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< Back Growing Like a Read Date Submitted: 04/2022 Contact Information: Librarian/Selector Meghan Hollingsworth 405-801-4580 mhollingsworth@pioneerlibrarysystem.org Pioneer Library System, 300 Norman Center Ct. Norman, Oklahoma 73072 Rating Category: Best Practice Focus Area: Child Development Focus Population: Children, Caregivers, Guardians, Parents Goals and Outcomes: The Pioneer Library System’s GLAR project has reached approximately 10,000 families since it began in 2009. Currently, families receive a pre-literacy kit at library story times or when PLS partners with local health departments, WIC programs, and Head Start programs. Materials in the kit are available in English or Spanish, with each kit costing approximately $15. With financial support, the program could be extended even further beyond the walls of the libraries to childcare providers in low-income areas of the PLS three-county service area. There are opportunities to connect with home childcare places and underserved locations. By utilizing the PLS data analysis tools and metrics, PLS could strategically identify at-risk populations such as households below the poverty level and areas with children ages 0-9 years. For example, the Blanchard area has a high number of children ages 0-9 years, meaning there are opportunities for growth and community partnerships in this area for early literacy support. Norman and Shawnee communities have the highest percentage of households below the poverty level and therefore have a high need for early childhood development resources. With additional funding, PLS could also reach out to expecting families in birth classes offered through the health department to inform families about the importance of family engagement in language and literacy development at all stages of a child’s development. Brief Summary: Pioneer Library System, founded in 1958, is a multi-county system in Oklahoma serving Cleveland, Pottawatomie, and McClain counties. The system includes 12 full-service library branches as well as several information stations and community collections throughout surrounding communities. The Pioneer library system has a mobile STEAM education lab called the Maker Mobile that visits communities throughout the PLS service area to provide science, technology, engineering, art, and math programs for all ages. The mission of the library system is to inspire innovation, engagement, and learning in the communities PLS serves. The Pioneer Library System (PLS) has developed the Growing Like a Read (GLAR) project to promote language and literacy development and support caregiver education and engagement. Children and caregivers who participate in PLS story times or attend an event with a community partner may receive a pre-literacy kit which includes: a library bag, a stand-up book with age appropriate songs and rhymes, activity logs to reinforce literacy skills at home and on the go, and a board book for reading together. PLS staff model the six pre-reading skills identified by GLAR in story times and programs and provide tips to incorporate these in daily activities. The six pre-reading skills are letter knowledge, narrative skills, phonological awareness, print awareness, print motivation, and vocabulary. These six skills connect to the American Library Association’s five practices for Every Child Ready to Read: reading, singing, talking, playing, and writing. PLS recognizes the parent or caregiver as a child’s first teacher and seeks to provide tools for continued learning and caregiver engagement. The outcome of providing these resources to families is increased literacy practices in homes and an increased awareness of the impact of early literacy on child development and success in school and beyond. Growing Like a Read | Pioneer Library System Previous Next

< Back Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Program Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating: Best Practice Date Submitted: Spring 2022 Focus Area: Child Development Focus Population: Children, Caregivers, Guardians, Parents Contact Information: Elizabeth Bard, Ph.D. Associate Professor (405) 271-5700 Elzabeth-Bard@ouhsc.edu Oklahoma University Health Science Center (OUHSC) Child Study Center 1100 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73117 Goals and Outcomes: The Child Study Center (CSC) has played a valuable role in supporting the Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ (OKDHS) and Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services’ (OKDMHSAS) statewide efforts for prevention and early intervention of early childhood. The goals of this submission are to support funding to develop and enhance a specialized program for assessment and treatment in early child development to identify early needs. The outcomes include: 1) early identification of children at risk, 2) prevention and intervention for children impacted by adverse childhood events, 3) facilitate family bonding and attachment with direct caregiver involvement that better serves the caregiver and the development of the child, 4) reduce long-term behavioral and emotional risks as children develop into school age years, and 5) increase placement stability. Without funding support, children zero through six will lose access to early intervention services at CSC. This program will support multiple providers who received specialized training in assessment and intervention services for children who are at risk for developing social, emotional, and/or behavioral problems. Services offered have been specifically developed to serve children who have been impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) (i.e., substance abuse in the home, child abuse/neglect, change in placement, parental mental illness, and domestic violence) and their families. Early intervention with evidence-based treatments (EBT’s) is highly regarded as “the Gold Standard” to strengthen the family system and provide actionable skill sets for the caregivers. With early intervention, research shows, children are better equipped to be successful in early childhood settings and their overall development can be enhanced. This program incorporates assessment, intervention options, intensive case management, and specialized supervision of providers. Children impacted by ACE’s are at an increased risk for challenging behavior, difficulty with attachment, and struggle with regulating their emotions. In addition, as children age, there may be negative impacts surrounding academic performance, relationship challenges, and an increased risk for mental health concerns. Therefore, providing infant mental health assessments is crucial to quickly determine a need for early intervention for families impacted by ACE’s. Brief Summary: The Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Program will serve the child welfare population ages zero to age six. The clinic will focus on early identification, prevention and intervention for children and their caregivers (biological and foster) who are involved in child welfare. The Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Program will conduct comprehensive developmental assessments to evaluate cognitive, language, motor, social and emotional, and attachment for children ages zero to six who are involved in child welfare. This is to discern early intervention needs and to identify and implement best practices that support early child development. Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics for Children in Oklahoma | Okahoma Children's Hospital OU Health Previous Next

To increase visual language skills of young deaf children and their families, and establish meaningful relationships between families and Deaf adult role models across the state of Oklahoma. < Back Deaf Mentor Program: Deaf Adult to Family Connection Date Submitted: 04/2022 Contact Information: Director of Family and Early Childhood Services Petra Gatzemeyer 580-622-4900 pgatzemeyer@osd, k12.ok.us Oklahoma School for the Deaf, 1100, E. Oklahoma Ave., Sulphur, Oklahoma 73086 Rating Category: Innovative Idea Focus Area: Child Development Focus Population: Caregivers, Guardians, Parents, Siblings and other family members in the home Goals and Outcomes: To increase visual language skills of young deaf children and their families. Establish meaningful relationships between families and Deaf adult role models across the state of Oklahoma. To increase knowledge on the perspective of a deaf or hard of hearing person. Provide positive role models for deaf children and families. Brief Summary: The positive impact that Deaf adults can have on the lives of deaf children and their family members is incalculable. They have the unique ability to express the child’s needs and desires when no one else seems to understand. Also, as deaf children interact with Deaf adults, they are able to “witness the capabilities of Deaf people from diverse backgrounds succeeding in relationships, education, work, and beyond. This may be even more important for some deaf children than the adult simply being deaf” (Golos D.B., et al. 2018). Family involvement is crucial in early language acquisition. Deaf adults show families appropriate modeling techniques as their deaf child continues to acquire language. As families work with a Deaf adult, they are able to witness that their child has complete language access as they communicate with each other in ASL. The development of spoken language also seems to coincide with ASL as the child signs with the Deaf adult in daily interactions. The more the parents and other family members interact with a Deaf adult, the more the child will learn how to communicate and be able to engage in critical thinking skills which is central to their overall well-being. Hands & Voices (2020). D/HH mentor/guide/role model programs: Guidelines for establishing and maintaining D/HH mentor/guide/role model programs. http://www.handsandvoices.org/fl3/topics/dhhinvolvement/programs.html Golos, D. B., Moses, A. M., Roemen, B. R., & Cregan, G. E. (2018). Cultural and linguistic role models: a survey of early childhood educators of the deaf. Sign Language Studies 19(1), 40-74. doi:10.1353/sls.2018.0025. Hamilton, B., & Clark, M. (2020). The deaf mentor program:benefits to families. Psychology, 11, 713-736. doi:10.4236/psych.2020.115049. Snodden, K., & Underwood, K. (2017). Deaf time in the twenty-first century: Considering rights frameworks and the social relational model of deaf childhood. Disability & Society, 32(9),1400-1415. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1320269 Oklahoma School for the Deaf Previous Next

