
outcomes data in each domain and incident reports on Active Supervision monitoring outcomes. Teachers
are provided trainings based on the outcomes of the children’s quarterly development scores and are given
teaching strategies to increase the children’s school readiness outcomes scores in specific domains. This
is also the time that the agency emphasizes the children’s strengths and challenges according to the child
outcomes data. Monthly education staff trainings topics can also derive from the evaluation of data from
other program systems such as health, nutrition, safety, special needs, and mental health. External training
consultants and experts are invited to the monthly meetings to assist in the training and professional
development of the teaching teams and support staff.
3. Program Management and Quality Improvement. (There are updates.)
Pending Corrective Actions: In the program year 2019/2020 the Agency was citied Fiscal Non-
Compliances and Deficiencies. The following is a list of the Non-Compliance/Deficiencies and
the Agency’s Corrective Actions responses to the findings.
Monitoring Finding: ECICAA did not effectively manage personnel compensation and fringe benefits:
Agency’s Corrective Actions: The Cost Allocation Plan covers positions in the administrative cost pool at
the agency level – CEO, Associate Director of Finance, two Accountants, Associate Director of
Administration and HR Assistant. The Cost Allocation Plan is to be analyzed in the fourth quarter of the
fiscal year (April – June) with adjustments made to have plan consistent with the administrative budget.
Plan is to be approved by GBOD at the June board meeting with the plan becoming effective July 1, each
year, the first day of ECICAA fiscal year. The cost allocation plan process will be discussed at the April,
May and June committee meetings. Any cost overages in the administration of the plan will be paid via
corporate funds. The CEO and Associate Director of Finance will complete PAR or time sheets as per
policy in the Corporate Operations Manual effective upon hire.
Monitoring Finding – The grantee’s financial management system did not provide for effective control over
accountability for all funds, property, and other assets. The grantee did not safeguard all assets and ensure
that Head Start funds were only used for authorized purposes as specified in regulations 45 CFR
302(b)(4).
Agency’s Corrective Actions: ECICAA discontinued this practice effective May 1, 2019; the Agency now
monitors/reviews check registers, labor distribution report and distribution list each month.
Monitoring Finding – The grantee did not ensure its financial management system provided accurate,
current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each federal award or program in accordance
with reporting requirements and did not ensure all records were supported by source documentation.
and
Monitoring Finding - The grantee did not submit three of the four required Federal financial SF-425 reports,
including the final SF-425 report for the grant period ending August 31, 2018, and did not ensure the one
SF-425 report submitted was accurate, complete, properly documented and filed on time.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: All delinquent Standard Forms (SF) have been submitted to OHS.
The SF-425 for the month ending March 31, 2020 was accurately completed and timely submitted on
April 3, 2020, with source documentation. All future SF’s will be completed like wise. All SF’s will be
distributed to the Associate Directors, CEO and placed in the GB’s Finance Committee Agenda. The SF
will be monitored to ensure accurate completion, complete disclosure of fiscal information and
accompanies all supportive documentation.
Monitoring Finding – The grantee did not ensure costs charged to the Federal award were necessary,
reasonable, and adequately documented for the performance of the award, and did not ensure costs
conformed to limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award.
and
Monitoring Finding – The grantee charged advertising and contractual costs to the Head Start grant without
adequate documentation and did not provide documentation of compliance with Head Start’s 15% statutory
limitation on development and administrative costs for the last three years.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: ECICAA significantly reduced using the service of “Indeed” for advertising
vacant positions, and the Agency now uses the community college/4-year college/university job boards;
IllinoisJobLink via Illinois Department of Employment Security/American Job Center; and other local
resources to advertise position vacancies. All purchasing requires requisition and/or purchase order for
procurement methodologies as stipulated in the Corporate Operations manual.
Monitoring Finding “The non-federal entity (ECICAA) must maintain effective internal control over the
Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non—federal entity (ECICAA) is managing the
federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal
award…”
Agency’s Corrective Actions: ECICAA has reviewed and edited its internal controls methods that are now in
compliance in ”Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government,” issued by the Comptroller
General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). These components of the COSO
Framework components work to establish the foundation for sound internal control within ECICAA through
directed leadership, shared values and a culture that emphasizes accountability for control. The various
risks facing ECICAA were identified and assessed routinely at all levels and within all functions of the
organization. Control activities and other mechanisms are proactively designed to address and mitigate the
significant risks. Information critical to identifying risks and meeting business objectives are communicated
through established channels across ECICAA. The entire system of internal control is monitored
continuously and problems are addressed in a timely manner.
Monitoring Finding – The grantee did not establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal
award that provided reasonable assurance that ECICAA was managing the award in compliance with the
regulations of the federal award.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: ECICAA has increased its oversight for internal controls in that payments are
batched and reviewed monthly to ensure that vendors and/or invoices are payed within a net of 30 days.
Monitoring Finding – Grantee did not take prompt action to correct audit findings.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: The Agency has established procedures where by all audit findings will be
placed on each monthly financial committee agenda for GB’s oversite until all audit findings are resolved
with evidence to support that the audit findings have been corrected. The CEO will monitor the audit
findings for accountability purposes with the Associate Director of Finance prior to submission to the GB’s
finance committee. This will be ongoing and all findings will be corrected.
Monitoring Finding – Multiple factors, including ECICAA’s high turnover rate, management instability, cash
flow short fall, failure to follow its policies and procedures and a lack of sufficient governing body oversight
adversely impacted the agency’s ability to effectively maintain internal controls to ensure it complied with
