March 16, 1999 -- Meeting Summary March 16, 1999 -- Meeting Summary
12:00pm – 3:30pm |
The Seattle Room |
WestCoast SeaTac Hotel |
SeaTac, Washington |
| Commission Attendance |
| Melinda French Gates, Co-Chair; Kathryn Barnard, Craig Cole, Kim Cook, Robbin Dunn, Marty Jacobs, Peter Jackson, Mary Ellen O’Keeffe, Dee Ann Perea, Yvonne Ullas, Gayle Womack, Diana Yu and Kyle Yasuda. |
| Meeting Summary |
| Melinda Gates opened the meeting by suggesting that everyone take a moment to revisit the Commission’s goals. She explained that currently our three subcommittees are working on these goals and that progress is underway to ensure that these goals are met. The Commission is bringing to a close the discussion on the Bill of Rights for Children. Work is beginning on goal two – Increase societal value and priority of early childhood care and learning through a public campaign. Finally, goal three - Identify or create and ongoing entity – would occur over the next several months. |
| Jennifer LeSourd gave an update on the Commission’s website. The Office of Financial Management’s Information Services Unit is setting up a test site where they can make sure all of the pieces of the web page are working correctly and make necessary changes. The web site will then be downloaded to the Department of Information Service’s web server where the site would link to the Governor’s Home Page. It is anticipated that the site will be up and running by the April meeting or at least a test version will be available to review. |
| Parent survey results presentation |
| Pama Joyner presented the survey results from the four communities, Spokane, Yakima, Tri-Cities and Bellingham, where parent forums were held. She noted there are a similar number of surveys from each community even though the attendance at the forums varied. The results of the survey support the Commissions goals. Parents generally indicated that more parent support and education is needed. |
| Discussion |
| Melinda Gates noted that the co-chairs didn’t prompt people about what the question "What would you like to see more of?" might entail. Yet, consistently more parenting classes rose to the top. |
| Marty Jacobs noted that there seemed to be a lot of good programs working in Bellingham. Why is this occurring more in Bellingham than anywhere else? |
| Craig Cole responded that there are a lot of good people working in a manageable scale. A larger scale community, like King County, may find it harder to corral resources. Creating program continuity is a difficult task – but even more difficult in an urban setting. |
| Gayle Womack noted that it appears that less rural places are more connected than those that are spread out. Rural communities don’t come together as often as suburban communities. |
| Kathryn Barnard commented that there are a lot of innovators in Bellingham where they are more willing to try new things. |
| Diana Yu suggested it might help to think about scale when the Commission moves forward in developing projects. King County, for example, might need to be divided up into units. |
| Mary Ellen O’Keeffe asked if the Commission will continue to do some more forums this year. |
| Melinda Gates responded that the co-chairs feel comfortable that they have received enough information to draw from and that now the focus should be on the public engagement campaign. |
| Melinda Gates asked Pama Joyner to continue the compilation of the data into a final report. |
| Decision Making |
| Melinda Gates reiterated the need for a formal decision making process. |
| It was decided that a quorum will consist of 60% of Commission members. When a quorum is not reached at any given meeting, decisions will be tabled until the next meeting. |
| During discussion of issues the co-chairs will try to get consensus prior to going to a formal vote. If a potential decision appears to have consensus no formal vote will be required and the decision will be finalized. |
| If there still appears to be disagreement on an issue more discussion will take place to see where disagreement is then a formal vote will take place. |
| When a formal vote is needed on a decision a two-thirds super majority vote will be required to finalize a decision. |
| Melinda Gates asked if anyone had comments or concerns about this process. |
| Peter Jackson expressed concern that over time some Commission members may stop attending the meetings regularly and we will be unable to reach a quorum. Should we then drop the number required for quorum? |
| It was noted that quorum will always be 60% of Commission members whether someone drops out or new one is appointed. |
| Commissioners agreed that this would be the decision making process. |
| Handouts |
| Robin Zukoski mentioned several handouts available to Commission members including information from the SW WA Child Care Consortium, a Parent Conference (hosted by WSU) registration form, information on Help One Student at a Time (HOST) mentoring program, and information about the Drew Bledsoe foundation parenting programs. |
