Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 14, 2025 EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2025 The Early Childhood Council convened in a regular meeting on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at City Hall, Board & Commission Room #1101, 301 West Second Street in Austin, Texas. Chair Hamilton called the Early Childhood Council Meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Board Members in Attendance: Chair Hamilton, Vice Chair Menard, and Members Freeland, Latham-Sikes, McIllwain, McNary, Navarro, and Rivas Board Members in Attendance Remotely: No members attended remotely Staff in Attendance: Caitlin Oliver and Alejandra Mireles PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first five speakers to register prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three- minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. Barbara Grant Boneta, Director of the Austin/Travis County Success By 6 Coalition invited Early Childhood Council (ECC) members to help schedule and attend meetings the coalition plans to have with City Council offices to discuss the fiscal year 2026 budget. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Early Childhood Council Regular Meeting on April 9, 2025 The minutes from the meeting on 4/9/2025 were approved unanimously on Member Freeland’s motion and Member Navarro’s second, on a 7-0 vote. Vice Chair Menard was absent at the time of the vote. DISCUSSION ITEMS EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 14, 2025 2. 3. Updates from Korey Darling, Division Director of the Research & Planning Division at Travis County Health and Human Services, regarding implementation of the voter-approved child care and out-of-school time initiative Korey Darling presented updates on Travis County’s plans for procuring services and the implementation timeline for the voter-approved child care and out-of-school time fund, including staffing, setting up a community advisory council, short-term investments, and phased solicitations for services. ECC members discussed short-term investment priorities and community engagement. Chair Hamilton invited the strategic advisor for this initiative to attend ECC meetings once they are hired. Presentation from Decision Information Resources (DIR) regarding current activities and next steps for the quality-of-life study of Austin’s families with young children DIR research team members, including Dr. Kathy Buek, Quantitative Lead; Dr. Tiffany Ricks, Community Engagement Lead; and Dr. Tiara Jackson, Project Director, presented updates on the progress of the quality-of-life study of Austin’s families with young children. The presentation topics included an overview of the study design, project timeline, current and future community engagement activities, current field testing of the caregiver survey, and next steps for launching the survey and focus groups. ECC members suggested community organizations for the research team to engage with. The DIR team will likely return to the ECC to present study findings and the final report before the September 2025 regular meeting. 4. Updates from the April Joint Inclusion Committee (JIC) meeting and the special called May 7th JIC meeting Member McIllwain summarized recent discussion topics and actions taken by the Joint Inclusion Committee. STAFF BRIEFINGS 5. Briefing from Caitlin Oliver, Austin Public Health (APH), regarding updates from related local early childhood groups such as Austin Chapter of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children, Austin ISD, Success By 6 Coalition, and Child Care Regulation There was no staff briefing. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Members listed the following future agenda items: • Update on Travis County’s voter-approved child care and out-of-school time fund • Update on the child care center at the Dove Springs Public Health Facility • Early childhood recap from the 89th Texas Legislative Session from Texans Care for Children EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 14, 2025 • Briefing from City of Austin staff regarding the impact of federal funding cuts on the fiscal year 2026 budget and direct services Chair Hamilton adjourned the meeting at 10:26 a.m., without objection. The minutes were approved unanimously at the June 11, 2025, meeting on Member Navarro’s motion and Member Freeland’s second, on an 8-0 vote.