federal regulations and corrected audit findings.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: The Agency completed an organizational assessment that was done by an
outside contractor that identified many reasons for high turnover in the Agency. Much of the high turnover
was due to the work environment experienced by Agency employees. Since the receipt of the
organization’s assessment, the CEO, Associate Director of Administration, Associate Director of Education
Systems, and the Associate Director of Program and Contract Compliance all have initiated a more friendly,
yet accountable, work environment that will enhance stability of incumbents at the Associate Directors’ level
and throughout the Agency. All checks to be signed by CEO and/or GB will have appropriate
documentation attached to the check substantiating where the check and/or expenditure should be
charged. This provides evidence of heightened organizational internal controls.
Monitoring Finding – “The grantee (ECICAA) did not comply with Federal statutes, regulations, and the
terms and conditions of the Federal awards. See findings in 75-303(a )”.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: In the approved cost allocation plan, approved positions with Agency wide
function will be allocated accordingly. The CEO and the Associate Director of Finance will complete PARs
or time sheets as per policy in the Corporate Operations Manual effective upon hire.
Monitoring Finding – “The grantee (ECICAA) did not evaluate and monitor the non-federal entity’s
compliance with statutes regulations and the terms and conditions of Federal awards. See findings under
705-303(a).”
Agency’s Corrective Actions: PARS and/or timesheets will be monitored for proper allocation and
compliance with cost allocation plan by the Associate Director of Finance.
Monitoring Finding – “The grantee (ECICAA) did not take prompt actions when instances of non-
compliances were identified, including non-compliance identified in audit findings.”– see findings under
75-303(a).”
Agency’s Corrective Actions: Procedure implemented whereby the Agency will monitor the aged invoice
report in MIP on a monthly basis to prevent late payments.
Monitoring Finding – “The grantee (ECICAA) did not have a system for determining whether individual
expenses are necessary, reasonable, allocable and adequately documented.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: The Agency will here after draw down the exact amount of funds needed to
meet identified obligations whether payroll or operating expenses. This practice has been monitored to
ensure discontinued practice.
Monitoring Finding – “The grantee (ECICAA) did not ensure that advance payments from the Head Start
grant were limited to the minimum amounts needed for Head Start expenditures or in accordance with the
actual, immediate cash requirements of the Head Start program as specified in regulation 75.305(b)(1)”
Monitoring Finding – “A review of seven cash draw downs sampled from the period June 2018 through
July 2019 determined that in four of the seven draws the amount of cash withdrawn from the payment
management system exceeded the verifiable Head Start expenditures.”
Monitoring Finding – “The draw dated March 26, 2019 determined the need for funds for Head Start
expenses totaled $51,546.47, but the grantee (ECICAA) drew down $90,000;
Monitoring Finding – “ …April 19, 2019 , needed $51,546.47, grantee drew down $150,000;”
Monitoring Finding – “…April 23, 2019 , needed $43,531.50, grantee drew down $100,000; and
Monitoring Finding - …” July 16, 2019, needed $27,168.30, grantee drew down $50,000.”
Monitoring Finding: The GB members did not oversee the Agency’s progress in carrying out programmatic
provisions of the agency grant application.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: All delinquent SF have been submitted and the Agency has a new board
approved policy delineating a date for the filing of all standard forms.
Monitoring Finding: the grantee did not assess staffing needs in consideration of the fiscal complexity of the
organization and did not secure on-going services of a fiscal officer.
Agency’s Corrective Actions: The agency will post the fiscal officer position on May 15, 2020 to begin the
posting and recruitment of competent fiscal officer with an expected hire date being on or before July 2020.
The Agency’s administration and fiscal teams are working together diligently to implement the corrective
actions and resolve the non-compliances and deficiencies.
SECTION II: BUDGET AND BUDGET JUSTIFICATION NARRATIVE
1. A comprehensive budget for the FY2020/2021, along with all accounting forms (SF-424A, SF-424) have
been uploaded into the Head Start Enterprise System. The FY2020 budget narrative reflects the Head
Start Birth to Five Continuation Grant application for $4,708,462 for the Funded Federal Enrollment of 417
students. $3,905,760 is allocated to Head Start program operations for 347 Head Start participants;
$46,079 is allocated to the Head Start’s Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA); $ 739,621 is allocated
to the Early Head Start program operation for 70 EHS participants; and $ 17,002 is allocated to Early Head
Start’s Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA). This yields a combined HS and EHS budget of
$4,708,462.
Direct Cost and Indirect Cost: In this budget narrative, the Administrative Cost is direct cost. Personnel:
ECICAA expends all dollars appropriate for staffing and recruits staff with qualifications necessary for
implementation of Head Start Performance Standards and the Head Start Act of 2007. Classroom staffing
reflects the ratios required by federal and state standards for health and safety, child development needs
and quality programming. Administrative positions are staffed as funding permits. Salaries are determined
by job descriptions, attainment of educational degrees and salary schedules of ECICAA.
Position HS Salary EHS Salary
Personnel: Child Health and Development Personnel:
Program Managers and Content Area Experts $ 199,102 $ 19,756
Teachers/Infant Toddler Teachers $ 827,625 $ 63,274
Home Visitors $0 $ 145,538
Teacher Aides and Other Education Personnel $ 325,202 $ 81,806
Health/Mental Health Services Personnel $ 99,857 $ 17,622
Nutrition Services Personnel $ 39,508 $2,079
Other Child Services Personnel $ 18,798 $0
Sub Total: $ 1,510,092 $ 330,075
Personnel: Family and Community Partnership Personnel:
Program Managers and Content Area Experts $ 57,062 $21,209
Other Family and Community Partnership Personnel $ 305,936 $ 6,577
Sub Total: $ 362,998 $ 27,786
Personnel: Program Design and Management Personnel:
Executive Director/ Other Supervisor of Head Start Director – $0 $0
Head Start/Early Head Start Director $ 56,205 $ 9,918
Staff Development $ 67,255 $11,868
Clerical Personnel $ 36,809 $0
Fiscal Personnel $ 32,114 $0
Other Administrative Personnel $ 85,544 $0
Sub Total: $ 277,927 $ 68,780
Personnel: Other Personnel
Maintenance Personnel $ 70,425 $3,504
Other Personnel $ 30,389 $0
Sub Total: $ 100,814 $ 3,504
Personnel Total: $ 2,251,831 $ 383,151
FRINGE BENEFITS: Head Start: $759,818. Early Head Start: $162,072. Fringe benefits include: Social
Security (FICA), State Disability, Unemployment (FUTA), Worker’s Compensation, State Unemployment
Insurance (SUI), health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance and 401K retirement benefits.
FICA, FUTA, and SUI: $290,816 $57,443