| Public Engagement Campaign Discussion |
| Robin Zukoski put together a draft proposal for Commissioners to review on the State contracting process. There are two types of processes. First is the Request for Qualifications (RFQ). Robin has been advised that the RFQ is the best way to find a company that can guide us through developing a campaign. It will help us decide what kind of company we want to help us. Robin recommends that the Commission use this process. |
| The second process is the Request for Proposal (RFP). This process helps an organization find companies that can carryout detail specific projects. They wouldn’t be guiding the Commission in media strategy etc. It is for groups who know exactly what they want. Robin believes that the Commission has not developed the public engagement campaign in enough detail to issue a RFP. |
| Discussion |
| Melinda Gates suggested the Commission discuss the pros and cons of these two processes. |
| By going through this state contracting processes it will take more time. It may add two months to process. But at this point is the only way the Commission can proceed. |
| Robin Zukoski noted that the Commission would be deciding who we want work with on the campaign if the RFQ process was used. |
| The RFP process would require the Commission itself develop the campaign. The type of resources and creative thought may not be available to support our work if we develop an RFP. |
| Melinda Gates responded that the RFQ process will allow the Commission to get to know many companies and give the Commission time to figure out what it’s asking for. Plus get advice and guidance. They’ll help the Commission develop its plan. |
| Robbin Dunn noted that in her organization they have used RFQs. It is beneficial because you get to know personal styles of the companies and develop better long-term relationships. |
| Peter Jackson commented that the RFQ seems like a better process to use if the Commission doesn’t know what it wants at the detail level. |
| Craig Cole suggested the possible use of the American Association of Advertisement Agencies or group like that who might take this campaign on as a charity cause. |
| Robin Zukoski explained that an Advertising Council didn’t seem like the way to go at this point because the Commission doesn’t know what the campaign should look like. We’re not advertising experts. |
| Craig Cole responded that early learning is an attractive cause and that a campaign could be free. Maybe it’s something an organization wants to be a part of. |
| Robbin Dunn noted that her organization did a HeadStart project through the National Advertising Council that was really good. |
| Gayle Womack indicated that if the Commission secures a group that knows what our task is it would be easy. But, the fact remains that we don’t know. She feels however this is worth investigation and that we should ask. |
| Peter Jackson commented that we do need to have a clearer understanding of what it is we’re doing. Maybe once we know what were doing an advertising council of some sort might be useful. |
| Craig Cole responded by asking about Rob Reiner’s organization suggesting that they may be of assistance. |
| Melinda Gates noted that the Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) in Pennsylvania may have ideas too. |
| Robin Zukoski then explained that there was a second piece to this process that included one more option in line with goal number three – creating an ongoing entity. |
| One option is that the Commission could give funding, and authority to another group to carryout the campaign. The Commission would need to identify an organization that is in tune with the Commission’s thinking and have them put it together. If the Commission chose this direction there is some risk of losing control over the process. |
| The second option would be to create an entity as described in goal number three to develop and carryout the public engagement campaign. |
| Peter Jackson noted that creating a non-profit organization is a process that takes about six months maybe even longer. |
| Diana Yu asked what types of organizations already exist that we could contract with. |
| Robin Zukoski responded that there are several non-profit agencies, including some of the groups that came and spoke to the Commission in February that might be willing to take on the campaign. |
| Gayle Womack commented that if the Commission developed a non-profit organization would there be other benefits besides a campaign? Are we doing the campaign regardless? |
| Kim Cook thinks that the Commission is not ready to develop a non-profit organization. |
| Melinda Gates explained that when the Commission developed the original goals we did say that creating an ongoing entity was in the top three. Maybe we should start our public engagement campaign now. Then down the road we start working on a foundation of some sort. She noted that those Commissioners that are available could work on it now. We’ll want to start raising money throughout this process. |