< Back Cognitive ToyBox, Inc. Date Submitted: Fall 2023 Contact information: Tammy Kwan, tammy@cognitivetoybox.com tammy@cognitivetoybox.com Focus population: Children, Teachers, Administrators, Parents Goals and outcomes: Program was not implemented through the Oklahoma Clearinghouse Brief/executive summary of program: Observation-only assessment can be subjective since the data is coming solely from the teacher's anecdotes based on how they observe the child behaving in the classroom. Cognitive ToyBox reduces the risk of subjectivity and inaccurate assessment by providing opportunities for educators to leverage two different sources (observation and direct/game-based assessment) in order to better understand child development. Cognitive ToyBox provides a unique, research-based approach to child assessment, enabling educators to use a combination of observation and game-based assessments. This combination approach saves teachers time on assessment, while also providing more accurate and actionable data to teachers. Educators may assess children using a sequence of assessments that cover whole child development 1-3 times per year (20 minutes per administration) and data from these timepoints will inform progress monitoring. Alternatively, programs can use the tool formatively, choosing specific game-based or observational objectives for children to complete each to inform instructional planning. With either application, the tool will provide teachers with crucial insights for their instruction, while supporting school and district level instructional support. Previous Next

< Back Play is essential! Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating: Promising Practice Date Submitted: Spring 2022 Focus Area: Child Development Focus Population: Teachers, Owners, Caregivers, Guardians, Administrators, Parents Contact Information: Tracy Hinton Business Consultant (918) 397-3007 thinton@delawarechild.org North Central Resource & Referral P.O. Box 3245 Bartlesville, OK 74006 Goals and Outcomes: We would like caregivers and parents to move towards more play-based care. Our goal is to get parents and caregivers the information about how play supports young children's development. Then follow that up with targeted coaching that supports what they have learned. The outcome we are looking for is to see children in child care programs engaging in at least 75% child-led play during their day. Brief Summary: The intention of this project is to help providers, caregivers, administrators, and parents understand how play in early childhood is imperative to the development of children. Our proposal is to bring in a play expert to present an all day training that educates these parties on how play in early childhood is imperative to the children’s development. This would be done in a fun and interactive way that will showcase how play is the best form of learning. Many adults believe that rote learning (flash cards, memorization, workbooks, etc.) are the only ways that children are taught. However, research has repeatedly shown that play is the best way for children to grow and develop. Play-based learning IS school readiness. Because the research shows that follow-up support helps the information be retained long-term, then the next part of our proposal is to follow up the training with some targeted coaching. This would include allowing early childhood educators to request time with a coach who supports them as they transition to a play-based learning approach. To determine the success of our project, we would conduct pre and post assessments to measure the outcomes of the training and coaching. The length of our proposed project would be one year. Resource & Referral | Ivy Learning Previous Next

The target population will be children in the Early Childhood Center in Woodward Oklahoma who have been identified/referred from a teacher and observed/assessed by the Mental Health Consultant as needing extra help with social emotional skills. < Back Early Childhood Social Emotional Support Coaches Submission Type: Innovative Ideas Final Rating: Innovative Idea Date Submitted: Spring 2023 Focus Area: Social Emotional Well-Being Focus Population: Children, Teachers, Caregivers, Guardians, Administrators, Parents Contact Information: Carol Stocking Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant (580) 808-2010 cstocking@wpyfs.org Western Plains Youth and Family Services 202639 E. Co Rd 42, Woodward, OK 73801 Goals and Outcomes: It is expected that the sustainability of this proposal will be in training early childcare professionals to recognize, regulate, and resource social and emotional disorders. Being able to detect and intervene at an early age is the best defense. It is also expected that by providing SEC services, children will maintain in schools thereby increasing their chance for educational success. Families whether foster, adoptive or biological will build trustworthy and connective relationships. The workforce will be developed by hiring team members that support IECMH and consultive services. The goal of this proposal is to help children maintain in the classroom, empower and support educators, strengthen family involvement, and build connective relationships. It is expected that the quality of the teacher-child relationship will improve, a positive change in caregiver opinion concerning challenging behavior will result as a positive outcome of this proposal. It is also the intent of this proposal to foster and strengthen resiliency within the child by increasing social emotional regulation and decreasing the negative factors that often impair successful outcomes. It is the hopes of Western Plains Youth and Family Services to also bring awareness to the school about social emotional development. We want this to be a standard in any school for children who need extra attention without an IEP or a 504 plan. This plan will decrease a stress on both the school system and the child. Our goal is to hire 3 Social Emotional Coaches who will have training in regulation, development and resources. Statement Of Work: It is the plan and goal of this program to show validity and productivity as well as program enhancement. To do that we plan on using applicable scales, assessments, and data collection tools. Some of the tools that we plan on using include Classroom Strengths, Needs, and Resources, Intervention Plans (that will be reviewed at least monthly or as often as needed), Consultation Stages Checklist, Consultation Evaluation, Consultee Benefits, Goal Attainment Scaling, and a Final Report. Reflective consultation is highly valued in this field; therefore, it will be imperative for the SEC to meet with the Mental Health Consultant every two weeks or more often if needed. Job duties will include: 1. Responsible for creating a pleasant, warm, accepting environment in the delivery of agency services to the public, clients, families, agencies, civic groups and organizations requesting Western Plains Youth and Family Services, Inc. assistance. 2. Identify and support linkages to available community resources and services as needed. 3. Provide day-to-day social emotional support to children with behavior challenges. children include but not limited to being in the classroom with child during educational or elective hours, intervening before/when child is overstimulated or aggressive, helping child regulate emotions through designed interventions by Mental Health Consultant. 4. Work closely with educators in developing relationship based social emotional support plans individualized to meet child’s need and empower the best outcome for school sustainability. At times being asked to help/support educators in implementing social emotional support plans in partnership with Mental Health Consultant. 5. Work closely with School administration, Mental Health Consultant, and other professionals in developing relationship based social emotional support plans. 6. Work closely with families to promote positive communication with the school system and other needed services as well as linking families to supportive services if needed. 7. Be trained in educational paraprofessional, wrap around, aggressive behaviors, and childhood behaviors, Circle of Security, or other relationship-based interventions. 8. Work closely with other supportive services to promote and provide best outcomes. 9. Maintain school behavior assessments and record keeping in a timely manner. 10. Report assessments and records to the program director and Executive Director. 11. Maintain Professional Development training for services. 12. Promote program and program sustainability through advocation and engagement. 13. Completes all documentation in a timely manner. 14. Complete other assignments designated by either program director or Executive Director. Brief Summary: The target population will be children in the Early Childhood Center (Currently 1 Headstart classroom, 8 prekindergarten classrooms, 8 Kindergarten classrooms, 2 special Education classrooms, and 1 early intervention classroom) in Woodward Oklahoma who have been identified/referred from a teacher and observed/assessed by the Mental Health Consultant as needing extra help with social emotional skills. There are 350 students projected for next year in the ECC. Once the child has been identified and assessed, the SEC will begin building a relationship with the child and empowering the child with social emotional skills needed for success. Over the past 2 years, we have observed that children who struggle the most with Social Emotional issues are those who are in DHS custody or those who were socially isolated due to the pandemic. This group of young children cannot be ignored. We have also observed that the children who are in DHS custody and struggle with social emotional issues often have difficulty maintaining in school. We have observed that when the child is asked to leave school, they are often asked to be removed from their foster home. We know this creates another disruption in their life. The SEC will work closely with child, educator, administration, Mental Health Consultant, and foster parents to provide behavioral intervention plans that will reduce if not eliminate school disruptions. The behavioral intervention plan will include assessments and action/safety plans such as the SEC being in the classroom or with the child until the child is emotionally regulated. This plan will also decrease an economic stress on working parents and on the Northwest Oklahoma limited daycare system. When children are asked to leave school due to social emotional dysregulation (which is often the case), the parents often have to leave work and stay at home with their child or find a daycare/person that will take the child so the parent can work. Western Plains Youth & Family Services Previous Next