Health/Dental/Life Insurance: $423,965 $96,966
Retirement (401K) $ 45,037 $7,663
Total: $759,818 (HS) $162,072 (EHS)
Staff out of Town Travel: Head Start: $5,110 Early Head Start: $890
Members from the fiscal and HS and EHS Management team will attend WIFPHLI and Head Start
Leadership Trainings in addressing the non-compliances in the fiscal systems. The costs per training are
listed in the chart below:
Training and Staff Per Per Hotel Hotel Air fare, Bus,
Development: Diem Diem HS EHS Mileage
HS EHS HS EHS
WIFPHLI $573 0 $1,22 0 $500 0
0
HS Leadership Institute $500 $200 $1200 $490 $1117 $200
EHS Total: $890 $200 $490 $200
HS Total: $5,110 $1073 $2,42 $1617
0
SUPPLIES: Head Start: $178,849 and Early Head Start: $22,952.
Office Supplies: HS $15,210 EHS: $2889 such as file folders, paper, pens, pencils, staplers, post-it notes,
scissors, paper clips and binders will be purchased to support the programs’ ability to maintain program
files, recruit and maintain connections with personnel, parents, resource organizations and community.
Child and Family Services Supplies HS: $100,471 EHS: $14,467 Supplies such as books, diapers, pull-
ups, diaper wipes, foot coverings, paper towels, paper, crayons, art paper, play dough, moon sand, sand,
paint, portfolios, binders, white boards, classroom aprons and other types of educational materials will be
purchased to support ability to access information related to the Head Start and Early Head Start programs
in areas of child development, parent involvement, resources, and a multitude of other types of information
necessary for improving the quality of the program. Supplies will be purchased to support individual
classroom budgets and enable teachers to purchase curriculum supported items including items for literacy
enhancement, reproduction of classroom materials, photo development for child portfolios, paper, gloves,
paper towels, toilet tissue, Kleenex, soap, assessment materials and supplies, yearly planners, curriculum
materials, supplies and updates, materials (construction paper, glue, scissors, crayons, paint, etc.) to
support the curriculum, copy paper, soft classroom elements (floor cushions, children’s lounging furniture,
etc.),writing materials (pencils, pens, highlighters, etc.),sensory materials (puppets, etc.), auditory materials
(CD’s, musical instruments, etc.),visual materials (books, puppets etc.), fine motor materials (puzzles,
blocks, manipulative, etc.) items. Food Service Supplies: HS: $31,500 EHS: $2,676 such as forks, spoons,
bowls, cups, formula, napkins, table wipes, aprons, head coverings, shoes covings, food handlers gloves
and bonnets to support the program’s nutrition services. Maintenance Supplies: HS: $23,839 EHS: $1,920
such as floor, window and other service cleaners, wax, floor stripper, garbage bags, cleaners, disinfectants,
gloves, aprons, facial masks, brooms, mops and other forms of cleaning materials for the maintenance of
the Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms and centers. Medical and Dental Supplies: HS: $6,000
EHS: $780 such as toothbrushes, tooth paste, toothbrush covers, cups, first aid kits, thermometers, gauze,
band aides and other materials needed to provide dental and medical services during screenings and
medical-based program operations. Disability Supplies: HS: $1,829 EHS: $220 such as ESIER
Screenings materials, ASQ-SE Screening Tools, dolls with disabilities, hand manipulatives, weighted
jackets, hand manipulatives, and disabilities posters for Special Needs program operations.
CONTRACTUAL: Head Start: $249,393 and Early Head Start: $69,195:
The Agency contracts for Legal and Accounting Services for legal guidance in corporate operations,
manual corrections and fiscal operations at the cost of $102,150 to Head Start and $47,007 to Early Head
Start. Health and Disabilities Services: The Agency contracts with Health Service providers to provide
health, vision and hearing follow-up services, and the Agency contracts with Disability Service providers for
disability follow-up services at the cost of $24,424 to Head Start and $2,658 to Early Head Start.
Training/Technical Assistance: Head Start: $46,079 and EHS: $17,002. The Agency will hire consultants to
provide trainings in order to maintain and/or attain required certifications. These trainings include:
CPR/First Aid Training and Certification, U.S.D.A. Food Handlers and Certification Training, Body Mass
Index Training, ChildPlus Training and Certification, Early Head Start Creative Curriculum, Danville Area
Community College Early Childhood Training, Early Head Start “Parents as Teachers” Home-Base
Curriculum Training and Certification, Family and Community Development Training and Certification,
CLASS Monitoring Training and Certification, Coaching Training, Work Sampling Training, and OHS
Framework Training. Payroll Processing Costs: The Agency contracts with an accounting firm to process
bi-weekly payroll at the cost of $11,363 to Head Start and the cost of $3,432 to Early Head Start.
Technology and Support: The Agency contracts to provide technology support to the Head Start and Early
Head Start program. These services include the maintenance and repair of computers in the classrooms,
wifi services and other technological maintenance. Technology support at the cost of $43,456 to Head
Start and $6,098 to Early Head Start. Maintenance services are contracted to clean the surfaces of the