| Gayle Womack commented that we could funnel much of this through people at the community level but we might lose our spot in the world. |
| Robbin Dunn noted that the Commission’s neutrality and prestige is a positive characteristic. We need to think about whether or not we want to give it up. |
| Peter Jackson suggested that the Commission move forward on the RFQ to help figure out what we’re doing. |
| Diana Yu noted that at the community level, when working on standards and services, not all health departments work the same. We would need to be careful if things were funneled through at that level. |
| Robin Zukoski concluded that it appears that the RFQ is the place to start. |
| She explained that Don Brunnel has agreed to get this subcommittee working on this process. Does the Commission agree with the scope of work? |
| Kyle Yasuda responded that the overall goal of the Commission is to increase societal value of early learning and that we may lose people if we focus on parents alone. |
| Kim Cook agrees that we need to find a better term for the focus for kids. |
| Craig Cole responded what about "increase societal value on early learning"? |
| Kathryn Barnard indicated that research says brain development only occurs through a good relationship. How can we say this? |
| Robin Zukoski asked if there was a consensus that we use "increase societal value on early learning"? |
| Yvonne Ullas noted that this is somewhat antiquated. |
| Melinda Gates indicated that this statement is too broad and that we need to define early learning. |
| Craig Cole commented about relationships that we can foster and impact. |
| Robin Zukoski then suggested that we need a way to measure our success. How do we measure success? |
| Do we do this by increased number of accredited child care centers? |
| Kim Cook responded that an increase in high quality care would be better. |
| Peter Jackson noted that physical access and health needs aren’t measured anywhere. |
| Melinda Gates responded with a question on how we measure health care. |
| Diana Yu noted that in terms of vaccinations, a number can be used but there is always a group that won’t get vaccinated. Surveys are done to identify how many kids have health care. Maybe a group such as Kids Count? |
| Kyle Yasuda responded that the challenge is health care. There are many efforts going on in this area – how to measure health status and how to get really specific measurable data. |
| Kathryn Barnard indicated that we need to tie in health care and early learning. |
| Diana Yu responded that this would be hard to measure. |
| Robin Zukoski noted that integrating the brain research findings into continuing medical curriculums might help. |
| Kathryn Barnard commented that there are an increasing number of integrated programs. But the University of Washington has little on infancy in its curriculums. |
| Kyle Yasuda noted that we should measure success based on public awareness. |
| Diana Yu suggested that a risk factor survey might be useful. There are questions done on a yearly basis that might help us get statistics that we can compare year to year. |
| Kathryn Barnard responded by asking if we need to measure success. |
| Kim Cook noted that the types of measurements that have been discussed are long term measurements. We should build in a "before" and "after" awareness for parents and tie it into this project. |
| Diana Yu noted that the State does a survey that maybe we can add to. |
| Kathryn Barnard suggests that on a short-term basis we need to determine what is available for families. The long-term results will be found in criminal data, early intervention, etc. |
| Melinda Gates noted that it’s often helpful to build in impressions including the number of people researched by doing phone polling. Then determine if we had a short-term effect. From there, build in long-term results with the creation of a foundation. Then it can be rerun based on experiences of the first campaign. |
| Craig Cole noted that it is critical to measure public awareness. Some baseline data is needed and that we should do a study survey now. Then after the campaign measure again by using the same process. |
| Peter Jackson commented that there are market research firms to do statistical analysis. They can frame questions to get the right data. |
| Melinda Gates noted that a focus group could be set up to do message testing. |
| Robin Zukoski explained that we need to know what audience we want to target. |
| Kathryn Barnard believes that older Americans and grandparents should be an important part. They make the world go round because they have the time and resources to think about the importance of relationships and early learning. |
| Diana Yu noted that we shouldn’t leave out teenagers. They are baby-sitting and having kids of their own. |
| Robin Zukoski noted that we’ll be sending messages to different audiences. |
| Kyle Yasuda responded by suggesting "Healthy and Learning by kindergarten" as our message. |