The goal of this project is to ensure the healthy development and social emotional well-being of young children ages 5 and below throughout Oklahoma through the promotion of the Reach Out and Read (ROR) intervention, designed to foster intentional skill-building in parents, resilience in families, and positive bonding between children and families, integrated into pediatric primary care. < Back Al’s Pals Kids Making Healthy Choices Date Submitted: 09/08/2021 Contact Information: Rachel Myrko Program Manager 405-250-3360 rmyrko@gpccrr.org Great Plains Child Care Resource & Referral 901 South Broadway, Hobart, OK 73651 Rating Category: Promising Research Focus Area: Social Emotional Learning Focus Population: Children, Teachers, Owners, Caregivers, Guardians, Administrators, Parents Goals and Outcomes: Young children need social–emotional learning now more than ever. In addition to common and adverse childhood events that can result in trauma, young children are now also experiencing pandemic related stress. That stress, combined with school and childcare closures, has magnified concerns for children who have experienced trauma, especially our most vulnerable children, and elevated the importance of providing all young children with positive social–emotional skills to prepare for life’s challenges. Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the critical foundation required for all other learning and development to occur and is associated with later academic and social functioning. Preschoolers need SEL curricula that is designed to meet their specific needs. Meta-analysis demonstrated that preschool children benefit from SEL interventions in different contexts, particularly those who were identified as being in need of early intervention. Moreover, best practices for preschool SEL interventions may differ from best practices for K–12 students, given the developmental uniqueness of the preschool years. (Murano, Sawyer & Lipnevich, 2020) Teaching Strategies has been committed to social-emotional learning for our youngest learners for more than 40 years. We now also offer a nationally recognized and evidence-based comprehensive social–emotional learning curriculum and professional development program designed to meet the specific needs of preschool children. Al’s Pals™ Kids Making Healthy Choices promotes protective factors, fosters the personal traits of resiliency, encourages the nurturing environments that children need to overcome difficulties and fully develop their talents and capabilities, and helps lessens the effects of adverse childhood events and trauma. Al’s Pals promotes protective factors that have been shown to lessen the long-term effects of trauma by providing young children with skills to prepare for life’s challenges through interactive lessons, engaging puppets, original music, and impactful teaching approaches. Al's Pals also develops teachers who cultivate deeper relationships with children, creates nurturing classrooms, reinforces core concepts at home with families, and fosters positive peer relationships resulting in a network that works together to build resilient children who have a place in their community and the world. Brief Summary of Target Population and Issues/Challenges: Al’s Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices is a nationally recognized, top-rated, evidence-based and research-informed comprehensive social–emotional learning (SEL) classroom curriculum and professional development program. It promotes resiliency in children ages 3-6 through the development of social–emotional skills, self-control, problem-solving abilities, and healthy decision-making. Al’s Pals promotes protective factors, fosters the personal traits of resiliency, and encourages nurturing environments needed for children to overcome difficulties and fully develop their talents and capabilities. The curriculum helps lessen the effects of adverse childhood events and trauma. The 46 interactive lessons use guided creative play, brainstorming, puppetry, original music, and movement to develop children’s social-emotional competence and life skills. Al’s Pals teaches children how to: Express feelings appropriately; use kind words Care about others Think independently Accept differences; make friends Solve problems peacefully; use self-control Cope Make safe and healthy choices Understand that tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs are not for children Al’s Pals was originally designed for and piloted with preschool children considered to be at risk due to poverty and other factors. The program was initially piloted in Head Start and other community-based child development centers whose populations primarily included Black/African American and White children. Since the initial pilot, the program has been expanded and found to be effective with children of all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds living in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Al’s Pals has been proven to work in preschools, early elementary school grades, after-school programs, and child care centers. Previous Next

< Back Cognitive ToyBox, Inc. Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating: Promising Practice Date Submitted: Fall 2022 Focus Area: Healthy Environments and Relationships Focus Population: Teachers, Parents, Family Child Care Providers Contact Information: Tammy Kwan CEO (646) 820-8635 tammy@cognitivetoybox.com Cognitive ToyBox 150 Court St Floor 2, Brooklyn, New York 11201 Goals and Outcomes: For this submission, we aim to support family child care providers and families with better understanding around school readiness through our game-based assessment platform. Cognitive ToyBox helps school administrators, teachers, child care providers, parents and other family members make sure that every child is ready to start school and succeed in life. We do this by making ongoing assessment easy and actionable for early childhood educators. Well-planned and effective assessments inform teaching and program improvement, contributing to better outcomes for children (Snow & Van Hemel, 2008). Currently, the primary method of obtaining information about student progress in early childhood education programs is through teacher-conducted observation-based assessment and evaluation against developmental guides. However, an observation-only assessment approach poses limitations in reliability, validity, and usability. Cognitive ToyBox provides teachers and child care providers with a hybrid game-based and observation-based assessment system. This approach is designed to support teachers and child care providers in spending less time on assessment, while gathering reliable and valid data on an ongoing basis. Cognitive ToyBox is designed to help programs shift from assessment for compliance to assessment for continuous program improvement. Importantly, Cognitive ToyBox also makes assessment accessible for programs, including family child care providers, that traditionally have not been able to incorporate assessment, given its ease of implementation. The aim of Cognitive ToyBox is to give teachers and child care providers more individualized support for children, enabling them to thrive. One strength of Cognitive ToyBox is our experience working with many different types of early childhood programs, including home-based child care, community-based childcare programs, Early Head Start and Head Start programs, and public PreK, TK, and K programs. With this submission, we aim to support family child care providers in OK who are interested in incorporating assessment into their program, but have traditionally not been able to find the right tool to do so. Moreover, with the assessment tool, we aim to strengthen collaboration between parents and family child care providers in supporting school readiness for each child. Brief Summary: Cognitive ToyBox works with school and center-based early childhood education settings, including Oklahoma City Public Schools, on early childhood assessment. With this submission, we are proposing to expand our work to family child care providers (and the families they support) in Oklahoma. Our tools are currently utilized by family child care providers in Texas and Pennsylvania and research has shown that providers can experience a high degree of success in integrating and using our tool (Kwan, 2021). The providers’ adoption of Cognitive ToyBox in these two states has enabled them to improve their QRIS rating, while at the same time provide more information to parents and caregivers about how to support their children with regards to school readiness. Given the positive experience that Oklahoma City Public Schools administrators, teachers and families have had with the product, we are keen to add Oklahoma as the third state to expand our family child care provider offering. We would be eager to work with Oklahoma’s existing infrastructure around Shared Services and their Childcare Resource and Referral services to ensure a smooth roll-out and implementation to their providers. Citation: Kwan, T. (2021). Supporting family child care providers and networks with Cognitive ToyBox. New York, NY: Author. Cognitive ToyBox Previous Next

< Back Community Garden Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating: Promising Practice Date Submitted: Spring 2025 Focus Area: Healthy Environments and Relationships Focus Population: Children, Teachers, Parents Contact Information: Samantha Stanely Director (405) 542-5437 cometlearningcenter@gmail.com Comet Learning Center 124 Eagle Rd, Hinton, OK 73047 Goals and Outcomes: Goal 1: Improve access to fresh, healthy food for rural residents that d. • Grow a variety of fruits and vegetables to supply at least 30 families with fresh produce during the growing season. • Establish a weekly produce distribution or farm stand accessible to the community. Goal 2: Promote community engagement and collaboration. • Recruit at least 10 families to participate in garden planning, planting, and maintenance. • Host quarterly community events (e.g., planting days, harvest festivals) to build social connections. Goal 3: Provide educational opportunities on gardening, nutrition, and sustainability. • Offer workshops on topics such as composting, seasonal planting, and healthy cooking. Brief Summary: This project aims to promote healthy environments through the development and maintenance of a community garden that serves as a hub for physical activity, access to fresh produce, and environmental education. The primary population targeted includes residents of our rural neighborhood, particularly low-income families, seniors, and youth who may face limited access to nutritious food options. The initiative also encourages participation from families enrolled in our program, community organizations, and volunteers to foster inclusivity and shared responsibility. Child Care Locator - Provider Details - K830053634 Previous Next

