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Early learning bill spurs concerns
Feb 14, 2012 (The Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Vicki Brogoitti, head of the Union County Commission on Children and Families, feels these days like she's peering at the future through a glass, darkly.
Oregon House Bill 4165 -- the so-called Early Learning Legislation pushed by Gov. John Kitzhaber -- has a good chance of passage this legislative session. It would do away with the Oregon Commission on Children and Families and its 36 county-level commissions, and would make vast changes in the way early education and related programs are delivered.
For Brogoitti, the Kitzhaber bill isn't all bad. She says no one can argue with the fact that more resources need to be focused on early learning.
On the other hand, she questions whether the bill has been thoroughly thought out, and she worries about the network of community partners she and the local CCF board has struggled to build since CCF began in the 1990s.
"There's such a lack of specificity in what the (governor's) plan is. We don't have a clear understanding how children and families will be connected to the services they need," she said.
The Union County Commission on Children and Families gets $562,000 biannually in state and federal funding, and uses it to leverage more than $2 million in grants, donations and in-kind contributions, money that is spent on local initiatives. Most of the seed money comes from the state general fund.
The commission funds a wide range of programs for children and families, including Court Appointed Special Advocates, Healthy Start, Kids Club, KidSkills, After the Storm and more. The programs deal with issues like child abuse and domestic violence, nutrition, day care, skill development, counseling and psychological care.
The commission is a collaborative partner in many more programs, including the Early Childhood Planning Team, the Fit Kids Coalition, Runaway and Homeless Youth in Transition, the Union County Youth Coalition, the Safe Communities Coalition and the Northeast Oregon Network.
And that's not all. Commission on Children and Families outreach efforts include Blue Monday, a child abuse prevention education program; Arts For All, a hands-on educational art fair for children; the annual safety fair for children in grades kindergarten through six; the School Resource Seminar; and Volunteer Link, an event that helps private and public non-profit agencies recruit volunteer help.
Brogoitti said the local commission has an active and responsive board of directors, one with county-wide connections, community support and respect. Beyond funding, CCF extends technical support, professional education and advocacy for children and families at the city, county and state levels.
Though funding mechanisms will change with HB 4165, many of the local programs will continue. But as the state moves toward a new early education model, Brogoitti worries that at least some of the local collaborative work could be undone.
"The commission has been involved in a lot of community awareness efforts, and those could be impacted," she said.
Kitzhaber is a campaigner for education reform and believes one way to improve graduation rates and boost college enrollment is to bolster early education services.
HB 4561, one of two education reform bills pending in the legislature this year, will take a "global" budgeting approach and is designed to streamline administration, policy and planning. The governor's office also says the bill promotes outcomes based on collaboration, competition and local creativity.
Eliminating the Oregon Commission on Children and Families and the 36 county commissions, the bill would establish an Early Learning Council as the lead agency. Regional "accountability hubs" would convene and coordinate early learning services in defined areas. Brogoitti said some $5 million would be set aside for the hubs.
If the bill passes, the newly-formed Early Learning Council will issue a request for proposals for formation of the accountability hubs. Brogoitti said one of her concerns is that the make-up and the roles of the hubs aren't well-defined in the bill.
"It doesn't address what size cohorts, numbers served, work to be done, job descriptions for family service managers," she said.
From Brogoitti's standpoint, a good thing happened during a hearing on the bill last Friday in Salem, when legislators added an amendment that would leave the local commissions in place until December 2013. A longer transition period is crucial, she said.
"The time extension will give communities a better chance to plan," she said.
She said she feels certain the bill will pass the legislature and be signed by the governor. And while she waits, she goes on worrying about an early education services delivery system that took years to build, and wondering what a new system will look like.
"I think the intent of the governor's bill is good, but I'm concerned about the dismantling of a local system that's already in place. It's taken a long time to build the partnerships," she said.
___ (c)2012 The Observer (La Grande, Ore.) Visit The Observer (La Grande, Ore.)
at www.lagrandeobserver.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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