Santa Barbara County Child Care Planning Council
Minutes of October 8, 2014
Buellton Recreation Center, 301 Second Street, Buellton, CA
Attendance
Members Present: Terri Allison, Debi Badger, Lourena Beale, Florene Bednersh, Jennifer Bergquist, Maureen
Brems, Karin Dominguez, Theresa Embry, Dan Fontaine, Flo Furuike, Michelle Graham, Shelley Grand, Becky
Grant, Becky Jenkins, LuAnn Miller, Kim Ornelas, Leslie Voss, Susan Walsh
Alternates Present: Raquel Valdez, Sharol Viker
Members Excused: Trudy Adair-Verbais, Sunny Currey-Nagy, Eileen Monahan, Thesa Roepke
Members Absent: Carola Matera
Guests Present: Maria Fisk, Julianne Zvalo-Martyn
Staff Present: Joyce Stone
I.
Welcome
Chair Jennifer Bergquist called the meeting to order at 9: 04 a.m. Introductions followed.
II.
Approval of Minutes of September 10, 2014
Dan Fontaine moved and Michelle Graham seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the
meeting of September 10, 2014 as presented. MSC with one abstention.
III.
Public Comment Period
There was no public comment at this time.
IV.
Debrief from 2014 Retreat
Members reviewed the summary of evaluations, which were largely positive, regarding the agenda and
the venue.
V.
VOTE: To Approve the Internal Plan for 2014-15
Flo Furuike moved and Florene Bednersh seconded the motion to approve the Internal Plan for 201415. There was a suggestion to add a third goal: the first goal would be to fulfill the mandated contract
requirements; the second goal would be to fulfill other contracts and funding initiatives (Objectives 9
through 11); and the third goal would be the previous Goal 2, to fulfill identified strategies from the
Strategic Plan. MSC as amended.
VI.
Confirm Committee Participation
Joyce Stone passed around a sign-up sheet for the Council committees for members to confirm their
participation. The committees that have not yet scheduled meetings need to do so as soon as possible.
VII.
Discussion of Training Plan for 2014-15
Members reviewed the responses from the Retreat evaluation re: potential training topics for 2014-15.
Other comments included: doing training on advocacy that includes role playing; training on mentoring;
including the joint efforts regarding the M.O.U with the Child Abuse Prevention Council and the Network
of Family Resource Centers.
VIII.
VOTE: To Approve the 2014-15 Public Policy Platform
Debi Badger, Advocacy/Public Policy Ad Hoc Committee Co-chair, moved to approve the Public Policy
Platform for 2014-15 as recommended by the Committee. Michelle Graham seconded the motion.
There was a suggestion to focus more on non-publicly-funded programs. There was also a request to get
further clarification from County Counsel on how the platform can be used to support the Council in
taking positions on policy matters. MSC.
IX.
Public Policy Discussion
There was a discussion of policies concerning licensing and the five-year CDE contract renewal.
X.
VOTE: To Approve Preschool Partnership Letter to Debra McMannis
Members reviewed the letter of support on behalf of the CDE’s submission of a grant proposal for
federal funding for preschool expansion. Debra McMannis, Director of the Early Education and Support
Division at CDE, has requested letters of support. Santa Barbara County has been approved as one of the
sub-grantees, and the Council is a local partner for the grant proposal. Michelle Graham moved to
approve the preschool partnership letter and Flo Furuike seconded the motion. MSC with one
abstention.
XI.
CAPC/NFRC MOU Update
LuAnn Miller provided an update on the MOU. Representatives of all three groups met on September 24
to update the MOU; each organization will work together to support families; we will work on ensuring
our missions are aligned; we will share information and rosters, and attend each other’s meetings when
possible; we will work to schedule one joint meeting each year and one presentation to each group.
Another suggestion was to do something regionally, such as a learning community, and to join together
to present to the Board of Supervisors in early April for CAP month and the Week of the Young Child.
XII.
Leadership Update
Leslie Voss provided an update on the planning for the 2015 Reflective Practice Institute. The
sponsorship solicitation campaign is underway, to gather enough support to keep the participants’ fees
as low as possible. Leslie also distributed applications for the table facilitation at the Institute.
XIII.
Coordinator’s Report
Joyce Stone distributed a written report reflecting her activities since the September Council meeting.
She also noted that Ventura County is hosting a Social/Emotional conference on March 28 and would
like to have presenters from Santa Barbara County. Joyce will attend another planning meeting on
November 7.
XIV.
ECED/QRIS Updates
Sharol Viker provided an update on the Quality Rating Improvement System. There are now 111
programs enrolled and some are getting independent assessments. A series of trainings has been
scheduled for participants as over the next few weeks.
XV.
Program Coordination Update
 LuAnn Miller reported that Isla Vista Youth Projects received expansion funding from CDE and as
of October 1 added nine new spaces, and converted from part-day to full-day preschool.
 Debi Badger announced that Santa Barbara Unified School District has 100 openings for both
part-day and full-day preschool. They are re-opening an afternoon program at Harding
Elementary School.
 Becky Jenkins reported that the Columbia Children’s Center, which has been renting its current
space for 18 years, needs to re-locate. It was noted that First 5 Santa Barbara is working with the
center on this issue. They serve 60 toddlers and preschoolers.
XVI.
Other Business/Announcements
 Theresa Embry announced that there are a few spaces left for the Outdoor Classroom training
on October 18.
 Susan Walsh announced that there is a CPIN training on the Social-Emotional domain on
October 18.
 Dan Fontaine is celebrating fifteen years with the Wilderness Youth Project.
 LuAnn Miller reported on the opening of the Little Libraries in Isla Vista on October 6, which
garnered a lot of media coverage. Several service groups and publishers are interested in
donating books.
 Karin Dominguez distributed information on Santa Maria’s Measure T.
 Michelle Graham announced that the Starry, Starry Night event will include presenting
scholarships to two families in need of $1000 each. She also announced that the 2015 Child
Development Conference will be held Saturday April 18.
 Becky Jenkins announced that there is a kickoff event for the Family Child Care Network on
October 10, focusing on curriculum development.
 Jennifer Bergquist announced the KIDS Network is reviewing its mission and vision statements
and is looking at early childhood mental health as a new focus area.
 Joyce Stone distributed written information from Health Linkages.
XVII.
Adjournment
Chair Jennifer Bergquist adjourned the meeting at 11:12 a.m.