< Back Calm, Aware, Present (C.A.P) Train the Trainer Program Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating : Best Practice Focus Area : Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Focus Population : Children, Teachers, Caregivers, Guardians, Administrators, Parents Date Submitted : Fall 2024 Contact Information: Carol LaRue LifeCentrics LLC carol@artofselfhealth.com 913-341-6607 55610 E 315 Rd., Jay, OK 74346 Goals and Outcomes: The over-arching intended outcome of this training is make the C.A.P. Train the Trainer program available throughout Oklahoma. This resource will provide teachers, parents, caregivers, and children with a life- long 'tool box' of practices that can improve personal awareness, self-regulation, relationships, focus, quality of life, vital choices, health, and well-being. A primary goal is to develop and establish a cadre of C.A.P. trainers in several Oklahoma counties- with emphasis on providing training in rural counties with limited resources. This would establish a foundation of trainers and knowledge with the ability to perpetuate continued training through schools, early childhood, and daycare settings. This training will have application for years to come. The developer and selected trainers will provide on-going community support by facilitating monthly 1-hour virtual Zoom meetings to address questions, share answers, and promote collaboration of all individuals trained in the C.A.P. program. The timeline for community support will be determined by the training schedule and needs. The C.A.P. practices taught are 'ageless' and can be applied in most any setting. There is no special equipment required, other than self-awareness and a willingness to apply the techniques taught. Mindfulness practices have long been used and documented to provide mind/body health benefits. Both Trainers and those attending local trainings are encouraged to find and use techniques that best meet their personal and professional preference and situations. A separate C.A.P. Parent and Caregiver Handbook has been written and will be available to Trained Trainers for use in facilitating 1 1/2 hour Parent Training Sessions through PTO's or community organizations. This training is most effective when offered 'in person' due to the 'embodiment' qualities of the practices (learn, practice, see it, feel it). An on-line training course may be an option at some point with some modification to the content. Brief/Executive summary of program: The C.A.P. Train the Trainer Program is designed to train teachers, childcare professionals, foster care professionals, and lead parents in communities throughout Oklahoma, who will then disseminate the training to their peers and those they serve. The training allows for customization of focus and discussion on the stressors that each focus population faces and the impact of their stress responses on the children they are raising and serving. Modifications in the practices of Calm, Aware, and Present are easily modified for teaching children, depending on the age range served. Because young children are keen observers and imitators of the words, behaviors, and actions of their parents, caregivers, and teachers, the practices are easily picked up through exposure to a healthy, and calm environment. The trainings are most effective when introduced in the daycare, head start, pre-K, and kindergarten settings, and to the parents of those children. Specific examples and training in C.A.P. practices can be tailored to all age ranges- birth to early childhood. A detailed 55 page training manual is provided to trained trainers, while an abbreviated training format with a 20 page "Parent and Caregiver Handbook" is provided to parents, caregivers and guardians for easy review and reference. In schools, the training can be formatted to meet Professional Development needs with immediate application of C.A.P. practices for personal stress management, classroom management and effectiveness. The C.A.P. Train the Trainer Program is designed to be delivered in a 1 1/2-day training session regionally throughout Oklahoma, with participant's demonstration of effective teaching and training of C.A.P. practices and successful completion of a Trainer Competency Assessment. The separate C.A.P. Parent and Caregiver Handbook has been written and can be licensed and available to Trained Trainers and/or their affiliated organizations for use in facilitating the 1 1/2 hour Parent Training Sessions through school PTO's or community organizations. Mindfulness | Life Centrics The Art Of Self-health | Grove Previous Next

< Back Autism Foundation of Oklahoma – Training Oklahoma Childcare Providers to Support Children with Autism (TOCA) Date Submitted: Summer 2023 Contact information: Emily Scott, info@autismfoundationok.org Focus population: Children, teachers, owners, caregivers, guardians, parents Goals and outcomes: The TOCA initiative aims to achieve three primary objectives. Firstly, it seeks to enhance knowledge and awareness of autism among childcare providers. Secondly, it aims to establish a comprehensive training program for childcare coaches in Oklahoma, specializing in supporting providers caring for children with autism. Lastly, TOCA aims to provide personalized coaching to childcare providers, catering to the unique needs of each child or classroom, to enhance the availability and quality of childcare services statewide, fostering inclusivity for children with autism. Providing comprehensive training to consultants and childcare providers improves the quality of care for children with autism, offering tailored support to address their unique needs. This project fosters an environment where all children feel accepted and valued, thus promoting inclusivity. The training enhances the professional development of consultants and childcare providers, leading to a more competent and confident workforce. Moreover, it strengthens the support system for children with autism and their families through collaborative networks and family empowerment. Promoting cultural sensitivity and awareness creates a more inclusive and compassionate childcare community. Overall, this project leaves a lasting legacy of inclusivity and support, benefiting children with autism and their families for years to come. Previous Next

LENA has conducted research showing significant variability in how much adults talk with children and that those who talk the least tend to overestimate how much they talk the most. < Back LENA – Building Brains Through Early Talk Submission Type: Research-Based Final Rating: Well-Supported by Research Date Submitted: Fall 2023 Focus Area: Child Development Focus Population: Children, Teachers, Owners, Caregivers, Guardians, Administrators, Parents Contact Information: Dr. Steve Hannon President and CEO (303) 441-9085 info@lena.org LENA 361 Centennial Parkway Suite 100, Louisville, CO 80027 Goals and Outcomes: LENA has conducted research showing significant variability in how much adults talk with children and that those who talk the least tend to overestimate how much they talk the most. LENA technology provides actionable data through clear reporting, indicating how much talk is happening. LENA Grow then delivers a single, straightforward, proven solution to boosting language development, supporting social-emotional development, increasing teacher satisfaction, and focusing on family engagement. It provides early childhood educators the tools to improve language environments equitably and connect with every child in their care. In just five weeks of LENA Grow curriculum and coaching, educators renew the energy, dedication, and pride with which they approach the profession, appreciating more than ever just how critical a role they play in children’s lives. The coaching and feedback loop increases interaction and a heightened sense of connectedness with the children. The children gain all the short- and long-term benefits of increased conversational turns. That’s according to a rapidly growing body of peer-reviewed research and independent evaluations. The main goal or proxy for measuring programmatic success is increased conversational turns measured by the LENA device. Educators participating in LENA Grow measurably increase conversational turns with the children in their care. On average, children who started out experiencing less talk than their peers in their classroom had an average increase of 40%. Children who started out experiencing less talk than the national median of 15 turns per hour had an average increase of 56%. LENA has worked to maintain these outcomes across all programs and partners since the program’s inception in 2018. Conversational turns are also a direct proxy for measuring the quality of an early childhood classroom environment. LENA has been shown to help teachers increase interaction, individualize their communication with each child, and build responsive caregiving skills, leading to improved teaching practice and measurable increases in scores on independent classroom- and child-level assessments. All these outcomes can ‘crosswalk’ with quality measurements of various quality rating and improvement tools used by early childhood systems across the country. LENA continues to see alignment with quality in the early childhood ecosystem as a primary goal or strategy for increasing LENA Grows impact and scale. We expect the following direct outcomes, measured by LENA: 1. At least a 40 percentile gain in conversational turns for children in the bottom third of the room. 2. At least a 56 percentile gain in conversational turns for children experiencing low talk. A 10-year study by LENA researchers confirms that the amount of talk with adults that children experience in the first three years of life is related to their verbal abilities and IQ in adolescence. The adult words and especially the conversations the children experienced between 18 and 24 months correlated 10 years later with their IQ, verbal comprehension, vocabulary, and other language skills. While we do not expect to measure the cohort participating in this grant 10 years later, we think it is worth noting the evidence-based outcomes that can arise from LENA intervention. Brief Summary: LENA is a national nonprofit on a mission to transform children's futures through early talk technology and data-driven programs. To do this, we care deeply about conversational turns. The more conversational turns, or early talk, a child has, the better their outcomes will be. LENA technology, the only validated measure of conversational turns globally, powers the research discoveries proving conversational turns' importance. Increases in conversational turns in the first years of a child's life are directly linked to brain growth and function, reading skills, IQ scores, social emotional development, language and reasoning, and vocabulary skills. LENA’s programs help caregivers across the globe tap into this power of conversational turns. LENA pairs our industry-leading ‘talk pedometer’, which measures a child’s language environment and generates easy-toready data reports, with personalized, actionable feedback crafted through research-based strategies, with the ultimate outcome being increasing the quantity of early talk in both home and classroom settings. To accelerate the increase of conversational turns, we work in partnership with trusted community organizations and support replicating the conditions we know are best for children’s engagement with adults. Over the last 8 years of program implementation, we have worked with over 400 partners to serve over 35,000 children in classrooms and over 20,000 families through home settings. Our vision is a world where every child benefits from positive relationships and responsive interactions through increased early talk, and we hope to bring LENA to more children aged 0 -5 and their providers across the State of Oklahoma. More specifically, we hope to expand the impact of LENA Grow, our childcare job-embedded professional development program for early childhood teachers that aims to increase this early talk in the classroom. Early childhood educators play a vital role in children’s development, yet often lack training to interact and engage with infants and toddlers to stimulate their language development and brain growth. LENA Grow is a research and evidence-based solution that empowers these providers to talk more through data, support, and coaching. LENA: Building Brains Through Early Talk Previous Next