classrooms and centers at the cost of $68,000 to Head Start and the cost of $10,000 to the Early Head
Start program.
OTHER CATEGORY: A summary is provided in chart for each line item. Head Start Early Head
Line Item Description Start
Rent: Rental of classroom space for Head Start and Early Head Start centers and $ 145,046 $ 28,216
home-base services. Rent is paid at the following nine Head Start and Early Head
Start Centers: Roselawn, Trinity, Paxton, Hoopeston, Fair Oaks, Gibson City,
Gilman, Laura Lee, and Watseka Centers.
Telephone and Utility: Telephone services are used to provide communication with $ 62,425 $ 21,142
parents, communities, agencies, resource persons, and other staff. Utility services
provide electrical services for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs to
include lighting, heating and cooling. Charges are based on the square footage and
occupancy.
Building & Child Liability Insurance: Covers costs of liability that assure medical $ 37,955 $ 5,187
attention for each enrolled child in the case of an accident while participating in
school activities.
Building Maintenance/Repair & Other Occupancy: Covers the cost of repairs $ 90,939 $ 22,114
needed to keep the program safe and secure and in compliance with OHS, City and
DCFS State Licensing codes and local fire codes.
Local Travel: The local travel cost is based on 2015/2016 gas receipts in the Head $ 24,683 $ 4,359
Start and Early Head Start programs.
Child Services Consultants: This line item will pay for services to support children $ 2,100 $ 1,100
with disabilities at the pay rate of $75.00 per hour, mental health at the pay rate of
$69.80 per hour and health and nutrition services at the pay rate of $35.00 per hour
for observations and guidance and consultation services. The actual budget is
based on 2015/2016 spending in Head Start and Early Head Start.
Parent Services: Funding to support parent decision making, educational meetings, $ 20,155 $ 4,267
and outreach. Support purchases of paper, pens, informational/educational
brochures, photo copying, and food cost for 10 centers and 3 socialization centers.
Accounting and Legal Services: Cost to cover payroll processing and legal services $ 18,534 $ 3,668
and advise. Cover the annual audit of the Head Start program.
Publications/Advertising/Printing: To assist in advertising for HS/EHS positions and $ 3,857 $ 1,550
program events.
Training or Staff Development for program Operations: EHS and HS tuition $ 42,039 $ 6,684
reimbursements. Internal staff meetings and staff trainings to update staff on
changes in the program operations and daily duties conducted Administrative
Building for development information and updates in procedures. Registration cost
for conferences.
Fees and Licenses: City Licenses required in Vermilion County only. $100 $0
Dues and Memberships: Illinois Head Start and National Head Start Memberships $1,926 $824
Policy Council: Supplies for Meetings- Notebooks, Manuals, Pens, Highlighters, $7,000 $1,250
Light Healthy snacks, etc.
Recruitment: Ad. posting & recruitment of teachers, aides, food service staff $3,000 $500
Transitional Services: certificates, informational materials, records, and yard signs $1,000 $500
Total: $460,759 $101,361
2. There are no delegate agency agreements, partnership contracts, or any single item costing more than
$150,000 in the contractual and other budget categories.
3. COLA: The Agency’s Head Start and Early Head Start Programs submitted a COLA grant-narrative and
budget justification and requested to receive $92,907 or a two-percent (2%) Cost Of Living Adjustment
(COLA) increase: Head Start: $78,115 and Early Head Start: $14,792. The 2020/20201 COLA increase,
will be a permanent increase to staff members’ pay rate and wage scale which will be applied to the base
salary of each Head Start and Early Head Start program personnel. The 2020/2021 COLA increase was
approved by the Policy Council on April 15, 2020, and approval was also attained by the Governing Board
on April 28, 2020. With both governing bodies’ approval, the two percent COLA permanent increase will
take effect on September 1, 2020, the first day of the 2020/2021 program year.
4. Internal Controls: The following is a summary of the Agency’s internal controls. This does not provide a
detail list of all the Agency’s internal controls: All transactions above twenty-five dollars require prior written
approval from the Program Director and the Chief Executive Officer. The Agency uses pre-numbered
checks. All checks are printed on the “Albila” accounting software system. Checks written for three
thousand dollars and more require two signatures. Request for payment must be approved by the Program
Director, Chief Financial Officer, and the Chief Executive Officer. As many people as possible are involved
in the receipt and expenditures process for an excellent system of checks and balances in the program. All
mail is opened by the Executive Assistant. Receipts are recorded in a cash log register and checks are
stamped by the Executive Assistant. Deposits are recorded in the “Abila” accounting software system by
an accounting specialist and deposited into the bank by a different accounting specialist. Deposits are
reviewed by the Chief Financial Officer. Monthly financial statements are presented to the Governing Board
of Directors, Policy Council and Management Team. The monthly financial statements compare actual
