Imagine Institute

Programs: Training and incentives:the imagine institute provides free training to licensed family child care providers and family, friend and neighbor providers who serve low-income children throughout washington state. Our trainings are developed in conjunction with early childhood educators to ensure it is meaningful and responsive to the field. The imagine institute created an innovative program to develop licensed family child care providers as state-approved trainers representing some of the first licensed family child care providers delivering stars training (continuing education) to their peers in this state. Our trainers represent their communities speaking english, spanish, arabic and somali. Importantly, these trainers have a deep understanding of life as a child care provider, which allows them to effectively educate and mentor their peers. 74% of our active trainers are women of color, 65% speak a language other than english, and 60% of our active trainers in central and eastern washington are monolingual spanish-speakers. The imagine institute achieved the results as described in its contract with the department of early learning (del). In total, 303 family, friend, and neighbor providers (ffn) and 744 licensed family child care providers (lfccp) attended at least one imagine institute training this fiscal year. 371 additional lfccp slots were filled by providers who attended more than one imagine institute training. The imagine institute also successfully assisted nine somali-speaking providers in the process of becoming state-approved trainers and 11 in completing a peer mentoring course through skagit valley college. Trainings were held in all regions of the state and in three target languages: somali, spanish, and english.

outreach and recruitment:the imagine institute sent a total of 14,291 emails this contract year, called providers a total of 56,986 times, and visited 205 providers' homes. The imagine institute connected 124 providers to supports to meet the minimum education requirement. The imagine institute's lack of accurate contact information impacted the organization's ability to meet its community needs assessment contract deliverable and a 25% response rate is significantly above industry standard. The response rates from the community needs assessment's email campaigns reflect the average rates for this type of survey. Minimum education canvass the imagine institute conducted a statewide canvass to all the lfccp who had not yet demonstrated that they had met the minimum education requirement in merit. There were 214 providers in total on the list and the canvass was able to reach 155 of those providers. Of the providers reached, 83% were willing to have a conversation. Of those, 41 signed an exception to the rule form and two signed a sworn affidavit. Of the providers who stated that they had already met the requirement, 33% said that their licensor had submitted their information on their behalf. 20% of the providers had either moved or closed their business.

wa state early care and education substitute poolaccomplishmentswhile the imagine institute has spent the past year researching and planning the implementation of the washington state ece substitute pool, the pool only officially launched in april 2017. The primary objective of the substitute pool this quarter was to recruit substitutes and facilities to the substitute pool, facilitate orientations, provide technical assistance to substitutes and facilities, monitor and evaluate feedback, reconcile hours worked, and remit payment to substitutes. In only a few short months, the imagine institute has developed tremendous capacity to anticipate the needs of facilities and substitutes and to provide technical assistance to the facilities and substitutes in child care's three largest language groups. The organization continues to look for ways to streamline its internal processes and encourage greater participation from all regions of the state. The imagine institute has met all its program requirements as outlined in the contract. The imagine institute held 31 facility orientations and 20 substitute orientations. To meet the demand for health and safety training, the organization has also coordinated two certification courses in cpr, first aid, and bloodborne pathogens in somali, spanish, and english. Substitutes were also invited to three health and safety classes as well as three child care basics training cohorts. Imagine reviewed qualifications for 354 potential substitutes and designed specific communications to address their specific needs, which resulted in ongoing direct communication with 118 substitutes who are at various stages of completing their preservice requirements. The substitute pool has already had an impact on the field, particularly by forging new career pathways for prospective, current, and returning early learning professionals. Three centers have reached out to imagine to provide preservice training and orientations to current and prospective staff who will go on to provide relief to staff working on early achievers-related activities. Imagine has also received inquiries from k-12 teachers, retired early learning staff, and paraeducators about becoming substitutes during their summer break. Substitutes are attracted to the opportunity to create their own schedule and the diversity of environments, age groups, and locations in which they can gain experience.

child care provider outreach and support, and community outreach.