< Back Providing Hope and Opportunity in Outdoor Learning Environments at Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating: Promising Practice Date Submitted: Spring 2022 Focus Area: Child Development Focus Population: Children, Teachers, Owners, Caregivers, Guardians, Administrators Contact Information: Mary Tepera-Jones Architect (918) 832-5544 mary@goodfieldwork.com Good Fieldwork 124 N. Peoria, Tulsa, OK 74120 Goals and Outcomes: This submission is ideal for child care providers who understand that natural, outdoor learning classrooms help children develop a sense of wonder, foster creativity, imagination, and discovery for optimal brain development and child outcomes. It will also help those providers that need to enhance their outside space to improve quality and increase their capacity and rating on the state’s quality rating system. The majority of the work is the design and construction. This is a detailed process that requires surveys, certifications, planning meetings and multiple trips to and from the child care location. To begin the process, the architect from GOOD FIELDWORK, consultant from EARLY EXPERTISE, and the construction manager from JONESPLAN meet with the individual providers’ to understand their needs and desires for their outdoor learning environment. At a minimum, the GOOD FIELDWORK team plans to meet with: Leadership of the program. A larger group to discuss cultural implications, ideas and receive input on draft design. This group will be determined by the program, but may include teachers, parents, neighbors, community leaders, etc. Once the playground is surveyed and the programmatic goals have been finalized, the outdoor classroom is designed. A construction team then works with the program to schedule commencement of construction. Construction time will vary, but is estimated at approximately 10 days/nights for completion of a family child care home outdoor learning environment and 13 days/nights for completion of a child care center outdoor learning environment. The budget includes their travel expenses, such as mileage, hotel and meals. The budget includes all required equipment, construction materials, installation, clean-up and a final walkthrough. This is a long, but enjoyable process for the designer, consultant and construction team. The children love to safely watch the “workers” from afar, as they remove old equipment (if needed) and build and install new pieces. Many teachers have followed the lead of the children and adapted their lesson plans to “construct and create” or “building structures”. Each Outdoor Learning Design will include the following nine elements: 1. Mud Kitchen: To include kitchen furniture. Area will inspire children to develop a sense of self, learn decision making and problem-solving skills, empathy towards others, self-discipline, and initiative as they play and role model with their peers. (for simplicity of this proposal, mud kitchen excludes plumbing work.) 2. Nature Art: To include fixed art equipment, such as easels or chalking areas. Area will inspire children to indicate their needs and wants, demonstrate fine-motor strength and coordination, and express themselves through their creative mind. 3. Gardening: To include raised gardening opportunities. Area will allow children to experience, try things out, think on their own, and form opinions based on their observations. 4. Climb/Balance: To include fixed climbing equipment made from natural materials. Area will help children develop physical skill performance with balance and coordination. They will discover concentration, body awareness, and hand/eye coordination. 5. Sensory Path: To include a natural pathway. Area will inspire children to explore the five sensessee, hear, touch, taste and smell. 6. Performance & Shaded Flex Space: To include raised stage & shade structure (as needed). Area will facilitate group time and performances and can be set up as a learning center for literacy, science, math, manipulatives, or gross motor that aligns with the curriculum, standards and goals of the program. This also helps children enhance their motor skills, including coordination, balance and agility as the younger children climb on and off the stage. 7. Music & Movement: To include fixed music instrumentation. Area will help children develop skills such as cognitive growth, problem-solving, self-expression, and social development. 8. Reading: To include comfortable seating. Area will allow children to focus on literacy and language which is essential to developing a strong sense of well-being and a healthier sense of self-image. It helps children develop the skills to communicate and to develop a love for lifelong reading. 9. Safe Space: To include a fixed hiding space made from natural materials (i.e. playhouse or similar). Area will enable a child to hide or have alone time for reflection with nature or to self-regulate. During the construction of this project, providers and children will be encouraged to be involved. Because children love to watch things being constructed, the proposal includes a book for the children to look at that will show them the playground map and what the project will look like upon completion Brief Summary: This submission is an innovative idea to design new and/or renovate existing playgrounds at eight diverse early education programs across the State of Oklahoma into natural outdoor learning classrooms which will help promote the health and well-being of Oklahoma children and early childhood staff. Outdoor learning environments are important spaces for all children, and in the days of a global pandemic and endless connection to digital devices and the indoors, they become even more critical. This submission focuses on the developmental needs of children ages birth through twelve and the creation of age-appropriate natural outdoor classrooms to help meet those needs. GOOD FIELDWORK has designed four outdoor learning classrooms at Tulsa Educare 4-Celia Clinton from the ground up and renovated the outdoor learning environments at the other Tulsa Educare schools. Tulsa Educare focuses on the most vulnerable children and has data that shows the improvements that the children have made in the program. The data is not specifically focused on outdoor learning environments but is focused on learning environments, teacher interactions and intentional teaching practices. These outdoor learning environments, along with training and technical assistance can bring stronger child outcomes to the most "at risk" children. The challenges that we anticipate exist but are solvable. The first is selecting the eight providers that would receive this outdoor learning classroom because the ultimate goal is to provide the greatest benefit to the children they serve. The solution to this would be to develop a rubric that is measurable and those that are interested in applying would need to meet the highest criteria level. The best plan would be to ensure that these providers are spread out over the state, serve the neediest children and in child care desert areas or areas with a very few high quality providers. The second is adapting the overall programmatic goals to each of the eight providers' unique physical sites. While it is true that each site will vary, and each provider's needs will be different, every effort will be made to maintain the overall budget and programmatic goals of creating an outdoor learning environment that is appropriate for each provider's space. Outdoor Classroom Design and Construction Previous Next