| Robbin Dunn noted that an important message is that kids are learning all the time (regardless of what is going on around them). |
| Diana Yu agrees that learning doesn’t begin in school. |
| Mary Ellen O’Keeffe commented that parents need support particularly in the area of early child care. |
| Robin Zukoski noted that it is a parent’s responsibility to find quality care. Therefore, parent support is important. |
| Kathryn Barnard noted that irrespective of care, it is the relationship with the parent that is most important. Child care providers can help work toward strengthening this parent relationship. |
| Robin Zukoski indicated that this is the link between child care providers and parents. |
| Mary Ellen O’Keeffe explained that all parents need support. Some need more support and they need different kinds of support. Parent support is important and quality child care is one part of this support. |
| Gayle Womack said the message should be about all children including developmentally disabled. |
| Robbin Dunn noted that visual messages should be ethnically and economically diverse. |
| Melinda Gates indicated that all children should be reached through a diverse message. |
| Peter Jackson asked about people who are thinking about being parents. |
| Can we make this message clear to them? |
| Robin Zukoski responded that potential parents should be a part of the audience. |
| We can impact this group without having to do a specific message just for them. |
| Mary Ellen O’keeffe asked what about the role of business? |
| Robin Zukoski responded that this does have an impact on business – the relationship is important and the message should be aimed at them as well. |
| Kyle Yasuda noted that there are now rating scales to determine if companies are family friendly. |
| Melinda Gates noted that there are many possible methods. She indicated that the subcommittee will help narrow this list and so will the consultant. She asked if there were any other comments on the scope of work. |
| Diana Yu noted that having a kid’s contest to design posters, magnets etc. might be a way to go. |
| Yvonne Ullas noted that the Superintendent of Public Instruction is now working with McDonalds to put 4th grade testing questions on place mats. What might be available to us that is similar? |
| Robin Zukoski responded that there are lots of corporate sponsorship opportunities. |
| Services needed for campaign |
| Melinda Gates noted that fundraising should not belong on the scope of work for the communications piece. This is a separate project. |
| Robin Zukoski asked are we looking for a marketing agency or consultant for marketing and fundraising? |
| Melinda Gates responded that usually these are two very different sources. |
| Qualifications sought |
| Melinda Gates noted that the Commission needs to find someone with campaign experience, and that hopefully it could be a Washington State business but we don’t want limit ourselves. |
| Kyle Yasuda noted that there are a lot of efforts going on now. Coordinating with these groups is important. |
| Budget |
| Robin Zukoski noted that we are still working to making sure our funding is in the state budget. The money won’t be available to pay the vendor until July 1. |
| Mary Ellen O’Keeffe believes the Children’s Defense Fund might be a good source for funding. |
| Diana Yu commented that she thought there is a National Pediatrics Association working on these issues. |
| Kyle Yasuda also noted that Johnson and Johnson is working on these issues as well as some other groups. |
| Melinda Gates noted that as we move forward in creating a foundation we’ll be brain storming on funding issues, etc. |
| The Commission took a 10 minute break. |
| Child Care Subcommittee Report |
| Yvonne Ullas explained that the subcommittee has been comparing programs to help move the group toward its goal. The TEACH program from North Carolina appears to be the best model as it has meshed all the pieces together. Barbara Clampit, who the subcommittee met with, noted that WA State Community Colleges have some level of Early Childhood Education program but the depth and quality of the programs vary. |
| Some of the quality things that the Commission can recommend would be things like a wage ladder and community resource and referral on education. It would be beneficial to tie in the two in a way that an employer would support. |
| Current providers don’t have resources to go to college (i.e., money and time). We need to support those that want to further their education. The ultimate goal would be the professionalization of the child care industry. |
| There appears to a lot of variance in college programs across the state. We see the need for stabilizing and standardizing these programs. |
| Some community colleges will give ECE certificates. The demand for four-year programs may not exist now but this demand would be created through professionalizaiton. Soon, a CDA will no longer be a sufficient credential for a Head Start teacher. |
| If we were to start with a 2-year requirement the demand will rise from there. It appears that the current industry demand is at a lower level – high school graduates. |
