Providers directly informing change through licensing workgroup.

At the direction of the General Assembly, the Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning established a cross-functional workgroup to assess whether state licensure requirements create an equitable standard for health and safety across all early education program types. As part of its review, the state engaged 16 early childhood education providers to serve on the workgroup and help make recommendations for changes that support providers and families. The state received a high level of interest among providers to participate in the workgroup and the improvement of Indiana's early learning system. Providers were selected to represent the diversity of the state’s early childhood education system. The workgroup will meet over the next 10 months to make recommendations on ways to change and improve the system.

Specifically, the group is:

• Identifying barriers within the current regulatory structure from an equity perspective on program type, financial sustainability, race, ethnicity, and geography.
• Taking an honest look at the current landscape of providers and how the current regulatory structure works or doesn’t work for the various types of providers.
• Understanding how the interpretation of licensing rules impact providers, considering the impact of bias and inequity.

Membership includes Indiana Family and Social Services Administration staff, Early Learning Advisory Committee leadership, and providers from each of the major provider types in the state (i.e., Head Start organizations, centers, homes, school-based programs and ministries).