Second Step® Early Learning is designed specifically for multiple-age early learning environments with a focus on supporting children from low-income families. < Back Second Step® Early Learning Submission Type: Research-Based Final Rating: Well-Supported by Research Date Submitted: Fall 2022 Focus Area: Healthy Environments and Relationships Focus Population: Children Contact Information: Sherri Widen Research Scientist and Manager (857) 234-1721 swiden@cfchildren.org Committee for Children 2815 2nd Ave, Suite 400, Seatle, Washington 98121 Goals and Outcomes: The goal of this program is to help children in preschool develop the social and emotional skills that support positive social interactions and academic success. Second Step® Early Learning is a universal social-emotional learning program designed for use in preschool programs. Social-emotional skills support children’s positive relationships with adults and peers, executive function skills, early academic skills, and kindergarten readiness. They also reduce problem behaviors and behavioral referrals. Brief Summary: Second Step® Early Learning is designed specifically for multiple-age early learning environments with a focus on supporting children from low-income families. It is a SAFE program: the lessons are Sequenced, learning is Active, Focused on developing children’s social-emotional skills, and provides Explicit instruction in social-emotional skills. The program is taught through five units (listed and described below) across 28 Weekly Themes that include five- to seven-minute activities to be taught throughout the week. Activities, Brain Builder games, and small-group work keep children engaged and help them practice their skills. The Boy and Girl hand puppets encourage participation. The easy-to-use online teaching resources include instructions for teaching and reinforcing the Weekly Theme activities and provide video examples from real classrooms ( https://www.secondstep.org/purchase/product/second-step-early learningclassroom-kit/) Unit 1: Skills for Learning (6 weeks). Learn skills that support academic learning (listening, focusing attention, self-talk) Unit 2: Empathy (6 weeks). Learn to identify emotions in others, identifying accidents, being kind and helpful Unit 3: Emotion Management (5 weeks). Identifying own and others' emotions, sharing emotions with a grown-up, managing frustration, calming down Unit 4: Friendship Skills and Problem Solving. Learn ways to ask to play, invite others to play, identifying a problem, solutioning Unit 5: Transitioning to Kindergarten (3 weeks). Plan to use skills learned in Second Step Early Learning when they are in kindergarten Second Step® K-12 Programs Strengthen Human Skills | Second Step® Previous Next

< Back Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating: Best Practice Date Submitted: Fall 2022 Focus Area: Healthy Environments and Relationships Focus Population: Children, Teachers, Owners, Caregivers, Guardians, Parents Contact Information: Quisha Beardsley Executive Director 405-525-3111 Rainbow Fleet Child Care Resource & Referral 1105 NW 45th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73118 HOME - Rainbow Fleet Child Care Resource and Referral Goals and Outcomes: Rainbow Fleet Family Child Care Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds program intends to improve the quality of life, especially for children receiving childcare subsidies. Through our intention to serve families, our goal is to partner with providers, parents and children to remove barriers so that every child has a greater understanding of nutrition and physical activity. By enhancing access to nutritional foods and comprehensive training we expect obesity and tobacco use rates to decline. We will serve a total of 216 Family Child Care Homes, with a direct impact on approximately 1,712 children, not to mention the residual impact of additional family members. We will collect pre-program data and post-program data from each participating location and have scores to compare for each site. We will also have a selfassessment/evaluation for each program to complete at the end of their participation. This will allow us to measure and track the impact of increased physical activity, nutritious foods, self-regulation and coping, and the number of children attending well child visits with a trusted Pediatrician. We seek to increase the number of tobacco-free childcare homes by providing training and education to providers and parents. This will be accomplished by enhancing the nutrition of the foods served, prepared, and grown at the child-care home. Tobacco-free environments are important to eliminate secondhand smoke, e-cigarette aerosol, and reduce thirdhand smoke for children. Additionally, it reduces tobacco related disease and death and motivates smokers to quit. This has a profound opportunity to reduce tobacco use initiation among youth. In modeling our approach after Tobacco Free Wichita and their success through “Clean Air, Child Care” we intend to partner with the City of Oklahoma City to launch this initiative. Providing opportunities for public recognition of the childcare homes committed to the long-term health of our community will aide in garnering support and participation in the program. Brief Summary: Our target audience is Family Child Care Homes (FCCH) in Oklahoma county, with particular attention to zip code 73111. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Healthy Vital Records from 2013-2015, there’s an 18-year gap in life expectancy across different city zip codes. We strongly believe that by addressing access, training, and services to nutrition and physical activity in childcare homes, we can begin to address the 18-year gap in life expectancy. Rainbow Fleet will recruit 72 FCCH’s to participate in the program annually for a period of three years. With a starting point in zip code area 73111, we will branch out to all surrounding areas in Oklahoma County until we reach a total of 216 Family Child Care Homes at the conclusion of three years. There are currently 301 family childcare homes in Oklahoma County. This 3-year program would impact approximately 1,712 children and 216 providers, not to mention the residual impact of additional family members. Health issues facing the targeted demographics are chronic lower respiratory disease, heart disease, obesity, adverse childhood experiences, increased levels of smoking among high schoolers, lack of physical activity, and an absence of routine checkups with a primary care physician. (Oklahoma State Department of Health, State of the State’s Health Report, 2/26/2019) Through our targeted efforts we will be able to provide resources and intensive training to address increased physical activity, nutritious meals, and attempt to connect them with a local pediatrician for routine well-care visits. Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds: Nutrition Workshops for Teachers | SNAP-Ed Previous Next

The goal of Next Gen Tulsa FCC is to increase access to quality home-based child care for young children in Tulsa. < Back Early Learning Works Date Submitted: 04/2022 Contact Information: Director, Early Learning Works by Tulsa Educare Maria Carlota Palacios, LCSW 918-77906005 Mariap@tulsaeducare.org Tulsa Educare, 3120 E. Seminole Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74110 Rating Category: Innovative Idea Focus Area: Child Development Focus Population: Children, Teachers, Owners, Caregivers, Guardians, Parents Goals and Outcomes: The goal of Next Gen Tulsa FCC is to increase access to quality home-based child care for young children in Tulsa. The population of Tulsa County increased nearly 8% from 2010 to 2021 to 651,552. This growth rate exceeded that of the United States and it was mainly due to growth in the Hispanic community. The Hispanic population is one that characterizes itself for having young families with very young children. According to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, there is only one ONE-Star licensed Hispanic (or Spanish speaking) child care home in Tulsa County. Child care plays a vital role in ensuring that parents/caretakers can work, children can learn and the economy can thrive. There are national trends well reflected in the state and local numbers in Oklahoma and Tulsa County. With fewer child care facilities available, it is harder for families to find and afford child care. According to the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance, more than 97,000 child care homes closed in the United States from 2005 to 2017 (Information from an unpublished analysis by the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance of data collected from the 2005 and 2017 National Association for Regulatory Administration Child Care Licensing Programs and Policies Surveys conducted in October 2019). That is a 48% decline only on family child care facilities. This trend continues nationally, and made worse since the global COVID pandemic that started in 2020. And in Tulsa County, in the midst of population growth, there has been a decrease in child care capacity of more than 2,500 seats between 2015 and 2020. Brief Summary: Building the Next Generation of Tulsa’s Quality Family Child Care (Next Gen) is an innovative program designed to increase the number of family child care programs in Tulsa. Providing comprehensive, intensive, and ongoing supports to participants, Next Gen will ensure both pedagogical quality and business sustainability. Early Learning Works (ELW) will identify caregivers, guardians and parents or other members of the community interested in pursuing FCC licensure. ELW will determine applicant eligibility for licensure; provide intensive cohort-based training; visit participant homes to support compliance with physical facilities requirements; provide individualized coaching to ensure progress in meeting licensing milestones; offer grants to support minor renovations needed to meet licensing requirements and to purchase play materials, furnishings and other supplies needed to open a new program; and, provide ongoing individualized coaching to ensure participant progress in enrolling children, meeting quality and accreditation standards, completing credentialing and educational degree attainment goals, and tracking and reporting financial information. Cohort-based training will be provided in English and Spanish in two separate trainings, and include child development, culturally appropriate practices, child assessment, and other aspects of pedagogy; parent engagement and communication, resource and referral to health and social services, and other aspects of family partnership; mandated reporter training, nutrition, and other aspects of health and safety; automation, marketing, invoicing and fee collection, budgeting, tax preparation and fiscal reporting, and other aspects of effective business practices; licensing regulation, quality and accreditation standards, pathways to credentials and education degrees, and other aspects of quality programming. Ongoing coaching and training will be provided using evidence-based programs that are available in both Spanish and English: LENA Grow for Family Child Care and ParentChild+ Home-Based Child Care Model (possible resources to access). LENA Grow offers in person or virtual coaching focused on boosting positive interactions within existing daily care routines. ParentChild+ is a 24-week program in which FCC providers receive 48 home visits and acquire a library of 12 high quality books and educational materials. ELW will provide age-appropriate educational materials. Previous Next

