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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN CRCOC 2023/07/05 (2022-2024) Committee on Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight 10th Session Hawai`i County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai`i July 5, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Communications, Reports, and ORDER: Council Oversight was called to order at 1:03 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo,by Mr. Karieali`i-Kleinfelder, Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Chair(via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Vice Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member(via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member(via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 329: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY ANGELA THOMAS, EARLY CHILDHOOD RESOURCE COORDINATOR FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, REGARDING THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS From Council Member Jennifer Kagiwada, dated May 26, 2023. Motion to Close File: Ms. Galimba moved to close file on Comm. 329. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I—KLEINFELDER: Let's go over to Ms. Kagiwada to start us off. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. And I'd like to ask whoever from R&D (Research and Development) wants to come forward to present. I guess that's Ms. Thomas and Director Adams. Thank you both for being here, and being here with your team I see. You've submitted quite a lot of information, which is great. Clerk, I don't know if this is a problem, we actually didn't get the hard copy of the presentation. We got other information; they're looking into it. Do we need to wait for that, or can we proceed? MR. BROWN: I think that would be up to you as a body. If we did get something from them we would make it an official communication. We would number it, go through our normal process, and then we'll distribute it to the Council Members as soon as that is complete. MS. KAGIWADA: Was actually they submitted it in plenty of time, and for some reason it's not in our packets. They submitted three things I believe, and we have two of them. MR. BROWN: Okay, if you want to take a quick moment, I can check on that with staff. And get an eta on when we would get that material. MS. KAGIWADA: Well, my question is do we need to wait? It's on its way, Laura knows. I believe, they're working on it. Is it okay, to proceed? MR. BROWN: As long as you guys feel that it's not going to disrupt the presentation itself, then I don't see any problem with moving forward. MS. KAGIWADA: People okay with that? Okay, great, I don't want to hold them up. I know everybody's busy. So thank you all for being here and for coming today. Yeah,just really interested in the plan for utilizing this federal money for childcare. Super excited that you went after it, you got it. And looking forward to hearing how we're either—hopefully putting it towards either raising quality in some of our childcare programs or expanding access, expanding more slots, whatever we're doing. So I'm excited to hear about it, and take it away. (Note: At this time, Research and Development Director Douglass Adams came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ADAMS: Thank you very much, Council Member Kagiwada. And thanks to the rest of the Council as well, for the opportunity to talk to you about our early learning and childcare proposals and plans moving forward using the American Rescue Plan, State Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. Just for purposes, the two items Page 2 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 that you have are both the full community profile, and I believe the indicator document which is a small document. And the third one is actually going to be the presentation, that is the third document that Angela will talk about. With us of course, we have Angela Thomas who is our Early Learning Resource Coordinator for the County and then we have Chelsea Lafrance who is her assistant. And then we have Doug Imig who is here also as a part of the ECAS, Early Children Action Strategy Network, and the provider of a lot of the data that you will find as a part of the community profile. Appreciate him coming over from Oahu as a matter of fact for this. (Note: At this time, Early Childhood Resource Coordinator Angela Thomas came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. THOMAS: My name is Angela Thomas; I've been in this position since April of last year. Apparently, my job is to figure out how to spend this wonderful ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act)money that we have. To build capacity, increase teacher availability, and help families do better with their young children. So I've prepared a brief PowerPoint since everybody else is introduced already. And I wanted to sort of let you know that I'm breaking it down into three different sections. The first section is a little bit about the community profile which you just received that we created in partnership with ECAS (Early Childhood Action Strategy), which is why Doug Imig is here, to answer any data questions. (Note: At this time, Early Childhood Resource Coordinator Angela Thomas, and Doug Imig from Early Childhood Action Strategy, provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at http://hawaiicounty.granicus.com. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 329.1.) MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Excuse me for a second. On the reading achievement scores, the one on the slide you were just on. Do you see a consistent progression, if you're seeing good reading in elementary, do you see that progress all the way to High School, or does it not necessarily track all the way to through the schools as the kids proceed through school? MR. IMIG: It does track. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It does track? MR. IMIG: Yes. So a child reading at grade level in third and fourth grade, will continue on track. There's a second moment where reading interventions make a tremendous difference, and that's also in middle school. So that's to say that all is not lost, if you haven't hit that bar,but that bar is so critical. Page 3 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. MS. LEE LOY: I'm sorry, I was told to jump in, if we're on the slide. Thanks Angela. I had a question,just kind of reflecting back to the table six regarding population. Children under three, three to four, and five years old. We have some totals right, under three is 7,000, three to four is 4,000, and then five years old 2,000. But then, I'm looking at the total number of child care providers which is 52 across the—you know where I'm going with this Angela. MS. THOMAS: I know, yeah, totally. MS. LEE LOY: So what's that number of how much childcare providers we have to have, to kind of have the right balance between the total number of kids who will be in this childcare position, compared to the numbers that we have? MS. THOMAS: So right now, we're about one of four. So we have one spot for every four children, four to five children. MS. LEE LOY: So based on the total number of childcare providers, do we have enough? MS. THOMAS: No, absolutely not. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, so what's that number? Knowing the total population that we have to serve, what would that number be? MS. THOMAS: Okay, there's another slide coming up, the ready keiki figured out, and we can use that sort of as something to look at anyway. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks, Angela. • (Note: At this time, Early Childhood Resource Coordinator Angela Thomas, and Doug Imig from Early Childhood Action Strategy, provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at http://hawaiicounty.granicus.com. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 329.1.) MS. THOMAS: So that's kind of it for the profile. Does anybody have any specific questions? I'm sure you're going to read it at your leisure, Doug's read it twice already. Anyway, it's a good reference. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Lee Loy, go ahead. Page 4 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I just have one question, and we can take this offline. Love all the data, I was just wondering if you extrapolated out in all of these numbers. How many kids are, and families are serving children with special needs. Because we know the total of level of care that we need,but do we know how many SPED (Special Education) programs and or enhanced childcare that would be needed to serve families with children with special needs. And if you don't have it now, Angela, absolutely looking forward— MS. THOMAS: I think there's some data in the profile, I remember seeing something. MR. IMIG: There maybe, I don't remember. MS. LEE LOY: And we can take it offline. Thank you. (Note: At this time, Early Childhood Resource Coordinator Angela Thomas, and Doug Imig from Early Childhood Action Strategy, provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at http://hawaiicounty.granicus.com. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 329.1.) MS. KAGIWADA: Do you know if they've been getting calls, have they been getting more people? MS. THOMAS: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, great. MS. THOMAS: And we're going to get an update early next week on exactly where they all are, so I could let you know. I appreciate your help. (Note: At this time, Early Childhood Resource Coordinator Angela Thomas, and Doug Imig from Early Childhood Action Strategy, provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at http://hawaiicounty.granicus.com. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 329.1.) ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks. Walking back to your charter school model, where now we would actually create a different local school board under the Charter School umbrella that would then take care of the three-year-olds, right. So they would be separate from the K through 12 campuses, but have a local school board under the Page 5 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 charter school umbrella to take care of our keiki. Are they receiving funding for facilities, because we know Charter Schools don't get money for facility and facility development? MS. THOMAS: I'm thinking the public pathway. The middle one, it says EOEL (Executive Office on Early Learning) public Pre-K and Charter schools. So, I think that's where that facility funding would come from. MS. LEE LOY: So that would be the $200 million or the $200 plus the $50? MS. THOMAS: No, the $50 is only for POD. MS. LEE LOY: Got it. MS. THOMAS:.Two hundred million is for facilities. MS. LEE LOY: So, anyone looking to open up basically childcare for three- year-olds under a charter school model would have access to facility dollars through the public pathway. MS. THOMAS: I think they would have access to renovation dollars, I'm not sure they'd build a brand-new building. I think the Charter School option is for existing schools to become Charter. So they could probably get renovated, but I don't think they would build them a new building. MR. IMIG: Because it's still at the state level. MS. LEE LOY: No, absolutely. You know, if there's ways to influence that decision because I also saw in your reading score, some of our Charter Schools didn't report. And I'm not saying that they couldn't, or they didn't, or maybe it's `Olelo Hawai`i; so their reporting is different, but if we're trying to kind of pull all of this information in a very succinct and synergetic way, right. If charter has access to facility dollars, I just see so many of my Charter School friends over here nodding. MS. THOMAS: Charter Schools can apply to become a Charter Preschool if they have a facility to have a preschool in, and then children will be funded. So this is only the first 200 million, this is why it's really important that we fill those EOEL classrooms because the Lieutenant Governor plans to go back for another$200 million. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. MS. THOMAS: So she's just getting started. Page 6 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MS. LEE LOY: Got it. Absolutely, so if this is going to the gap then fine if we spent the $200 million. I know a whole bunch of Charter that would love to spend $200 million, especially for facilities and or renovation of facilities. MS. THOMAS: And that maybe in another group. So existing right now there are 32 Charters across the state, 32 I'm pretty sure. And then this year in August, gosh next month already, they're going to open 11 more. And only one is on this Island, they're adding one more in Waimea. Of the 32 we have 11, right, so now Waimea is going to be 12 of 32. So we got a big chunk in the beginning because we needed it, they knew that. So then the next group, they're going to add 19 more, so in 24 there will be 19 new—they're proposing to renovate, this is not new bills, renovate 19 more classrooms for EOEL. Three are going to be on this Island: Waikoloa, Kahakai, and Ka`u Pahala. So obviously their principals have written in saying we really want this, and we have a space that you can renovate for us. So this is just the beginning though. And then they have a list that goes on of more schools that principals have written in that they're looking for something. And some of these are Charters. MS. LEE LOY: Great I totally want to have a whole other conversation with you guys offline because earlier today when we talked about our Legislative package, we had our Council Member out of Ka`u asking for infrastructure dollars for rural schools. And I almost think that this is a huge opportunity for other dollars aside for space renovation, where we could actually invite more dollars by way of infrastructure to create rural schools. Right in our rural communities. Angela thank you so much, I do. I have one more thing to do,but if we could I'll set up something separately. MS. THOMAS: Yeah, sure. MS. LEE LOY: Great, thanks. I yield. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: .Checking in on Kona. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: I just have a quick question, is there other free preschool programs that are existing? MS. THOMAS: Early Head Start is free if you qualify for it. And then, Head Start. Oh, Kamehameha if you—they have subsidies. MS. GALIMBA: Head Start is that—means tested that program? Okay, thanks. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member, Kagiwada. Page 7 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. I don't want to get too much into the weeds, but because work force is such a huge issue. Just wondering for the Charter schools qualifications for the Pre-K teachers, are they the same as for the public schools? MS. THOMAS: That I don't know. I think if they're going to be licensed by DHS (Department of Human Services) then there are certain qualifications. But those qualifications are different than DOE (Department of Education), DOEL (Department of Early Learning). MS. KAGIWADA: So the charter schools don't necessarily have to reach the same qualifications as the DOL, I mean the DO—? MS. THOMAS: Do the K through 12 have to do that now? MS. KAGIWADA: I don't believe so. MS. THOMAS: Yeah, I don't know. Sony. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. MS. THOMAS: I think if their conversions they did, right, because the teachers were converted from DOE situation. MS. KAGIWADA: And you were saying the DOD sites, non-charter school sites like say Hilo Union, is the Pre-K still considered a charter, or are they part of— MS. THOMAS: Oh, no, they're part of the EOEL. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. MS. THOMAS: The one I asked you to help with. That's been there for Awhile, so they have a DOE teacher who's got qualifications in early childhood ideally, to be the lead teacher in that classroom. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And you say they have a teacher. MS. THOMAS: No, they have two. It's a one to ten racial. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Is that remaining the same for three-year-olds? MS. THOMAS: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. And do you know if they have to be potty-trained. Page 8 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MS. THOMAS: I'm hoping they are, that will be interesting. So the requirements for EOEL it's like four-year-olds who are going to go to kindergarten the next year and they're like low income, or special needs. There're all these priorities, three-year-olds are at the very bottom. So they're only going to be filling rooms with three-year-olds, rather than having empty spaces. MS. KAGIWADA: I see. So it's not necessarily—until the goal is reached, three-year-olds might not be serviced for a while. MS. THOMAS: Correct. MS. KAGIWADA: And that's just something to note if there are 20 children to two teachers and you've got three-year-olds and some of them are not potty- trained, you've got a serious issue with— MS. THOMAS: So the intent in that particular ruling was because some places like Hana where they have a classroom for twenty children and they have ten 4- year-olds, why are they leaving those ten spaces open. So that's where that came from, it is not the intention to do a mix aged classroom Pre-Kindergarten, when you have four-year-olds who need it more than the three-year-olds at that point because they're going into kindergarten the following year. And the three-year- olds can join that classroom the following year. MS. KAGIWADA: Yeah. Like I said, it's more of a staffing issue that I'm concerned about. If you're talking about three-year-olds you've got to hold, you know, it's a whole ball of—So any way it'll be interesting to see. And if we're looking at then potentially private and doing NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accreditation, I don't even know if that's going to fly. MS. THOMAS: Well that's why they were supposed to have been accredited. They had a ruling, they were supposed to be accredited in two years I think, and they moved it back because of COVID, they don't even have enough staff. MS. KAGIWADA: You said 2032. MS. THOMAS: Well, now it's 2032. Yeah,because it was like 25 and there's no way law schools were going to be able to do that. MS. KAGIWADA: Alright, well looking forward to hearing more. Thank you. I yield. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Carry on. Page 9 CRCOC-10 ,July 5,2023 MS. EVANS: Chair, I'm in Kona. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Council Member Evans, go ahead. MS. EVANS: Thank you. Well I want to say hi to Angela Thomas. Good to see you in front of us, yeah, good job, good job. I have just a couple of questions to Doug Adams on this. Doug, Director of Research and Development, regarding the funding for this report that I have a copy of it. I'm actually looking at it, and it's pretty impressive what was put together. My question, is this document a living organic document? Are we going to see this updated like yearly, semi- annually, this is such good information? Yeah, any comment on that? MR. ADAMS: As we move forward, thank you very much for the question Council Member. As we move forward, we will keep the Council updated on where we are. And then as a part of our requirements through the County reporting back to the Federal Government on the use of state and local fiscal recovery funds, we have to provide information on a quarterly basis on where we are with the use of those funds. So that information will be available, as we have to provide it to the Federal Government of course. MS. EVANS: Do we see a sustainability or a sustainable plan in case that funding goes away? Is there any discussion at all about making sure that this office ,this position stays—becomes part of our based budgeting? Where are we at for funding those by the county? MR. ADAMS: Right. So the positions that we have for Chelsea Lafrance and Angela Thomas are funded through 2026. That's what we have through the state and local fiscal recovery funds. As we move forward and as this becomes a real county mission, which of course is not my policy to make, we'll take a look at all the positions, should the positions then be made potentially more permanent. MS. EVANS: Okay. And then my last question is, I was looking at the statistics on families and the number of children that are coming up through early childhood, they're going to end up in our public schools. And this is for Angela actually. Angela is this getting fed to the Department of Education so that we get some more classrooms, you know,like first grade through eighth grade? Because I'm starting to see the demand in certain areas increasing, and it appears the demand in certain areas might be decreasing. So, how do we connect with the Department of Education, so we get the facilities we need. MS. THOMAS: Well, I think the DOE does those predictions on what their populations are like. But yes, in Waimea in particular in your district, their enrollment is going down. And so the question is, where are those families? Well actually, we know, they're moving away. But other communities it's going Page 10 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 up. So I think the DOE and yes, we're certainly helping them monitor that, have some, I forget what they call it, it's some kind of data that they keep on predicting the community. MS. EVANS: So the data that you're collecting isn't getting fed into the DOE. MS. THOMAS: Oh, I think we're getting our data from the DOE, so yeah. The other thing is though, were you asking about the profile on whether the profile will be repeated? The community profile. MS. EVANS: Well, I was just looking at some of your charts and it looked like you were estimating the percentage of families and a certain community having children. And then of course, how many are below the age of five and they're going to feed probably into our schools. And we all know that when you need to build classrooms and build schools, it takes many, many, years to go through the bonding, and the procurement, and the building. And I'm starting to think that some of these cute communities like Waikoloa for example, it looks like it's going to go like—really needs some DOE to start building or thinking about building classrooms. And I think your statistics and what you've done will probably help us convince DOE to move in that direction of getting a new building in Waikoloa. MS. THOMAS: Yeah. So I was influential, and they asked me if Waikoloa could use an EOEL. So even though the principal had asked for one, they wanted to be sure that it wouldn't interfere with community preschools and take children away like it did in Honoka'a, for instance. So yes, we are talking to each other about what's going on with young children, and we also know that they're moving up. But I wanted to assure you that this data was paid for by Early Childhood Actions Strategies Funders Hui. So it was not county funding, and the Funders Hui has committed to do this over and over again so we can have updated information. So, do you want to speak to that? MR. IMIG: Yes, so long as the report proves useful, and I think our group of funders see this as a project that they'd like to continue to support. MS. EVANS: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. I'm sorry if you could speak louder for me. Thank you. MR. IMIG: Of course. I think this is a project that our group would like to continue to support. We are producing this for each county in the state, to make sure that there is comparable information on the well-being of young children ages zero to eight. And to your question about aligning with DOE, we are in regular contact with their Office of Research Evaluation and Assessment: a) to make sure we have the story right,b)because were operating sort of on a no surprises, no embarrassment model to make sure we understand what we're Page 11 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 talking about. And third, very much for the kind of alignment that you suggest, yes. MS. EVANS: Good. It just dawned on me, I was looking at partner list, which is pretty