expenditures to the budget. The bi-annual inventory of furniture and equipment is taken and compared to
the accounting records. The cash accounts are reconciled monthly by an accounting specialist and
reviewed by the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Executive Officer.
5. Non-Federal Share Narrative: The non-Federal share requirement for the FY2020/20201 program year
is: Head Start $ 987,960 + Early Head Start $189,156 = Total Non-Federal Share: $1,177,116.
Based on current history, it is projected that over 50% of the Agency’s non-federal match comes from
classroom and community volunteers, volunteering in work with children. Parent/community volunteer
hours come from participation in classroom activities and assisting children in take-home activities that are
related to classroom curriculum. The amount of time given for take-home activities is based on what is a
reasonable time period to complete the activities. When community volunteers assist with classroom
activities, they are given the rate of a classroom aide. The rate for classroom volunteers is $ 20.18 per
hour, based on the pay and fringe benefits for Classroom Aides in program year 2019/2020. When
community volunteers perform activities that are related to their professional area of expertise they are
given the rate of $40 to $75 depending on their educational level and the type of voluntary task that was
conducted.
ECICAA has a strong history of generating local resources to help meet federal match requirements.
Planned sources for meeting federal match requirements include: Donated space: Donated space is
necessary for Head Start Programs because HS/EHS facilities cannot accommodate the various needs of
the program for meetings, trainings or for providing experiences to HS and EHS children and their families.
Child service consultants: based on current history, includes donated dental screening for all children,
donated speech/language screening for all children, donated developmental assessments for referred
children, donated vision/hearing screenings for all children, free physicals for children at one local clinic and
numerous other services. Community consultants and volunteers bond to the HS and EHS program in the
community in which they provide services. Donated volunteer hours and space (parent and other
community volunteer hours and space- based on current history).
Classroom Volunteers and Community Consultants: Volunteerism in Head Start and EHS gives
stakeholders an opportunity to support the comprehensive services provided to enrolled children and their
families. Classroom volunteers are essential to Head Start and EHS programs. When the volunteers are
parents, they provide opportunities for parents and children to share experiences thus supporting parents in
their role as their children’s first and best teachers.
Non-Federal Share Sources: EHS and HS Parent Volunteers, Grandparent Volunteers, Walmart Stores,
Community Volunteers, Policy Council, Governing Board of Directors, Kiwanis Golden K, LION Club,
Librarians from local libraries, Lake View College of Nursing, OSF Hospital, University of Illinois Co-
Operative Extension, Carle Clinic and Hospital, Your Family Resource Center, Gibson Area Hospital,
Danville Police Department, County Sheriff Departments, Laura Lee Fellowship House, Harbor House,
Special Olympics of Illinois, Iroquois Mental Health Center, Elghammer Family Center, Community
Resource and Counseling Center, Housing Authority of Vermilion County and City of Danville, Shepherd’s
Closet Heritage Manor, Illinois, Local Grocery Stores, Local Fire Departments, Danville Area Community
College, First Responders and Fire Stations, Local Farms, Local Farmers, Naturalist and Pet Stores.
Methodology of calculating Policy Council’s and Governing Board hourly in-kind amounts:
Policy Council: Policy Council Hourly In-Kind Amount of $40.00 per hour was derived based on the Head
Start Director’s salary in 2019/2020. The present Head Start Director’s salary of $62,587.20 was multiplied
by 33% Fringe Benefit Cost; this equaled the amount of $20,653.78. The $20,653.78 amount was added to
the base salary of $62,587.20 to equal $83,240.98. This amount was divided by the total annual hours of
2,080. The Agency derived at the amount of $40.02 in hourly salary. This is comparable to the $40 per
hour in-kind amount allotted for each Policy Council member’s voluntary hour.
Governing Board: The Governing Board’s Hourly In-Kind Amount of $67.79 per hour was derived based on
the prior Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) salary in 2019/2020. The CEO’s salary of $106,017.60 was
multiplied by 33% Fringe Benefit Cost; this equaled the amount of $34,985.81. The $34,985.81 amount
was added to the base salary of $106,017.60 to equal $141,003.40. This amount was divided by the total
annual hours of 2,080. The Agency derived at the amount of $67.79 in hourly salary.
Non-Federal Rate Head Start EHS Information
Classroom $ 20.18 $ 635,163 $ 106,852 347 Head Start Parents donate 8 hours monthly each
Volunteers month over 9 months times $20.18 per hour will yield
an approximate non-federal match of $504,117. The
program will use $489,867 towards its non-federal
match.
100 Head Start Fathers or male representatives donate
8 hours monthly each month over 9 months times
$20.18 per hour will yield an approximate nonfederal
match of $145,296.
HS Match: $489,867 + $145,296 = $635,163
72 Early Head Start Parents donates 8 hours for 12