| Discussion |
| Gayle Womack noted that special education teachers must have a special education degree with ECE endorsements. They get if from community colleges. |
| Diana Yu noted that the training for those caring for children from 0-3 is different from those that care for children 4-6. |
| Robbin Dunn responded that early childhood training programs are uneven across the state. Community colleges are a great vehicle for this but more standardization is important. |
| Kathryn Barnard commented that demand is so low at Central Community College they may need to close the ECE program. |
| Peter Jackson noted that many professionals are aware of early learning issues -how can we get them involved? |
| Melinda Gates asked the subcommittee what time frame are they working in. |
| Diana Yu responded that there is still not enough information. Elevating child care is a developmental process. |
| Kathryn Barnard indicated that the wage ladder proposal might require funding of two million a year for implementation. |
| Gayle Womack said that in some areas special education teachers are sent into daycare centers and homes to share their expertise. This is a good way to share resources and information with child care providers. |
| Diana Yu responded that there is a part of the education piece that does not cost a lot. A standardization sheet of a basic skills list is needed. We need the support of legislators, and a foundation to keep it going. |
| Kim Cook said it looked like the subcommittee was still 3 or 4 months out in terms of completing their task. |
| Melinda Gates asked the subcommittee to map out a series of meetings and their end goals so they can ensure progress each time they meet. She also asked that they create a timeline. |
| Yvonne Ullas noted the TEACH program in North Carolina, had 21 participants in their pilot. It took five years to get to 6,500. She thinks the Commission should start with a pilot college or something, and that not everyone needs to participate from the beginning. |
| Kathryn Barnard agrees that the education of the provider is crucial and motivation for this needs to be attached to a salary increase. |
| Mary Ellen O’Keeffe commented that colleges are getting a lot of pressure on this education piece. |
| Dee Ann Perea has visited some child care facilities and has observed that most in-home facilities push their qualifications to sell the program. What component is missing? They’re still missing important things like the connection to make brain research work for children. Parents know about the research but need to be shown specifically how they can put the research to work for these kids. It doesn’t appear that the providers are learning about the parent education aspect either. They too need helping putting the brain research to work. |
| Gayle Womack said that many of the groups she works with talk to providers and help them with practical application. |
| Diana Yu also noted that Health Departments have programs including public health nurses who take this information into centers. How do you systematize this process so all caregivers get the important information. Doing a survey to see where home visits occur may help to determine if this area can be tapped in to. Licensing and health folks seem to be the majority of people who visit the centers. |
| Kathryn Barnard responded that we still have to reach the family element. |
| Craig Cole noted that having credentials are one thing, but what about nurturing? Would a standardized model contract for child care assist in making sure nurturing care givers are hired? |
| Robbin Dunn responded that these types of models exist in some cases. The issue is that home providers operate in isolation. How do they get resources? |
| Craig Cole commented that if parents are armed with this information they can ask the critical questions to find quality child care. |
| Yvonne Ullas noted that parents are overwhelmed with information and issues surrounding child care. |
| Dee Ann Perea indicated that a gap exists in training for colleges. Most training is for preschoolers not toddlers and infants. Trying to water down a preschool program is not working for those needing toddler and infant training. The needs of the two age groups are too different. |
| Diana Yu asked if there is a place or resource that people can call for potty training information. |
| Robin Zukoski noted that in Seattle people can contact a Children’s Hospital hotline, and that the Seattle Times information line may have potty training advice as well. She doesn’t know about other communities. |
| Diana Yu commented that those people who learn for the moment (for whatever stage their child as in) want to know about the issue at hand. |
| Melinda Gates asked if Commissioners had any more comments. She expressed to the subcommittee that the key thing is to narrow in on one or two things they can get their hands around in four months. |
| Bill of Rights Subcommittee |
