Members	Present	Absent	Designee Present
Terri Davis (Chairperson)	x
LaDona Elder (Vice-Chair)	x
Brittany Lee (Secretary)		x	Kristi Simpson
Darla Cheek	x
Peggy Byerly	x
Susie Cain		x
Gayla Carnagey	x
Kathy Castleberry
Jason Charles	x
Arianne Conner		x
Denis Doyen		x
Jill Goyette	x
Audra Haney		x
Kourtney Heard	x
Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs		x
Lauren Jenks-Jones	x
Harold Jergenson	x
Keri Laxton	x
Katherine Leidy	x
Stephanie Lippert	x
Tammy Maus		x	Janell Wheat
Amanda (McClain) Leonhart		x
Catherine Mure	x
Aimee Ryan	x
Carrie Williams	x
Shaunda Williams		x

Others Present:

Amie McDaniel	Amy Cornelson	Ashley Ousley	Audrey Charlson	Christy Kastl
Clarissa Corking	Denise Anderson	Gayla Ham	Jennifer Sneed	Leslie Bradford
Linda Whaley	Mitzi Lee	Paula Koos	Rachel Proper	Tiffaney Carss

Meeting Notices:

·       The Agenda and Meeting Notice were sent 12/01/2021 to publisher@ecapitol.net. The Notice of Change to Regularly Scheduled Meeting was sent 11/18/2021 to Secretary of State.

Call to Order:

·       Terri Davis called meeting to order at 10:05 am

·       Introductions

Approval of Minutes:

·       September 8, 2021 minutes, Jason Charles motion to approve with no objections

o   Correction: Janell Wheat (speaking for Tammy Maus) Under ‘Legislative Update’ the minutes do not include Tammy Maus requesting clarification on ‘Shocking and Heinous”.  Tammy had requested that it follows the DA’s guidelines more closely.  The concern is it could be interpretated very broadly or very narrowly.  Senator Jessica Garvin is the legislator for this and in speaking with her, the intent is to more closely align with the DA’s definition.  This would need to be pursued by other means, not here. 

o   Correction:  Jennifer Sweet should be listed as Jennifer Sneed.

 

Standing Membership Subcommittee Report provided by Gayla Carnagey & Peggy Byerly:

·       Members met August 30, 2021

·       In attendance – Gayla Carnagey, Brittany Lee, Peggy Byerly, LaDona Elder, Harold Jergenson

·       Membership updates:

o   We nominate Carrie Williams who will represent State Childhood Advisory Council which is an Oklahoma Partnership of School Readiness. 

§  Motion to approve by Lauren Jenks-Jones, Several second.  Motion approved.

o   We nominate Catherine Mure of TFI Family Connections to represent Child Placing Agencies. 

§  Motion to approve by Ladonna, Several second.  Motion approved. 

·      Upcoming Terms expiring:

o   Stephanie Lippert – term expiring 8/2022

o   Aimee Ryan - term expiring 8/2022

o   Jason Charles - term expiring 11/2022

·       Orientation attendance

o   Jennifer Sneed

o   Catherine Mure

o   Carrie Williams

o   Keri Laxton

o   Audrey Charlson

·       Vacancies

o   Family Child Care Homes – Rural

o   Part-Day Programs

o   Private Partnership

Standing Subcommittee Reports:

·       Family Child Care Homes Standing Subcommittee

o   No report

·       QRIS Standing Subcommittee

o   No report

o   Janell Wheat nominated Shaunda Williams to fill the open chair position.  Motion approved.

·       Child Care Facilities (centers) Standing Subcommittee

o   No report due to staffing and illness causing cancelled meetings. 

·       Residential Standing Subcommittee

o   Needs a chair; Jason Charles & Catherine need to discuss who to nominate. 

o   No report

Legislative Update: 

·       Linda Whaley provided report and handout.

o   Email weekly updates on Friday; let her know if you need to be added.

o   Some of the house committee meetings have been set for the interim studies and are listed in the report.  The senate has not set their meeting dates yet.

o   Question asked:  There is no adjustment to the open meeting act due to covid, correct?  The mandate expired in June, so we have to follow open meetings act.  To clarify that they must be present in the room to vote, unless the governor issues another state of emergency.

