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This RFP includes four (4) critical needs related to early childhood learning and childcare within the County. The County is seeking separate proposals that meet the following critical needs initiatives/categories:

1. Expansion of Existing Licensed Childcare Programs (Multiple grants)

Goal: Provide existing licensed childcare programs the opportunity to increase their capacity, either through building modifications, modifications to meet licensing requirements of infant/toddler programming, or the addition of staff to rebuild their enrollment to pre-COVID numbers.

2. Family Childcare Start-up (1 subrecipient/contractor)

Goal: Increase the number of Family Childcare Providers by having candidates partner with the Early Childhood Resource Team (ECRT) and PATCH (People Attentive to Children) and develop a successful start-up plan and State DHS licensing application.

3. Training and Apprenticeships (1 subrecipient/contractor)

Goal: This section has two initiatives. First, partner with the Early Childhood Resource Team (ECRT) to plan, conduct, and evaluate three (3) annual Early Childhood conferences in Hawaiʻi County. Second, partner with the ECRT on the introduction of an apprenticeship program.

4. Early Readiness Community Work (1 subrecipient/contractor per initiative)

Goal: This section has two initiatives. • First, continue the management and convening of the Pāhoa Promise work for two (2) more years in conjunction with the ECRT. Second, implement the comprehensive Pāhoa Reads plan developed in collaboration with the Pāhoa Promise partnership.

The County of Hawaiʻi's new Early Childhood Resources Program is a venture into an arena not always thought to be County influenced. Two things have moved the County to take on this initiative:

1. The Mayor’s priority that all families on Hawaiʻi Island are able to thrive, and
2. the pandemic, that has shown us how the serious lack of capacity in our early childhood programs has affected the ability for families to return to the workforce.

Early childhood facts:

• There are currently 11, 414 children on Hawaiʻi Island under 5 years of age.
• 8,668 of those children have both parents working.
• There are currently only 2,762 spaces in childcare programs.
• Therefore just 31% of those 8,000 children and just 24% of Hawaiʻi Island's total under 5 population might have the opportunity to attend a childcare program.

Besides supporting capacity growth, this program wants to be sure the programs are of the highest quality – consideration being given to teacher educational achievement, mentoring for directors and ultimately increases in accreditation, or at least measures that substantiate quality.

Angela Thomas, Early Childhood Resources Coordinator has been tasked with system development, the establishment of a working group, data collection and dissemination, public engagement and advocacy, and resource development and technical assistance. Those are just the broad categories in which the work will be done.

Based on current Hawaiʻi Island data regarding young children and their families, the following prioritized list of projects and initiatives have been implemented:

1. Getting Books into the hands of children and families – a book distribution program is being considered across the County that will provide age- appropriate books to our youngest children.
2. A resource directory will be created and distributed to families and other agencies to connect clients to services across the island.
3. A working group is being formed to inform and advise the coordinator on ways to utilize ARPA funding to improve our system of early childhood, and reduce the negative trends for young children.
4. Coordinate and support professional development opportunities – both formal and informal - including increasing course offerings, planning and conducting conferences and arranging for community trainings.
5. Develop recruiting techniques to increase early childhood staff, utilizing a variety of methods including attracting high school students to begin early childhood classes, providing scholarships to current and potential higher education students and facilitating course delivery methods in more community locations
6. Pilot early literacy strategies for research and data collection and expand programming as successes allow.
7. Research development of employer-sponsored childcare situations through businesses either alone or in partnership with others.

Hawaiʻi County Early Childhood Community Profile, June 2023

The Hawaiʻi County Early Childhood Community Profile was undertaken to improve our understanding of the context in which families with young children (from birth through age eight) live and work, and to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the wellbeing of young children in Hawaiʻi County.

The community profile was commissioned by Early Childhood Action Strategy (ECAS) a statewide partnership designed to strengthen the systems that support young children and their families. More information on ECAS can be found at: https://hawaiiactionstrategy.org/. 

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