months times $20.18 per hour will yield an approximate
non-federal match of $139,484 Of this amount,
$106,852 will be used for federal match. 484 Parents
and other male volunteers give over volunteering for
the Head Start program in the following manner:
1. Completing parent/child activities that are tied to the
curriculum. 2.Volunteering in the classroom.
3. Completing teachers’ preparation jobs at home.
4. Reading to small groups. 5. Presenting
information at Socializations, etc.
Community $ 40 - $75/ $242,429 $ 64,302 Head Start Estimates:
consultants, per hour Donated Hours for IEP evaluations or 55 HS Students=
evaluations and $25,457
services 5 Head Start Policy Council Community
Representatives volunteer 8 hours monthly (96 hours)
to PC duties at $40 per hour = $19,200.
15 Governing Board Members volunteer 8 hours
monthly (96 Hours) to Head Start Governance duties at
$75 per hour = $108,000.00
30 Kiwanis Readers. Kiwanis volunteers are
professionals who hold leadership positions i.e.
teachers, principals, executive directors, business
owners, lawyers and doctors. Kiwanis will donate 5
hours weekly (180 hours) at $20.18 per hour equals=
$108,972 in non-federal match.
LEA Teachers volunteers work with child with special
needs at $30.00 per hour
Early Head Start Estimates:
4 Early Head Start Policy Council Members volunteer 8
hours monthly for 12 months at $40.00 per hour equals
$15,360
15 Registered Dieticians working with expecting Moms
and parents for 8 hours monthly over 12 months at
$45.00 per hour equals $64,800.00 in nonfederal
match. $64,302 will be used for in-kind.
Donated Based on $ 67,740 $ 12,134 1. Approximately $ 75,270 will be donated in rent
rent/space Property space, calculating the difference between net and
Appraisals market rent. 2. Donated space for trainings at the Civic
Difference Center and Old National Bank is provided by
between net community organizations. 3. Donated space for
rent and parking Head Start buses in local communities.
market rent $50,728 in non-federal match is gained from 9 Head
Start/EHS rentals. See in-kind site spread sheets. The
remaining $24,542 is from rental donations amounts
the program received from the prior school year.
Donated Cost of $ 35,000 $ 11,581 Donated supplies include: 1. Discounts on purchases

