Supporting Working Families: ACF Roundtables on Improving Access to High-Quality Child Care

Attachment A: Roundtable Protocol

The estimated time for the discussion portion of the meetings will be approximately two and half hours. Respondents will be informed that their participation is completely voluntary and that their information will be kept private and their responses will not be associated with individual names. This protocol is designed to hear directly from parents, providers, and employers to increase our understanding of what is needed to improve access to affordable, high-quality child care that meets the needs and preferences of families so they can work. While going a level deeper than the usual child care discussion, challenging common assumptions, and really listening to what parents, providers, and employers might want, these sessions will identify the kinds of practical barriers that will address needs while reducing costs.

Topic	Time*	Brief Description
Section 1: Level Setting (rows in italics are at the Region’s discretion)
Opening and Welcome	10-15 minutes	OCC Director introduces session, including agenda and brief remarks from additional ACF/HHS leadership if present.
Region Specific Brief Presentation	5-7 minutes	Regions can incorporate brief speaker related to region specific child care (e.g., local economist with economic data on working families; governor’s new child care initiative not focused on PreK)
Lightening Round on Child Care Panel	15-20 minutes	RA facilitated panel of parent, provider, and business leaders to share brief perspectives on child care challenges and opportunities. For regions that choose to include a brief presentation before this, the panel can respond to that topic more specifically.
Large Group Discussion	15-20 minutes	Optional RA facilitated discussion on child care experience. What are your experiences related to what was discussed by the panel?
Section 2: Issues and Barriers
Small Group Discussions by Stakeholder Group Commissioners and other leadership free to listen at stakeholder tables.	45-60 minutes	Brief introduction to process for small group discussions, then break out into stakeholder groups for deep dive into stakeholder experiences through targeted questions: Parents: What do working families seek from child care to assure that they are able to work and their children are thriving? Providers: How do we make care safe, healthy, and developmentally supportive while preserving choice? As businesses, what barriers do providers face in that pursuit? Employers: What are employers interested in doing to leverage child care to address the worker shortage? What is their experience with child care and employing parents? State/Local Child Care Officials: What are states/localities doing to increase access to affordable quality child care? What can be done to streamline the process and prevent the child care cliff? Other Attendees (i.e., child care workforce development representatives; et al.)
Report Out/Large Group Discussion	40-55 minutes	Report out what was discussed in small stakeholder groups – facilitators for each group will have synthesized the 3-5 main takeaways that their group agreed upon.
Section 3: Reauthorization and New Funding
State Leadership Panel	15-25 minutes	One representative from each state in Region to discuss: With the infusion of $2.4 billion into the Child Care and Development Fund in the prior year, what initiatives have you been able to support? What have you been able to do?
Large Group Discussion	20-35 minutes	Success stories from the audience and discussion of trade-offs. Have you experienced or felt impacts from any of the changes discussed by the panel? What are the tough choices you have to make when thinking about child care and how do you prioritize?
Section 4: Innovations
Innovators/ Spark Speakers	15-20 minutes	3-4 invited speakers selected by region/OCC to present their innovation and how it relates to supply building, access, and quality (when possible tie innovation to the barriers/ challenges brought up in prior section)
Large Group Discussion	25-40 minutes	Full group discusses additional innovations they have seen in their community: Based on everything we’ve heard today, what parents need to meet their unique needs, what providers need to thrive, and innovations from the community – what innovations might increase the access to affordable high-quality child care?
Closing Remarks/ Reflection	5-10 minutes	The session ends with a closing from an ACF representative(s) reacting to and reflecting upon the day’s discussions. Participants will be asked to provide feedback about the meeting before they leave. I am satisfied with the overall quality of the meeting. I felt that my voice and perspective was heard during the meeting. The meeting was applicable and relevant to my personal, business, or state/program’s needs. I intend to apply what I learned in my life and/or work. I plan to respond to or share with others the Request For Information. Please share suggestions for other topics or for improving access to high-quality child care opportunities for working families (open comment) Response options will be Likert Scale Responses: Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral, neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly Agree

*Total Runtime: 3 hours and 30 minutes to 4 hours and 45 minutes (Breaks to be incorporated where appropriate)

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB number for this information collection is 0970-0531 and the expiration date is 07/31/2022.