impressive, but I didn't see CTAHR(College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; the ones give kids count. You know, they do a lot of evaluation of our families and conditions of families. Are they involved? What is that institute for— MS. THOMAS: You mean the University. MS. EVANS: Yeah, the University of Hawai`i, the CTAHR has that institute for, was it family? MR. IMIG: If I may, Center on the Family (University of Hawai`i Center on the Family) and HCAN, Hawai`i Children's Action Network are the current grantee on Annie Casey's (Annie E. Casey Foundation)kids count. And yes, they have been very active partners. MS. EVANS: So, the University is an active part of this effort that we're doing? MR. IMIG: So the Center on the Family,particularly Dr. DeBaryshe (Barbara DeBaryshe, PHD) and her colleagues keep Hawai`i kids count. And we work with them closely to make sure that,we are counting the same way, estimating the same way, and working in harness. MS. EVANS: Oh, that's really, really glad to hear because, again, we hate working in silos and having this. If we're going to collect this information, if we're all using it the same exact way, it would help us. Yeah, so that's good news. Thank you, thank you so much for all you do. I yield, Chair. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. MS. THOMAS: Okay, and then the workforce pathway obviously they're going to do more training. I think there's a press release tomorrow, that the Lieutenant Governor and the EOEL are going to be announcing the tuition stipends at the University of Hawai`i system. And you'll hear from me a little bit more about the work we're doing with Chaminade later. But the thing is we can build all the facilities we want, but if we can't put teachers in there to welcome our children, we've wasted our money. So, we have to do everything simultaneously. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Ms. Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Just a quick thing on the workforce. So agree. We have to support the workforce, it's either the state or are we, and I know we're Page 12 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 getting to that soon, doing anything about actually retaining teachers or is all about training dollars? Because that is also like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it, if we can't retain those teachers training them again and again it's just a waste of our money. MS. THOMAS: So it's interesting because that's how I felt about the workforce; that we're not paying enough money to attract anybody to this arena, but Kamehameha Schools gave$1.5 million to Chaminade to pay for tuition for whatever students wanted to sign up. And they were willing to do a cohort of 50; one every year for three years, so 150 students all together. So I was thinking oh my gosh good luck trying to find your 50 students, do you know they have over 500 applications right now that they're sifting through. So people want to be in the field, I totally get it about the wages, which is a legislative issue, I think. They were trying to give payroll subsidies to infant toddler, and it didn't make it quite—it went all the way through conference and then died. But I think that is something that everybody is working on, is that whole wage issue. It's a little beyond my scope because I'm busy trying to fill classrooms and find classrooms, but it is something that is on everybody's radar,believe me. But I was surprised that there were 500 applications for 50 slots, and those 50 slots will be primarily early childhood. So, we're hoping they'll be accepted in September, October. And then those 50 people will know who they are that get the scholarship and it will carry them all the way through five years of school. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, go ahead. (Note: At this time, Early Childhood Resource Coordinator Angela Thomas, and Doug Imig from Early Childhood Action Strategy,provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of the presentation, see the DVD copy of the proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office, or online at http://hawaiicounty.granicus.com. A copy of the presentation is made part of the record, see Comm. 329.1.) ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, any more questions? Reminder for Council, we had a 2:00 (p.m.) committee we are overdue for, so keep it quick and concise. Then we need to hit our next committee to be on time for our 3:00 (p.m.). Going to Council Member Kierkiewicz, and then I'll go to Kona after this. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. Really wonderful presentation. You know, prior to being on the Council I've worked in communication and outreach. And one of my clients was EOEL, and helping Dr. Terry Lock, who is the first director of that organization. And I wish we had this profile. We had to hunt for information to really make the case for why we needed to invest for early Page 13 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 learning. So thank you, Doug and to the Hui, for setting up this baseline information and for the commitment to track this data to see the progress that we are making to support our community, especially our keiki indoor growth and development. Love the additional details for our counties ARPA (The American Rescue Plan Act) funding plan. I'm wondering how quickly this funding is going to be accessible to interested parties within our community that are working in this space? MR. ADAMS: So the initial—that depends on our ability to push out in terms of procurement. And so as we are moving forward with the—were trying to do it as quickly as we can, it's probably going to end up being my answer because we understand the need that some of our providers have, particularly in both the family centers, as well as community-based centers. So to do that we do have to run through the basic of how we going to put this out; is it going to be some type of contract that we run through non-profit or are we going to do it in some other ways. We have some decisions to make in that regard. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director. I got a little bit nervous when you got nervous talking about the facility piece. That's a huge chunk of our ARPA dollars, and I'm a little concerned if winners have already been selected. MS. THOMAS: No. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay because there was mention of negotiations with certain partners. MR. ADAMS: Not the partners, the facilities itself. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: The facilities? MR. ADAMS: Right, not the providers. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So these would be county owned childcare facilities. MR. ADAMS: Not necessarily county owned. There're other ways to have access to the facilities. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. I guess the devil is in the details, and we'll know more when the RFPs are issued. MS. THOMAS: I'm sorry. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: No, no it's fine. You know, I think about all the work that folks like Kim Pierce at Kalamapi`i preschool is doing to try and fill in the gap with childcare. I think about the work that the YWCA is trying to do to expand • Page 14 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 their campus, and there's some of the folks that serves some of the youngest in their community. So I just want to make sure that folks that are actively working in the space have the ability to access these important dollars. MR. ADAMS: Right. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And then as legislative session progresses in these subsequent years, you have a great relationship, Angela, with Lieutenant Governor and so you've got her ear. And where we might need to fill in the gaps, like say, the ARPA money runs out, we need to be able to secure more funding. I'm sure you feel pretty confident in your ability to secure funds to continue these efforts. Okay, yes, she really is. And I just want to thank you for all of your work to support the Puna Community through the-Pahoa Promise Project. I appreciate being invited and in touch with all of those community partners, and look forward to continuing to work with you in that space. Thank you, Chair. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, going to Kona? Back to Hilo, Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Alright, thank you so much for coming in and bringing some of this to us. Looking forward to learning about the facilities piece, but a couple specific questions, the work you did with KKP, I believe that's over in the Kona side, correct? MS. THOMAS: No. Ka`u, Kea`au, Pahoa. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So there was an organization over during your—never mind, that's okay. Capacity grants for centers, is that a possibility? You have capacity grants for family childcare homes, is that correct? Are those capacity grants for centers as well? MS. THOMAS: Basically yeah, well the capacity building is for centers who are trying to expand. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So capacity grants if you're going to increase enrollment or want to take— MS. THOMAS: Those are our priorities, yeah. MS. KAGIWADA: So a childcare center program can apply for that funding. What is the range on the amounts that people can get for that? I'm sorry I can't see that fine print. MS. THOMAS: It's a$2.5 million. Page 15 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, is there a range, a top amount one program can get, or is it— MS. THOMAS: We haven't done that yet. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Is that going to be like a RFP that goes out, and then you take it in all at once or is it as they come, or how will that be? MR. ADAMS: We're going to try and do it in an expeditious manner as we can. And so the decision on whether the RFP is the right way to do that or whether to use professional service contract source, which is a little faster normally. But it would be through a process that would then be available for all to provide. In terms of the amounts, we have not yet identified what the amounts are specifically. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So, I mean I would suggest if you can, talk to some of the providers who may be interested in this and get that range. Because I would hate for a real program, a high-quality program that could expand not to be able to access this because they're not within a certain range, even though they have a proven track record, for instance of providing high-quality childcare. So yeah, I hope that some of that is taken into consideration. MR. ADAMS: Let me just say briefly to that. It's not our intent to cut anybody out. The idea is to try and build the capacity for what we have currently, I mean that was part what the conversation was when EOEL stood up and actually took seats away from an existing quality childcare. We absolutely don't want to do that. The idea is to build everybody. MS. KAGIWADA: Great, terrific. Is there a possibility for stipends for teachers, not for schooling, not for training,but actually to help as retention? MR. ADAMS: Right. So my concern with doing that, so the answer would be I don't think it comes from our funding, right. We see what's happening with the legislature. They have the ability to continue to do that because their funding is coming through general funds. This funding is going to end. We are trying to build an infrastructure here, so the funding that goes to the scholarships builds teachers, right. Then we'll continue on or the facilities—our ability to provide stipends would be limited in time, it wouldn't be something we could continue to do. MS. KAGIWADA: Can you put some time and effort to try and find some form of doing that, even if it's not coming from your funding? Page 16 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MS. THOMAS: Well I'm on every committee that exists in early childhood, and we are working on the wage disparity issue. So that would be a legislative matter, and I'm on it. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, great. And my last question has to do with these facilities and potential employer sponsored care and stuff. You said you're going to build out facilities and look for providers, right, correct? Do you have any parameters around those providers, are they going to be non-profits, are they going to be—is ability to have for profit in there, because I would have some concerns about that potentially? MR. ADAMS: As you just noted,it's not our business necessarily to stop folks that have been able to accomplish to provide the care and the education that we're trying to provide. But we are constrained in terms of the way that we can spend the money, so some of the money may be constrained to non-profits just by the way that we have split the money up. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. So you're seeing it as maybe a provider that already exists on this island expanding or moving to a new space that can provide this care, is that what you kind of have in mind? MR. ADAMS: We're looking at the folks that we have here for sure. MS. THOMAS: I think that would be the easiest. MS. KAGIWADA: Okay. Alright I think those are my main questions. I look forward to, you know, helping in any way I can, as far as pushing things out. Once you have your plan for actually getting this money out the door, please, please,reach out. And I 'm sure that everybody here would like to help make sure that people hear about it and can access it. So, thank you, so much. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Kona one more time? MR. INABA: Sure. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mr. Inaba, go ahead. MR. INABA: Thank you, Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. And thank you for this presentation. Just wondering with this community profile report and the indicator report, which metrics and data are we really trying to target through these next four years, three years? Page 17 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MS. THOMAS: Well frankly, I'm looking at the capacity building. If we have only one space for every four children,that is something that we need to remedy either through the state work or our own work locally. MR. INABA: Okay. And then when we're looking at the ARPA funding plan that's up right now, will you folks be back to share? When will you be back to share more specifics as to the exact number of students? We want to see the enrollment increasing, how many classrooms or facilities we plan to improve. Yeah, so when will you folks be back to share those details? MR. ADAMS: I'm sure we'll come back when you ask us to, but I would say that if you could give us a little bit of time to actually implement some of the things we have here, that would be the best use of your time as well. MR. INABA: I guess, I see how we're planning to break up the dollar amounts. I'm just wondering if we have anything more specific as to plans, because I don't see specific plans right now,just a break of the funds overall by those categories there. MR.ADAMS: Right. So for example, each of things in the community is actually a plan, and then within the facility, which is the big number here, we have some plans that are underway. And so when we are closer to seeing those actually see fruition, then we'll be able to tell you about those specifically. That's just a couple of the examples. When it comes to the Chaminade, that's a work in progress right now, we could show you the milestones that are associated with doing that and the numbers that we anticipate the number of teachers or students that would become teachers as a part of that. So there's more detail that's behind this. But the idea of being able to provide you with some specifics that talk to the impacts of these. If you would give us a little bit of time, we'll be able to come back specifically with that information. MR. INABA: Let me be clear, I guess. You're asking us to give time to provide information once you folks already start doing it, not necessarily the plans that you folks want to do? MR. ADAMS: That's correct. MR. INABA: So do you have plans right now, more specifically to these categories that you would be able to share with us even offline? MR. ADAMS: In some of these cases we do, yes. MR. INABA: And then for these fund grants to existing childcare centers, are we going to be heeding to approve these grants going out via resolution if it's over Page 18 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 $25,000 or whatever it is, that triggers normal grant resos (resolutions) coming before Council? MR. ADAMS: I would imagine if it's over$25k, we will. MR. INABA: Okay. Yeah, I would request then if we have more specific information here because we have 175 pages of documents here and with the indicator report and the community profile really wanting to see how breaking up these funds in this way will target specific indicators to show that we've made the biggest impact that we could possibly have during the time we're spending this money and the years following. So, whatever can be shared offline with u, would be appreciated. And what's realistic for you, Director Adams, to come back just in general to give us an update, is it six months from now? MR. ADAMS: Yeah. That gives us the January time period. I think that's probably a realistic time period, Council Member. MR. INABA: Okay, thank you, so much. And thank you again for this, especially the community profile and the indicator report, helping to give us a baseline of where we are right now. Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Okay, hearing no more discussion. I have a couple of questions. First of all Angela, you're amazing, thank you. MS. THOMAS: Thank you. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What's your background, previous to county or was there a previous to county or are you just magical? MS. THOMAS: Oh yeah, definitely a previous to county. No, I grew up on Oahu, moved here 30 years ago, been in early childhood that long, and more then. I opened Mauna Lani School; I was the founding Director of Mauna Lani School, so I have employer sponsored experience. I've also taught college courses on early childhood. I was an accreditation validator, so I was able to go to schools and approve them for accreditation. I've written grants; I did a 21 St century grant, that's how I met my colleague back there, she worked with me. Yeah,been around for a while. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. She's a keeper? MR. ADAMS: She's way more qualified for her job then mine. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Well done, this is beautiful. Page 19 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MS. THOMAS: Yeah, thank you. I'm really glad that finally came out. Doug and I well, Doug especially, but I helped select the content. And just so you know, Maui and Big Island were being done at the same time and we beat them, just saying. And then Kauai and Oahu are going to be worked on next, and then after that they'll be doing updates regularly for all of us. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: There's some data in here that is very helpful towards what we're talking about today,but there's also some matter there that applies to other things that we have on the board. MS. THOMAS: And the other people this is useful for are the non-profits who are writing grants and they need specific data about their communities or the work that they're doing. So yeah, I think it's going to be helpful for a lot of people. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I agree. MS. THOMAS: So my next briefing is with Big Island Delegation, if they'll have me. MS. KAGIWADA: Is this available online? MS. THOMAS: It will be. It's going to be on the ECAS website and ideally on the county website. MS. KAGIWADA: Can you let us know when that's available? MS. THOMAS: Sure. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I was going to ask if there is a place for people who have more questions and need more information on early childcare providers, where they should go? MS. THOMAS: Yeah, my colleague back there, she's our family contact person. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So they should call the county? They should call 1-800, what is the name or website? MR. ADAMS: It's 808-887-6077. MS. THOMAS: Chelsea LaFrance. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. And then one final question; a statement and a question. You mentioned the shipment area from what I'm gathering. You mentioned Keone Farias, I won't go into anything more than that, sounds like you're in discussion. What I have noticed from my district, Page 20 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 district five, is a lot of families come into Hilo. The major problem, and I went into this when I was working side by side with my wife, is you have a young child you need to get them to school. You can drop them off and get to work, but if you're picking them up in Puna you can't get home in time. And so that really puts a lot of the parents who—Puna being a bedroom community, we come to work in Hilo, we go home to Puna. Thanks to some of the recent traffic alterations it's been kind of problematic, but we need the resources in Hilo. And I don't want to shift anything away from serving Puna, but I know when you're trying to pick up your kids, and get off work, and get home to Puna to pick them up that's a problem. MS. THOMAS: Yeah, it's interesting because the LG(Lieutenant Governor) has come with that as well. So we're trying to look at putting childcare centers where families work, because we're realizing that they can't get home in time. And that's one of the issues with EOEL preschool, because they get out at two in the afternoon just like the DOE, and so parents can't get back to their children, if that's the district that they live in,by 2 o'clock to pick up their four-year-olds. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And most of us work until 5 o'clock. MS. THOMAS: Right, exactly. And the LG knows that from her personal experience as well; being a mother, her child is in school until 7 p.m. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Glad that's recognized. For this district, this side of the island and for a lot of parents when you come into town, watch people coming in the morning, a lot of them go to the school first, and then • go to work. That's your reality. And then they get these kids and go home. And that also leads to some discrepancies between how many kids are in our schools in Mountain View and Puna,because we're moving our kids to Hilo, to do our jobs. MS. THOMAS: One of things we're looking at is the large facility that possibly could be employer sponsored, and that would serve about a hundred children in Hilo. So, we got it, we're working on it. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Very well done, thank you for your time. I appreciate it. MR. ADAMS: Thank you, Council. Just like to once again, thank Doug, for coming over here to support this particular presentation. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Sorry, what is your name again, Doug? Page 21 CRCOC-10 July 5,2023 MR. IMIG: My last name is Imig, spelled IMIG. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Imig, okay, thank you very much for what you do, because you're the bases of this information from what I'm understanding. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Director, thank you very much, appreciate it. Without any further discussion on the table, sorry, I'm thinking about our next committee already. Motion is on the floor to close file on Communication 329, all in favor? Any Opposed? Vote on Comm. 329: The motion to close file on Comm. 329 was carried (Filed) by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 2:31 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Kimball and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder-9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We're adjourned, it is 2:31 (p.m.) Approved: q/k42—, s. R a Vil as, Chair (Date) Communications, Reports, and Council Oversight Committee RV/rk Page 22