supplies items and from companies. 2 Classroom items donated from
difference community organizations. 3. Items donated by Head
between Start parents and relatives of Head Start children.
regular price
and
discounted
price –
usually 15%
Local/State $7,628.00 $287 We will apply for local grants in the amount of
grants State grants $19,100.00: Wal-Mart, Vermilion Healthcare,
Foundation, Webster Foundation, IHSA grant, Freed
Trust (no federal funds are used to meet the non-
federal share)
TOTAL $ 987,960 $ 189,156 Total $1,177,116
6. WAIVER: ECICAA is not, at this moment, seeking a waiver for its 2020/2021 Non-Federal Share Match.
7. WAIVER: ECICAA is not, at this moment, seeking a waiver of the 15% Limitation on Development and
Administrative Cost.
8. ENROLLMENT REDUCTION: ECICAA is not requesting an enrollment reduction.
9. CONVERSION OF SLOTS: ECICAA is not requesting to have program slots converted.
10. CONSTRUCTION: ECICAA is not requesting Head Start funds for major purchases, construction or
renovations.
11. Method of procurement for proposed equipment purchase over $5,000: Should this occur the following
procedures are implemented: ECICAA maintains the fiscal policy that three bids from separate vendors
must be attained. The bid that meets the acquired equipment and quality will be select for purchase after
approval is attained from the Associate Director of Education/Head Start Director, Associate Director of
Finance and final approval from the Chief Executive Officer. The necessary fiscal procurement forms are
completed and approved prior to any purchases.

