Children’s Cabinet reviews preschool development grant activities, childcare-zone projects and summer pause

The Children’s Cabinet met to review a string of early childhood initiatives supported by the preschool development grant and local childcare-zone projects, and members agreed to pause regular monthly Cabinet meetings for June through August.

The Cabinet’s convenor said three free “care and wellness” conferences funded by the preschool development grant will be held this spring and summer in Wichita, Celina and Johnson County and will be open to early childhood professionals and families; flyers and RSVP links will be circulated. “These are free events,” the convenor said, and organizers plan panels, trainings (including ASQ training) and afternoon breakout sessions for practitioners and families.

Why it matters: The events and local projects are intended to connect providers, employers and families and to spread practical approaches to child development, mental health and staffing solutions across regions served by the grant.

Members highlighted work emerging from childcare zones across the state. The Cabinet noted there are seven childcare-zone grants KHE is overseeing, each covering roughly two to five counties; several grantees are organizing employer-facing summits to explore employer contributions and partnerships for childcare support. The Cabinet also heard about local pilot work to expand nontraditional and extended-hours care in Cary and Dickinson counties, where individual facilities assessed costs, staffing changes and security needs to extend hours.

Local programs and supports got attention. The Cabinet highlighted a mentorship program in McPherson and Marion that pairs nearly 30 mentors and mentees with monthly 1:1 meetings and quarterly networking events. In the southeast (Labette, Crawford, Allen and Neosho), a regional lending library is being developed to let providers rent sensory-friendly materials and equipment and to share provider-created usage videos and guides statewide. The Cabinet also noted a February conscious-discipline training in several southern counties drew more than 40 attendees and used volunteers to provide childcare.

Work groups described communications and retention strategies. One work group is drafting talking points and pamphlets targeted at four audiences—new and unlicensed providers, community members, parents and current providers—to promote licensing and retention. The Cabinet discussed a possible licensing e-newsletter and other ways to deliver concise, supportive regulatory information to providers facing information fatigue.

The Cabinet discussed communications materials with the state communications team; Jarvis said a flyer returned by the KDH/CCO communications team will be reviewed for messaging and branding. Jarvis also urged the group to consider how current work can be strategically framed for the incoming OEC transition so materials and accomplishments can help “kick off” OEC with positive visibility.

Next steps and schedule: Members were asked to identify each work group’s planned pause or wrap-up point by the end of May so work can be paused through summer months as appropriate. The Cabinet’s convenor said regular meetings will take a break in June, July and August; the next Cabinet meeting date was announced as April 21. Attendees then broke into work groups for more detailed discussions.

Clarifying details drawn from the meeting: the Cabinet said there are seven childcare-zone grants (each spanning two to five counties), a local mentorship pairing involves about 30 people, a February training had more than 40 attendees, and organizers plan three statewide care-and-wellness conference events. The Cabinet did not provide specific dates for all conferences in the meeting transcript; flyers and RSVP links were promised.