< Back TBRI and Trauma Informed Classrooms Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating: Promising Practice Date Submitted: Spring 2023 Focus Area: Social Emotional Well-Being Focus Population: Children, Teachers, Owners, Caregivers, Guardians, Administrators, Parents Contact Information: Holly Towers Executive Director (405) 216-5240 htowers@lilyfield.org Lilyfield 501 E 15th Street Ste 400A, Edmond, OK 73013 Goals and Outcomes: Lilyfield’s goals and outcomes for this project are to increase knowledge and skills within the early childcare setting for providing trauma-informed care to support social emotional wellbeing for children who are involved or at risk of involvement with the child welfare system. The long term intended outcome is to stabilize and improve the childcare experience for foster children and their foster parents and improve social emotional wellbeing for children who are enrolled in licensed childcare centers or home daycares. Childcare staff can self-refer to Lilyfield’s program through an online process. Once a referral is received, Lilyfield’s Director of Child Care Programs will confirm eligibility based on child qualifications (must have a qualified child in the referred classroom) and then set a site visit based on availability, with the goal of conducting a site visit within one month. Because this is operating as a pilot program, we recognize that the need may outpace our capacity with the current funding. Our team will develop a rating matrix for use if applications outpace capacity and prioritize classrooms who are identified as having the most critical need while putting others on the waiting list. Lilyfield consultants will provide provisional feedback at the time of the site visit and assist the childcare staff in implementing some recommendations immediately. Also, at the completion of the site visit, the center will receive their first incentive resource bag which will provide tangible resources to support implementation of TBRI in the classroom. Following the site visit, the consultant will provide a more formal set of recommendations which are tailored to the needs of the specific classroom, appropriate for the needs of the qualified child, and reasonable for the center to implement. The consultant and childcare center will develop a plan for ongoing consultation support with a goal to serve centers with at least 5 follow up consultation visits, either virtual or in person. The plan will include more structured training on implementing TBRI in the classroom. While the program includes as much in person contact as possible, Lilyfield has built in the capacity to provide the majority of consultation and training virtually for centers located in rural areas that may present a challenge for our staff to visit regularly. Centers who participate in the ongoing consultation for at least 5 additional sessions will receive a follow up incentive resource bag with more tangible classroom resources. Brief Summary: Lilyfield proposes to bring the Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Trauma Informed Classrooms to licensed childcare centers that serve foster children ages 0-8 years old throughout the state. The TBRI for classrooms training is designed to equip educators to help children from backgrounds of abuse, neglect, and/or trauma by disarming fear, optimizing learning, and facilitating healing for vulnerable children in the classroom. The project would bring a combination of training, consultation, and implementation support to any licensed center or home day care that provides care to children who are currently in state custody, are in a safety plan through Family Centered Services, or have been reunified with a biological parent within the past 12 months and are currently experiencing behavioral difficulty in the center. Lilyfield has many years of experience working with foster parents and children, and we know the challenges that children in the child welfare system can face in the childcare setting. Lilyfield also operates a licensed childcare center in South Oklahoma City, and we have firsthand experience with creating environments where children with complex developmental trauma can thrive. Providing adequate resources and support is vital to ensuring that foster parents can access reliable childcare, and for ensuring that children get the unique support they need in the childcare setting. Lilyfield has 8 TBRI Practitioners on staff who can support the project. Lilyfield proposes to provide virtual or on-site assessment, consultation, training, and implementation support for childcare centers or home day cares that have a qualified child enrolled who is struggling to be maintained. Following receipt of a request for support, Lilyfield staff will determine eligibility and provide a classroom assessment designed to provide recommendations to teachers and providers on ways to implement the TBRI for classrooms program to support the success of the qualified child. Centers can request ongoing consultation, but Lilyfield will recommend participation in at least 5 consultations following the assessment. Childcare staff can also participate in a more structured training program, receiving the entire TBRI and Trauma Informed Classrooms training through this project. Lilyfield Previous Next

This project will involve two groups: Teachers and the children enrolled in their ECE classrooms. Although child outcomes are ultimately our interest, the successful use of air filters to improve ECE classroom air quality is dependent on the teachers who run those classrooms. < Back Air Quality and Filtration in Early Childhood Settings Submission Type: Innovative Ideas Final Rating: Innovative Idea Date Submitted: Fall 2022 Focus Area: Healthy Environments and Relationships Focus Population: Children, Teachers Contact Information: Early Childhood Education Institute (ECEI) at OU-Tulsa Barbara Fuhrman is a Ph.D. Epidemiologist Changjie Cai is Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health ecei@ou.edu (918) 660-3907 4502 E 41st St. , Tulsa, OK 74135 Goals and Outcomes: The overall goals of this project are to investigate the feasibility of using inexpensive air filters in ECE classrooms and if the reliable use of air filters improves the classroom air quality and results in positive impacts on children’s health and behavior. We view this as a test of the potential for a low-cost and lowburden intervention (air filters) to have a significant impact on children’s health which provides the foundation for children to engage and benefit from all the ECE classroom has to offer in supporting their growth, development, and learning. The goals of this pilot project are to answer these questions: • Can affordable air filters be reliably and accurately used in ECE settings serving children birth through age 4? • With proper use, can affordable air filters make a measurable and meaningful difference in the indoor air quality in ECE classrooms? • What are teachers’ experiences and perceptions of their use and value of air filters in ECE classrooms? • Is an improvement in indoor air quality of ECE classrooms associated with relevant health and developmental child outcomes including absenteeism, frequency of respiratory illnesses, and behavior? Pilot Study Design: The following design will be used to answer these questions-- This pilot study will be a 12-month project so that air quality can be assessed during all seasons because past research has documented seasonal variations. The study design will be a cross-over study – this means that all involved classrooms will use the air filters at some time during the study. This ensures any potential benefits will be experienced by all classrooms. To reduce the costs of the most expensive equipment (the air quality measurement devices), OU research staff will move the equipment as needed to follow the study design (shown in the appendix). ECEI staff will collect teacher and child data monthly. We will purchase 24 air filters and 12 instruments for measurement of air quality. Air filters will be used in 24 classrooms at 6 schools. Filters will be run for a total of 6 weeks in each classroom and season. Timing of filter use will be assigned by classroom, to schedule A or B, and timing of measurements will be assigned by school, to schedule 1 or 2. We will also purchase spirometers for testing lung capacity of the oldest children in this sample—this is to see if the children can do this test (will be described as blowing up a balloon). This design will require moving measurement devices between schools on an approximately monthly basis. Because we anticipate there may be higher electricity costs due to the use of the filters, we plan to award each program welcoming this project into their classrooms a $50 stipend per participating classroom. We will compare energy costs during the study period to costs during the previous year, in order to estimate the costs in terms of energy used, and billed amounts. We will try to measure lung capacity on some 4-year-olds with their parents’ consent. This is to test is children this young can complete the test—which involves exhaling until all air is pushed out of the lungs. We want to do this to inform future study design. We plan to use the results of this pilot to inform future grant applications submitted to federal funders to do more extensive studies. In essence, this project will be a proof of concept project. At the end of this pilot, we would disseminate the resulting preliminary results to various audiences in Oklahoma, including first sharing with the participating ECE programs. We also plan to use the findings and our “lessons learned” to propose a larger study to generate more robust results. At that point, we would disseminate the results more widely with the rationale for using air filters and recommendations about improving air quality in ECE settings. The results of our work would provide information about what is necessary for teachers and ECE centers to use the air filters successfully, the anticipated impact in terms of measured air quality, and associated child outcomes in a number of developmental areas including health outcomes. Brief Summary: This project will involve two groups: Teachers and the children enrolled in their ECE classrooms. Although child outcomes are ultimately our interest, the successful use of air filters to improve ECE classroom air quality is dependent on the teachers who run those classrooms. Thus, an important first step is to study the teachers’ implementation of air filters in real ECE classrooms. As a pilot, our focus will be on a few, key child outcomes related to absenteeism, reports of respiratory illnesses and behavior, and a measure of lung capacity (only for 4-year-olds). For children to profit from the promise of ECE classrooms, they need to be present and healthy to engage in the planned curriculum. We propose to conduct a mixed-methods (using both qualitative and quantitative approaches) quasiexperimental (using naturally-occurring groupings meaning classrooms in ECE settings) pilot study. We summarize the main components of our proposed study below. A more detailed descriptions of our methods (including study design and analyses) is in the appendix. Teacher Data: • Quantitative data will be collected via a teacher survey to get information about teachers’ experiences introducing and using air filters in their ECE classrooms. • Qualitative focus groups will be conducted with all teachers to gather additional information not easily captured in a survey. For example, their perceptions and beliefs about the efficacy of air filters. We will also ask about their feedback for project improvement and use in future studies. Child Data: The main purpose of this pilot project is to test IF air filters can be successfully introduced and used in ECE classrooms, and IF measurable and meaningful differences in air quality can be achieved. Thus, we will focus on only a few key child outcomes in this initial study. Child measures, collected via teacher surveys, will include child absences, reported respiratory illnesses, and behavior. The measurement of child lung capacity will tried with 4 -ear-olds whose parents consent given this technology has not been used with children this young. Classroom Data: Numerous indoor air pollutants have been recognized and we will measure several, including nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM), and microorganisms. Two common microorganism samples will be collected periodically, mold and endotoxin. Early Childhood Education Institute Previous Next