Proofread Grant

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Proofread Grant

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY

2020 - 2021 HEAD START BIRTH TO FIVE PROGRAM

Governing Board Chairperson: Elder Tyson Parks

EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY

SECTION 1. PROGRAM DESIGN and APPROACH TO SERVICE DELIVERY

East Central Illinois Community Action Agency (ECICAA)

2020 - 2021 HEAD START BIRTH TO FIVE

SECTION I. CONTINUATION GRANT, PROGRAM DESIGN / APPROACH TO SERVICE DELIVERY

and 13 pregnant women in its Early Head Start home-base services.

ECICAA 2020/2021Continuation Grant 1|

https://coronavirus.illinois.gov and https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-pandemic-

on the outcomes is found on pages 6 -7.

Program Goals: Measurable Objective 2019/2020 Progress/Outcomes 2019/2020 Challenges

ECICAA 2020/2021Continuation Grant 3|

In 2018/2019, the Chronic Absenteeism

In 2019/2020, the same plan lowered the

ECICAA 2020/2021Continuation Grant 4|

ECICAA 2020/2021Continuation Grant 5|

goals, and reschedule the follow-up dental appointments.

School Readiness Goals since last year’s application.

EHS and HS School Readiness Goals were not changed.

ECICAA 2020/2021Continuation Grant 7|

be reduced and the goal will be attained.

in into the on-line GED program.

ECICAA 2020/2021Continuation Grant 8|

2020 Census is currently in the data collection process.

Child and Family Poverty Rates in Vermilion County, Illinois:

the State of Illinois rate of 14.4%;

(http://iecam.illinois.edu and the U.S. Census, 2018 Quickfacts.gov).

ECICAA 2020/2021Continuation Grant 9|

shooter emergency lock-down procedures.

it pertains to children and families in the Iroquois County.

State of Illinois rate of 14.4%;

(http://iecam.illinois.edu and the U.S. Census, 2018 Quickfacts.gov).

State of Illinois rate of 14.4%;

(http://iecam.illinois.edu and the U.S. Census, 2018 Quickfacts.gov).

levels of families in the service areas.

and mechatronics. (Source: Vermilion County Works; 2019;//www.dacc.edu/depts/vcw.) These career

Early Head Start parents’ education attainment levels.

Parent/Guardian Education Levels: Head Start: Early Head Start:

Please refer to the chart below:

County’s Facts on Poverty Rate Comparisons

District Rates of Drop-outs, Truancy and Retention: 18% 3% 9% 11%

population into severe poverty.

2019/2020 Head Start and Early Head Start Parents/Family Stressors

Abuse/Neglect Statistics Report, 2016 and 2020 Reports.)

Numbers of childcare services in the Agency’s Service Area:

3. Chosen Program Options and Funded Enrollment Slots:

families who are economically in need.

school readiness attainment rates within the program.

licensed and have met all safety codes.

The following is how coaching is introduced to the teaching teams:

assist families who are economically in need.

4. Centers and Facilities: (Center locations have not changed.)

Centers: Program Options:

5. Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment and Attendance: (There are updates.)

and be no older than the age required to attend school.

Head Start sites.

or personal contact that there is a slot available for their child.

FY 2017 attendance 79.47% FY 2017 attendance 81.59%

in less conversation and hear fewer words within a day. (Source:

development-of-literacy-and-early.) Also, as stated in the 2019/2020 Community Assessment, due to a