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Episode 44 - Preparing for Georgia's Pre-K Program Jun 28, 2022

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It may be summertime but before you know it we will be opening up the 2022-2023 school year for Georgia’s Pre-K Program, our 30th year offering Pre-K in Georgia. Joining us to talk about preparing for Georgia’s Pre-K Program is Faith Duncan, Director of Georgia’s Pre-K Program; Laurianne McDonald is a Pre-K specialist working with programs in Southeast Georgia; and LaNita Carey from Jackson Creek Academy in Lilburn is one of our Georgia’s Pre-K Program Teachers of the Year for the 2021-2022 school year.

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Episode 43 - CAPS Student-Parent Priority Group Jun 21, 2022

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Starting last month, DECAL announced that student parents are now a “priority group” for receiving financial assistance through Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services Program (CAPS). This new priority group is a major step forward in our Two-Generation Approach to assisting young children and their families. Joining us to talk about the new student-parent priority group is Elisabetta Kasfir, Deputy Commissioner for the CAPS Program; Ni’Aisha Banks-Devore, a wife, mom of four, and entrepreneur; and Dr. Meghan McBride, Vice President of Adult Education at Georgia Piedmont Technical College in Clarkston.

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Episode 42 - Chat with Commissioner Jacobs Jun 14, 2022

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This week we open it up to our DECAL team as well as followers on social media to ask questions of Commissioner Jacobs. This is an opportunity to talk about a wide variety of topics and discuss those issues that are concerning you most, including updates on STABLE (Short-Term Assistance Benefit for Licensed Entities) and POWER (Providing Our Workforce Essential Recognition).

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Episode 41 - DECAL Southeast Community Partnerships Jun 07, 2022

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We’re taking a tour of DECAL’s six regions by talking to our Community Partnership Coordinators, representatives from our Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, and introducing you to child care providers in each region. Today, we’re talking about the Southeast Region consisting of 40 counties that stretch from Monroe County, north of Macon, all the way down to Lowndes County on the Florida border. Joining us to talk about the Southeast Region are Tomisher Campbell, Early Education Community Partnership Coordinator, and Jeneine Barlow, the Technical Assistance Manager at the CCR&R of Southeast Georgia. Also joining us is Shalinda Smith, a family child care provider in Emanuel County and Bree Carter, the Owner and Director of Bree’s Creative Learning Preschool Childcare Center in Lowndes County.

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Episode 40 - Look Again May 25, 2022

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For the ninth consecutive year, DECAL is calling for families and caregivers to increase awareness of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles. Joining us to talk about our annual Look Again campaign and ways to prevent pediatric vehicular heatstroke is Dana Morrison and Rhonda Parker, both directors of field operations with Child Care Services here at DECAL; and Michelle Walker is Manager of Child Advocacy Programs with Safe Kids Georgia and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

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Episode 39 - Day in the Life of Inclusion and Behavior Support's Fachelle Garner May 24, 2022

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Today, it’s another one of our “Day in the Life” features where we learn more about a member of our DECAL team and what they do for Georgia’s youngest learners and their families. Today we’re learning more about our Inclusion and Behavior Support Services Unit that helps early learning professionals and families learn more about inclusion and social emotional development. Meet Fachelle Garner, Inclusion and Behavior Support Specialist here at DECAL.

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Episode 38 - DECAL Community Partnerships/Northwest Region May 17, 2022

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This spring and summer, we’re taking a tour of DECAL’s six regions by talking to our Community Partnership Coordinators, representatives from our Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, and introducing you to child care providers in each region. The Northwest Region consists of 11 counties including Fulton and ten other counties in the northwest corner of the state, spreading from Haralson, and continuing up to the Tennessee line and over to Pickens and Cherokee counties. Joining us to talk about the Northwest Region are Glenda Davis-Canteen, Early Education Community Partnership Coordinator, and Brittney Everett, the ECE Specialist Team Lead at Quality Care for Children CCR&R of Northwest Georgia. Also joining us today is DiAnne Coggins, a family child care provider and one of our Peer Support Network Ambassadors, from College Park in Fulton County. And from further north, we have Kari Emerson, a Program Specialist with Ninth District Opportunity Head Start & Early Head Start at the Pickens County Head Start program in Tate Georgia.

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Episode 37 - Day in the Life of CAPS' Tara Davis and Gina Haskins May 10, 2022

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Today, it’s another one of our “Day in the Life” features where we learn more about a member of our DECAL team and what they do for Georgia’s youngest learners and their families. Today we’re learning more about CAPS…a federal program administered by DECAL that helps pay for the cost of child care so parents can work or attend school. We’re spending a “Day in the Life” of Tara Davis, CAPS Family Support Coordinator for the Northwest Region, and Gina Haskins, CAPS Scholarship Administration Specialist.

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Episode 36 - STABLE and POWER Payment Updates May 03, 2022

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Like so many other industries, child care has seen its share of staffing shortages lately. DECAL has tried to help through POWER supplemental payments for anyone eligible who is working in child care…and over $1.57 BILLION directly to child care programs in Georgia to stabilize child care, support the workforce, and increase access to quality care and learning.
Joining us with updates on POWER and STABLE is Christi Moore, Professional Learning Director here at DECAL; Woody Dover is our Enterprise Project Management Director; and Rian Ringsrud, Deputy Commissioner for Finance and Administration.

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Episode 35 - Moonlight through the Pines May 03, 2022

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In 2018, the Georgia Foundation for Early Care and Learning partnered with the Georgia Forestry Foundation to host the first Moonlight through the Pines, a fundraising event for both organizations featuring great food and singer songwriters from Georgia. We had such a great time with that event, we are doing it again on May 18, this time with the foundation for the Technical College System of Georgia. Joining us to talk about Moonlight through the Pines: A Singers Songwriters Soiree is Kelsey Bassett, Executive Director of the TCSG Foundation, and our own Carrie Ashbee, Executive Director of the Georgia Foundation for Early Care and Learning.
Plus a special message from Commissioner Jacobs about State Employees Recognition Week 2022.

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