Early Head Start Programs and QUILT:
Quality in Linking Together

By QUILT Staff

Early Head Start programs across the country are accessing the services of QUILT, a training and technical assistance project funded by the Head Start and Child Care Bureaus. Its purpose is to support partnerships among child care, Early Head Start and Head Start, pre-kindergarten, and other early education programs to provide quality, comprehensive, appropriate care to children and families nationwide.

QUILT's goals in supporting early education partnerships include:

• Providing full-day, full-year child care for families who need it so that parents can work or pursue education and training opportunities;
  
• Making comprehensive services more widely available for children and families; and
  
• Improving continuity of services and program quality.
  

QUILT's approach to technical assistance is to complement, and not duplicate, the work of other training and technical assistance (T/TA) providers, including those in the child care, Early Head Start, and Head Start T/TA networks. As part of our approach, we:

• Work closely with all stakeholders from local early education programs, to regional, tribal, and state administrators and T/TA providers, to national decision-makers to support partnerships;
  
• Provide individuals and groups with information about the benefits of partnerships and links to resources;
  
• Address a wide range of partnership issues from designing programs to managing multiple funding sources;
  
• Respond to the individual needs of diverse early education communities; and
  
• Offer technical assistance in a number of ways through the QUILT toll-free hotline, as well as through on-site technical assistance.

Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about the QUILT services available to Early Head Start.

Q: What can the hotline offer my EHS program?
A: Whether you're in the beginning stages of forming a partnership with child care, or you are taking steps to improve an existing partnership, the hotline can assist you with planning as well as solution finding. In addition to linking callers to local resources and other child care and Early Head Start/Head Start networks, the QUILT hotline can provide you with information about upcoming partnership events, additional materials, and assistance in arranging onsite technical assistance. You can also find information about early education partnerships on the QUILT Web site (http://www.quilt.org).

Q: When can I call the hotline?
A: QUILT hotline specialists are available to answer your questions 11 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Just call our toll-free number 1-877-867-8458 (1-877-TO-QUILT) between 8:30 A.M. and 7:30 P.M. Eastern Time.

Q: How is on-site technical assistance different from hotline technical assistance?
A: While hotline specialists respond to an individual caller's day-to-day questions about early education partnerships, on-site technical assistance delivered by the QUILT brings all the stakeholders to the table, generally within their own community or state. As a result, QUILT on-site technical assistance specialists are able to tap the strengths of all the players, ensure that everyone's voice is heard, and help them reach consensus about concrete steps they can take to promote early education partnerships.

Q: What types of issues do QUILT staff and consultants address?
A: QUILT staff and consultants address all issues that help programs plan, implement, and sustain partnerships. For example, QUILT staff members help stakeholders at the state and community level examine policies, planning and fiscal strategies, and program management issues. Some programs request assistance in designing the structure and goals of the partnership. Others need targeted consultation in developing a financial plan and cost allocation system. Still others want help examining possible staffing patterns
and responsibilities and identifying benchmarks of performance. Because QUILT staff and consultants share information about a broad range of partnership structures as well as current research, they are able to provide technical assistance customized to the community's needs, resources, and priorities.

 

Three entities lead the QUILT . . .

Community Development Institute
Grace Hardy, Project Director
9745 East Hampden Ave. Suite 310
Denver, CO 80231
T: 303-369-8706
Fax: 617-337-5339

Education Development Center, Inc.
Karen Juall, Co-Project Director
55 Chapel Street
Newton, MA 02458-1060
T: 617-969-7100
Fax: 617-244-3609

National Child Care Information Center
Ray Collins, QUILT Manager
243 Church Street NW
2nd Floor
Vienna, VA 22180-4430
T: 800-616-2242
Fax: 800-716-2242
NCCIC Web site: nccic.org

To keep up-to-date with partnership events, resources, and news, visit the QUILT Web site http://www.quilt.org/