Licensing Sanctions Report:

·       Kristi Simpson provided report and handout.  No actions taken from April 1^st – June 30^th; there was one administrative hearing held and we were upheld. We had no emergency orders, no stars reduction reviews, one case went before the peer board during this period.  There were 71 6-month permits approved.  We have more programs today than we had last year.  We have approximately 3,000 programs.  It was brought up that the 6 month permits include a change of ownership and not always a new program.

Old Business:

·       Kristi discussed Brittany’s 200-day review of requirements and policies. We had multiple meetings with Child Care center programs as well as Family Child Care Home programs.  These are the revisions that came out of the meetings.  There will be a meeting on September 22, 2021 (not an official public meeting to vote, but rather a discussion of the requirements).  We will send out information to the people who participated in the roundtable discussion as well as all CCA members so Brittany can have those requirements.  What is in the report is the outcome of those meetings, if it is not in there it is not being considered.  If you have items you want to add to this meeting, please e-mail Brittany.  Question asked: What is the estimated effective date?  There are rules process is not set by us.  Our goal is November 2021, but that will not happen.  There will be an official public hearing on any rule changes.  Terri advised that everyone get their thoughts together and share any suggestions to Brittany as soon as possible. 

New Business:

·       Janell Wheat: Everyone is suffering from staffing shortages due to the pandemic; I would like this to be noted and considered that we are having to be very creative to address this.  Grace is being asked when licensing visits and they expect to see what they would normally see pre-pandemic.  We are not suggesting that kids are not safe, but rather there may have various circumstances that cause things to not be the normal.  I would like to request an emergency ratio recommendation be put forth and considered.  I would not challenge the infants, but perhaps school aged children specifically that those ratios be expanded through this staffing crisis.  I acknowledge there may be some judgements from center to center.  Along with ratios, perhaps have qualifiers (absences due to covid illnesses).  We do not know how long this will be given the circumstances. 

·       Janell Wheat: Can we get an update on the grants?  The timeframe of 2-4 weeks after the application time has expired.  We are having great difficulty competing with other positions who are paying the same if not more and are losing employees due to this.  Kristi provided some updates; there were over 2,000 applicants and we have submitted approximately 700-800 payment requests to finance at this point.  It is a tedious process and requires the applications to be complete and the center is active.  The program receives an email when they are officially approved.   They will be receiving one check, but it is doubling the amount (2 quarters of payment).

·       Christy Kastle: Are there any updates for 5 Stars since it is supposed to go into effect in November?  Kristi stated it is in the same rule group as the new requirements, so they will go into effect at that same time.  There will be more information coming out on that as well. 

·       Regarding the special consideration for ratios.  Could there be a special consideration or leniency to bring in new staff before the background checks are complete?  Kristi suggested emailing Brittany if they have ideas.  A suggestion would to be sure to submit the background checks electronically vs. by paper.  Contractually we have to submit background checks to OSBI.  Can those who had their background check already through say a school or a nursing home, could their approval be considered and start immediately?  There would have to be a state statute change.  Obtaining codes to get background checks can be requested ahead of time and is recommended. 

·       Rachel Proper: There are a number of providers have utilized the Family First Coronavirus Relieve Act.  It is 80 hours of PTO paying small business employees due to covid illness/exposure to expire in June, but was extended to September 30, 2021.  Prior to the extension of this, we had submitted a request to Brittany Lee and director Brown to suggest Hero Pay to get PTO to child care providers.  If FFCRA is not extended again, we would suggest this to be considered.  Not all providers offer paid sick or vacation. 

Public Comment

      none

 

Next Meetings:

·       Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at the Sequoyah Building

 

Meeting adjourned at 10:45 am