| Kyle Yasuda presented the proposed preamble to the Bill of Rights. |
| Discussion |
| Kathryn Barnard explained that brain growth has to be linked to learning ability and to relationships. We need to identify words that imply this relationship. |
| Diana Yu noted that the 2nd paragraph alludes to what we do for children. |
| Robin Zukoski stated that some Commissioners had expressed feelings that the Bill of Rights didn’t link into what the Commission has been charged to do. The Preamble was created to link the Bill of Rights to the Commission’s purpose. Has the preamble accomplished this? |
| Diana Yu noted that the sentence starting with "A child’s current and future…" needs to have something more to it. |
| Mary Ellen O’Keeffe expressed that she has heard about many groups using a Bill of Rights in some form or another and is comfortable with the one the subcommittee has developed. |
| Melinda Gates asked Commissioners if anyone else had concern about the Preamble and Bill of Rights. |
| Robbin Dunn responded by saying that she struggles with the tone. This document potentially could make someone feel guilty if they’re single, or if both parents need to work. Particularly in the sentence about if parents are unable to provide "personal care". The goal is to get children quality care. |
| Kim Cook suggested a new title is needed that is directed more toward infants. |
| Kyle Yasuda responded that the subcommittee left the title broad to reach all kids. |
| Craig Cole thinks that the document sort of runs out of gas in the last paragraph. We need to get the community and parents to support this. |
| Yvonne Ullas feels that the Commission could get everyone to sign it to show they believe in it. |
| Peter Jackson noted that he has heard some negative feed back about the Bill of Rights. |
| Melinda Gates noted that once we get into the public engagement campaign we can decide exactly how the Bill of Rights will be used. |
| Commissioners agreed that further discussion would take place on how to use the Bill of Rights when the public engagement campaign is underway. |
| Integrated Services Subcommittee |
| Craig Cole reported that the subcommittee assigned its members the task of researching approaches to early learning in various states as well as the communities of Washington. They are working on findings and will present them to the Commission in April. |
| Discussion |
| Peter Jackson asked if the finding would be the charge of the permanent entity. |
| If this is done at the state level there may be perceptions that it is a cookie cutter job. |
| Diana Yu noted that communities need to understand the importance of 0-3 before they invest in an integrated program. |
| Mary Ellen O’Keeffe doesn’t see a particular agency that has a focus in this area. |
| Craig Cole noted that there really isn’t much work left. The subcommittee is close to being finished in terms of a recommendation. |
| Melinda Gates asked if the job of the subcommittee should be to find a group to do the recommended study. |
| Craig Cole responded that the subcommittee wants to recommend that the state look into this issue. We can’t administer a thing of this size. |
| Melinda Gates asked if there any private entities to do this type of research - like Carnegie? Can we get grants to do a study? |
| Robin Zukoski noted that we could commission a study of this nature. |
| Peter Jackson commented that we need to find data that already exists and then translate it into some common language. |
| Craig Cole believes a state agency or private organization could administer this study. |
| Kathryn Barnard believes the Commission should do it. |
| Kim Cook noted there might be statistics already in existence in the categories outlined. We just need to find them. |
| Melinda Gates commented on how it may be useful to know how other states did assessments before they started their projects. |
| Robbin Dunn noted categorical program data may be easy to get – other kinds of information may be more difficult to find. |
| Marty Jacobs responded that there is a database put together by the Family Policy Council, which inventories young children’s programs. But it’s very complicated and unwieldy. |
| Kathryn Barnard indicated that we could develop a process for communities to do their own investigations and then report the information at the children’s summit. This could be a platform (part of the engagement campaign). |
| Melinda Gates commented that we will discuss what the children’s summit will entail. But on this project we should start with learning about other state’s first, then recommend how to delineate this research task. |
| Public Comment |
| The South King County Community Network sees positive change happening in the Commission. The Commission needs to continue its focus on thought for parents to help them fulfill the role as a parent. |
| Robin Zukoski noted that the April meeting will be in the morning at the Radisson Inn. |
| Melinda Gates thanked Commissioners for their work. |
| The meeting was closed. |