THE HOURS WE CAN'T BE HOME
CHAPTER 7: OPENING DAY AND BEYOND
Carole Eller
Extension Educator, Youth and Resource Development
Cooperative Extension System
University of Connecticut
Elizabeth Prosl-Salsado
ExtensionEducator, Youth and Resource Development
Cooperative Extension System
University of Connecticut
Barbara A. Lescault-Cooley
Consultant
Collaboration for Connecticut's Children
Copyright/Access Information
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Your license, emergency procedures, and plans for care of a sick child are posted conspicuously on site. The snack menu is in place, and the health forms are filed. The room has been painted and looks beautiful! The staff has planned the activities, the dolls are waiting to be hugged, and the games are waiting to be played.
It's 7:05 a.m. Children arrive and eagerly join in the activities. You go off to work wondering how the day will be for your child. For you, it goes by very slowly.
Finally, it is 5:00 p.m. You walk in the door not knowing what to expect. Your child does not notice you are there! You look around the room and see all the happy smiling faces on busy, playful children. Then you know it has all been worthwhile!
One of the very last planning items needed at this point is a tool for program evaluation, making sure that the program is doing what you planned it to do. Evaluation is essential to sound operation. A good initial design does not guarantee that positive outcomes will automatically follow. Programs should be monitored and evaluated periodically.
In the first few months of operation, you will need to revise some of the procedures you just wrote; don't be afraid to do this. Bylaws and budgets are only planning tools. Once you have arrived at specified procedures, there should be a process created to make sure that they are being followed and that the program is providing the needed services.
The process of evaluation of the program becomes fairly simple once it is broken down into basic components.
The concept of looking at quotas is a good first step in the overall evaluation process. When you first designed the maximum capacity and made estimates of the average daily attendance expected, you were setting goals or quotas, which you expected would be met by the program. It will be helpful, especially in the early months, to measure your actual attendance against your expected attendance on a monthly basis. Attendance figures can be included with the financial report done by the bookkeeper. The difference between the actual attendance and the expected attendance is called VARIANCE and can alert the board as to how well the program is servicing the numbers of children it hoped to serve. If the variance should begin to grow on the negative side month by month, the board will know that it is time to take some investigative action to determine why attendance is falling off and some remedial action to change the pattern.
Members of the board should make a point of stopping in for on-site visits during hours of operation. A visit every six weeks initially, and perhaps quarterly thereafter, can be helpful in keeping tabs on the condition of the physical plant and supplies, the way staff interact with the children, discipline and order in the program, adherence to activities, schedules, etc. After each visit, the directors visiting should make notes on their observations and file them for safekeeping with the other evaluation tools.
A simple form can be devised that asks parents and children to rate their satisfaction with (1) various components of the program, (2) the staff running the program, and (3) the activities scheduled in the program. Interviews can be held informally, by phone, or in person, and the comments and suggestions made by the parents and children should be noted. It is best that these tools be used on a random basis: every third parent on the alphabetical roster will receive a phone call, every fifth child on the roster will be interviewed (with parent present), every tenth parent will receive a questionnaire, etc. The parents and children should be able to note any complaints, which can be reviewed by the board.
Another evaluation tool, which is simple to use, is outside feedback. If your program is in a school, meet with the principal periodically and ask for input on the program's functioning. Ask teachers who share neighboring
classrooms, or the librarian, what they see and think is happening with the program. Licensing is an ongoing procedure. The state or local health department will make a periodic visits for evaluation. Request a copy of evaluation and share it with the board and staff. Ask the program funders, after they have received information from you, how well their expectations were met. Keep copies of this feedback, and file them with the other evaluation materials. At this point, you have a comprehensive evaluation system that should satisfy the state and potential grantors.
Like the quota variances, the financial reports can be viewed against the budget (the expected inflow and outflow of money) in the same way as average expected versus real attendance is seen. The financial report will
also show variances, which begin to show trends that the board may wish to encourage or stop. Particularly important is the overall balance between income and expenses. Expenses should be kept in line, with the income received to cover them. When a program spends more than it has received, the resulting net figure is called a deficit and should be given serious attention by the board. NOTE: It is often possible, especially where state grants are concerned, to receive state checks much later than they are due. As bills continue to accumulate during this time, the result is not an actual deficit, but a lag in cash flow. Inform your vendors if this happens.
To develop an exciting, viable program that meets your goals and objectives, and to sustain it over a long period of time, you must establish a clear understanding of the role of your board and the role of your director.
Up until the time your director is hired, the members of your board perform the functions of both the board and the staff. Once your director is hired, she is in a position to assume some of these functions. As your program grows, staff will take on the daily tasks of operation.
Clarification of who performs what function is necessary. Basically, your board will always retain overall responsibility for everything that happens in the program. Your board must continue to make the policies under which the program operates. The staff's responsibility is to implement these policies. Your board has final financial responsibility for the program, although staff may spend funds within the guidelines you establish.
To accomplish this division satisfactorily, there needs to be good communication between the board and the staff. A good rule to follow is to have the board make requests of the staff through one individual, usually the president. No one can work for a large number of people, each with individual ideas on how things should be done. Generally, the director is responsible for the supervision of other staff. The president should communicate with them through the director. It is best to solve any communication problems in their infancy and to keep the way clear for a good positive working relationship.
Parents will want to be aware of what their children are doing and the future direction of the program. A newsletter is a good way to keep parents informed. It may be written by the staff and/or the board.
Parent or family nights are another good way to involve parents. When planning these, it is important to remember that parents work and the event needs to be easy to attend. For example, a pizza and salad supper at a reasonable cost is probably easy. A pot luck meal, to which you must bring your own plates, silverware, and a dish to pass, is difficult.
Most parents will do what they can cheerfully. The problems come when they are asked to do something that is difficult. For example, one parent may be able to type a newsletter with ease. She knows how to type, is a secretary, and can do it in ten minutes on her lunch hour. A parent who must do it at night, after teaching all day, might find it difficult. Know your parents, and ask them to do the things that are easy and possible for them.
This handbook was written to help parents and communities through the process of establishing a School Age Child Care Program. It is based upon the experiences of a group of parents in Marlborough, Connecticut, who began a program in 1984. As we worked through the process, we realized that the needed information was scattered among several state agencies and many books and pamphlets. This handbook is an attempt to put this information in a clear and logical sequence.
As a result of the efforts in Marlborough, the Marlborough Elementary Child Care Association was formed. MECCA currently operates a successful program with full enrollment and a long waiting list. Many of the sample materials in the Appendix were developed by the MECCA Board of Directors and are currently in use.
In looking back, this group of parents feels a great sense of accomplishment and has a clearer understanding of community process.
You can do it too!!
Carole L. Eller
President
MECCA Board of Directors
*It should be noted that, as this article was reviewed in 1998, MECCA was still in operation. The program now serves 114 children from 90 families and has a waiting list of 75 families.
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