A New Model of Care: Little Otter has developed a platform and clinical model to provide virtual whole-family mental health care. < Back Little Otter Health Submission Type: Research-Based Final Rating : Promising Research Focus Area : Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Focus Population : Children, Caregivers, Guardians, Medical Providers, Parents, and Other Date Submitted : Fall 2024 Contact Information: Rebecca Egger hello@littleotterhealth.com 415-449-2813 333 SE 2nd Ave Ste 2000, Miami, Florida 33131 Goals and Outcomes : Goal 1: To give the young children and families of Oklahoma access to Little Otter’s whole-family measurement-based and evidence-based model of telehealth care. By being able to provide comprehensive services to young children and their families in Oklahoma, our goals would be to • Increase access to evidence-based, developmentally-sensitive, high-quality mental health services to the children and families of Oklahoma. • Improve mental health outcomes for the children, parents, and families of Oklahoma through the implementation of Little Otter’s evidence-based, virtual whole-family mental health care. Since we collect data at every stage of our care journey, we are accountable not only for access to care but also for clinical quality as measured by clinical outcomes. Goal 1 Outcomes: Access and Utilization Metrics • Time from referral to speaking with a licensed mental health provider, time to a fulldiagnostic assessment, and rates of ongoing engagement. Current Metrics: At Little Otter, our families are connected with a licensed mental health provider in less than 24 hours. On average, less than 7 days pass from referral to a full diagnostic assessment. 95% of our families continue after the first session. Our average number of sessions is 12-18. Goal 1 Outcomes: Developmentally-Sensitive Clinical Quality Metrics • Session level measures Symptom Severity and Improvement of Child: Severity of illness at baseline and at the session level (CGI-S), Clinical Improvement (CGI-I), and session-level domain-specific measures specific to the patient’s presentation. Measures are chosen based on the patient’s age and developmental stage. Symptom Severity and Improvement of Parent: When providing direct mental health care to parents, we use the outcome measure listed above. Brief/Executive summary of program : A New Model of Care: Little Otter has developed a platform and clinical model to provide virtual whole-family mental health care. This new model is grounded in science, best clinical practices, and the philosophy that mental health care should address the family ecosystem, not just individual family members. This approach is designed to meet the comprehensive needs of children, parents, and families, aiming to change lives through improved mental health care and strengthened family relationships. • Measurement at every stage of the journey: Our care starts with the Little Otter Child & Family Mental Health Check-up, our proprietary developmentally-sensitive screening tool developed from reliable and valid measures that ensures that we understand the unique needs and strengths of both the individual family members and the entire family system. Based on the results of the Check-up, we administer developmentally-appropriate subspecialty measures to support diagnostic and clinical decision-making and conduct a structured diagnostic assessment to link the family with the appropriate evidence-based clinical care pathways. We then craft measurable treatment goals for care, which include at least one family-focused goal, and collect data at every session to track progress and clinical outcomes. Results guide data-driven decision-making and are shared with parents as collaborators. Our approach to measurement-based care allows us to provide populationlevel data to our partners as well, giving them a better sense of the needs of their population. • Comprehensive, evidence-based care pathways: We provide developmentally-sensitive, evidencebased therapy and psychiatric care for the full range of mental health disorders facing children birth to 18, including dyadic, parent-child interventions for infants and young children. Additionally, we provide evidence-based individual therapy and psychiatric care for parents facing anxiety, depression, ADHD, and traumatic stress, as well as parent coaching to support caregivers in responding to the mental health needs of their children and to support co-parenting and parental alignment. We have a specialized, research-backed perinatal mental health program for birthing and non-birthing parents that focuses on the mental health needs of the parent, infant, and emerging parent-child relationship. Finally, we also offer couples counseling and family therapy services. Little Otter | Mental Health Services for the Whole Family Previous Next

< Back Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) Course Submission Type: Practice-Based Final Rating: Promising Practice Date Submitted: Fall 2021 Focus Area: Social Emotional Learning Focus Population: Children, Caregivers, Parents, Guardians Contact Information: La’Chanda K. Stephens-Totimeh Community Manager 405-317-4021 Lachanda-totimeh@ouhsc.edu OUHSC Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics; Center on Child Abuse & Neglect 1000 NE 13th St. 4th FL Nicholson Twr 4200, Oklahoma City, OK 13104 Goals and Outcomes: The primary goals of this submission are to (1) promote a state-wide training program in developing and maintaining effective Parent Advisory Committees and (2) to secure funding to support this training program. The intended outcomes are to launch Parent Advisory Committees (PACs) for child and family serving organizations and programs across the state of Oklahoma and provide continued training and support for these PACs to ensure their effectiveness and sustainable implementation over time. More specifically, building off our established history of successfully developing and maintaining an effective Parent Advisory Committee, the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center’s SafeCare© Parent Partnership Advisory Committee (SC PPAC) plans to facilitate a training for outside agencies to develop and maintain their Parent Advisory Committees (PACs). We plan to offer several options for this training including a comprehensive course on the development of PACs, which is designed for professionals without experience designing or maintaining a PAC or parenting board. This course consists of 2 all-day trainings (8 hours each) and 10 monthly 1.5-hour calls on select topics (e.g., diversity and inclusion, implementation, progress reports from trainees). Agencies across the state are eligible to participate as trainings will be held virtually. Brief Summary: Research studies, such as the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, support the premise that early adversity impairs children’s development and health. Further, inequities at the individual, family, and systems level must be addressed to truly enhance the well-being of children. Other research has indicated there is a continuum of services, including home-based parenting programs (also called “home-visiting), that positively impact caregivers’ ability to provide nurturing, stable relationships. These services have been found to enhance protective factors, mitigate the impact of early adversity, and potentially prevent the occurrence of ACEs. Importantly, to improve the continuum of services addressing and preventing ACEs, parent outreach is needed to help bolster family protective factors and community voice is needed to inform policy and funding decisions. Community voice is essential for combating inequities through providing more congruent, relevant services. Further, an understanding of the barriers of high-risk families in accessing needed services is needed when making policy and funding decisions. Over the past ten years, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center’s SafeCare© Parent Partnership Advisory Committee has provided parent voice to educate and support legislators and key stakeholders in making policy and funding decisions based on key areas including: a) parenting and support programs to support high-risk families (home-based parenting, community mental health, etc.), b) high quality physical and mental health care and emotion socialization for children and their caregivers, c) affordable and safe housing for high-risk children and families, d) high quality early childhood education programs, e) high-quality, nutritious food, and f) employment and educational opportunities for caregivers. Our proposal is targeted to all family-serving agencies in Oklahoma that wish to start up their own parent partnership advisory committee. We propose to train these agencies on the creation and sustainable implementation of parent partnership advisory committees and will provide year-long technical assistance to all participating agencies. Previous Next