Early Childhood Working Group
October 30, 2014
Early Childhood Working Group, 10:00 a.m., Don Chisholm First Floor Conference Room
Attendees
Christi Smith, Rhonda Erpelding, Barbara Spaw, Lisa Boggess, Megan Klenke, Karen Sherbondy, Nina
Chen, Hilary Gee, Connie Farakhan, Emily Meissen-Sebelius
1. Updates and Introductions
Hilary Gee, Kansas Action for Children
Kansas Action for Children is working on policy, regulatory and voluntary standards to support
physical activity and nutrition in childcare settings.
Christi Smith, Child Care Aware Kansas – Kansas, Step it Up Challenge
Christi reports 43 programs in Johnson, Wyandotte, Douglas and Shawnee counties participated in
the Step It Up Challenge, the learning collaborative developed by Nemours and Child Care Aware and
supported by the Centers for Disease Control funding for implementation in 5 states, which includes
Kansas and Missouri. Based on pre-post assessment, programs had significant growth meeting best
practices related to healthy beverage, nutrition, screen time and physical activity in the first year. The
program has expanded beyond centers to also include family childcare homes. The program will be
expanded to include 122 programs in additional locations in the Johnson and Wyandotte, as well as
Allen County and the Wichita area. The next round will incorporate throughout a focus on staff
wellness. Rhonda and Christi are coordinating and working very closely together in the Kansas City
area.
Connie Farakham, Kansas City Missouri Health Department- Move Smart in Childcare
KC MO Health Department received a grant from Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
as a part of DHSS’s focus on Move Smart in childcare centers. The initial target was zip codes with a
low life expectancy, but the focus will be in the Greater KC Metro area and it could span beyond. The
project is still in the initial phases, as they are assessing the landscape and getting the word out.
Karen Sherbondy and Nina Chen, MU Research and Extension
MU Research and Extension has nutrition specialists working with Eat Smart in Child Care. Sarah
Gable will be training nutritionist and family development specialists on family style dining in
childcare. The training will be available for clock hours. Ther e will be face-to-face and online versions
in early 2015.
Lisa Boggess, Francis Institute
The Francis Institute works closely with teachers, and sometimes center directors as well, to provide
professional development and coaching. They can provide clock hours and CEUs through their
affiliation with Metropolitan Community College.
Rhonda Erpedling, American Heart Association- Healthy Way to Grow
Healthy Way to Grow served 17 centers (143 staff and more than 1000 kids) in its first year in
Kansas City, Kan. Rhonda works with centers to develop and implement wellness policies. Some of
the most common areas of focus for the policies were staff professional development, teachers
leading and participating in active play, physical activity time in the day, whole grains and nutritious
meat. A Ks Health Foundation grant will allow for similar work to be done in Johnson County in
partnership with the Jo County Health Department. There are 7 large ch ain child care centers (30
centers total) involved. There will be 8 professional development opportunities over 2 years.
Barbara Spaw, Missouri Dept. of Health and Senior Services
Maternal Child Health has childcare health consultants though the local health departments for child
care providers. The childcare consultants can provide onsite TA and trainings on a variety of topics
and childcare providers can receive clock hours. Many are trained in Eat Smart and Move Smart and
the program coordinates closely with Anne McCormick at the state level. They also have resources,
such as playground stencils, that are available to borrow.
Early Childhood Working Group
October 30, 2014
Megan Klenke, Child Care Aware Missouri
The first learning collaborative groups in Missouri launched in Springfield, St. Louis, and central
Missouri. This year, they are expanding to the KC region. There are about 75 program involved, with
about 25 in KC. The curriculum is integrated with the Missouri Let’s Move standards. Many of the
issues addressed in the first year were staff wellness, breastfeeding promotion and staff training and
supports. In partnership with DHSS and YMCA, they also have wellness roundtables, which they are
looking to expand in the KC area.
2. Review of Charter and Discussion of Next Steps/Roles for the Group
Discussion
The group reviewed the early childhood working group charter and the priorities strategies identified
by the group as a result of the surveys done for family childcare and childcare centers. Some of the
main points of the discussion were the following:

Statewide and local obesity prevention is our focus.

Continuing the conversations to align and partners across our programs and sectors is an
important role.

Communicating the same messages across all entities is also important.

It’s important to make sure we are connecting early childhood providers with possible
resources that exist.

A gap is professional development opportunities for childcare providers. On e role could be
connecting to existing community training and resources. There is still a need for onsite
training and hands on technical assistance.

A role could be to map out who is doing what in terms of early childhood health and
wellness, training, and technical assistance in this area. From there, we could assess where
we are meeting the needs and where there are still gaps. Funders are looking for us to
demonstrate need and to collaborate.

Gaps exist outside of the urban core as well. Extension is one link to reach all counties.

It is important that we keep linking together, knowing who is doing what, and working to tap
into each other’s resources, so that we are not reinventing the wheel. Sharing with one
another success stories and tools that worked well is an important role.

Staff Development and Connecting to Families are two areas in which there are significant
needs.
3. Working Group Organization

Discussion


Emily Meissen-Sebelius started with Weighing In/Children’s Mercy in June. She will be
helping to staff this group (i.e. meeting logistics and other supports).
The group is looking for a co-chair who might eventually move into a chair person. If you are
interested, or would like to suggest someone, contact Emily or Deborah.
The group discussed meeting frequency. At this time, the group decided meeting quarterly is
best. Additional meetings can be added as needed.
Next Meetings
Next Weighing In Quarterly Meeting: December 11, 2014, 8:00 a.m.- 10:00 a.m. Kauffman Conference Center
Next Early Childhood Working Group Meeting: TBD- early 2015