DECAL Download

Send us Fan Mail Last Friday was a big day in our efforts to help Georgia child care providers and families respond to the impact of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.  Beginning May 1, all licensed Georgia child care providers are invited to apply for STABLE payments. These payments represent the first phase of administering $144 million Georgia received under the federal CARES Act.  Also on Friday, we op...

Send us Fan Mail On April 1, as part of the Public Health State of Emergency, Georgia’s public elementary and secondary schools…including Georgia’s Pre-K Program…were closed for the remainder of the year.  That left many families scrambling to continue their child’s learning at home.  To assist families through these challenging times, DECAL launched Georgia’s Pre-K At Home.  Joining us to talk ab...

Send us Fan Mail Families have always helped with homework and supervised chores around the house, but the new world of the COVID-19 Coronavirus with its Shelter in Place orders have presented new challenges for children and parents alike.  Joining us to talk about how to co-exist in this new normal…minus any blowups and tantrums…is Allison O’Hara, Program Director for the Inclusion and Behavior S...

Send us Fan Mail Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs talks with WABE's Martha Dalton about Georgia child care programs who are open and serving children and families during COVID-19. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services, or CAPS Program, provides scholarships to help with the cost of child care so parents can work or attend school.  The program not only helps families navigate their children’s early years, but also connects families with resources to help them become self-sufficient.  With many child care learning centers and family child care learning home...

Send us Fan Mail Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs is interviewed by WGAU Radio's Tim Bryant about the impact of COVID-19 on Georgia child care learning centers and family child care learning homes. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail An episode recorded Tuesday, April 7, 2020, during the COVID-19 Coronavirus Crisis and Public Health Emergency here in Georgia.  Here at DECAL, we are practicing social distancing and working from our homes.  We are also under a Statewide Shelter in Place Order from Governor Brian P. Kemp that runs through Friday, April 13.  Our special guest is Pam Stevens, Deputy Commissioner of...

Send us Fan Mail Deputy Commissioner of Georgia's Pre-K Program and Instructional Supports Susan Adams is interviewed by Good Day Atlanta's Katie Beasley on the popular program seen weekday mornings on WAGA-TV (FOX) 5 Atlanta. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Georgia’s CAPS Program provides scholarships to help with the cost of child care so parents can work or attend school.  The program not only helps families navigate their children’s early years, but also connects families with resources to help them become self-sufficient.  Today we talk with someone who has participated in this program from GED to PhD.  She's Dr. Meghan McBr...

Send us Fan Mail According to Attendance Works, a national organization that addresses chronic school absenteeism, persistent dental pain, along with related trouble eating and sleeping, makes oral health one of the leading causes of chronic school absenteeism among young students. Among school-age children, tooth decay is the most common chronic disease, five times more prevalent than asthma! Joi...

Send us Fan Mail Searching for high quality child care can be a daunting experience.  Add a pandemic like COVID-19 and the search can be even more of a challenge.  DECAL says while many child care programs have temporarily closed as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, many are still open and available to serve children and families in all corners of the state.  DECAL encourages families searching...

Send us Fan Mail In many parts of Georgia, it’s time to register your child for the 2020-2021 school year in Georgia’s Pre-K Program.  The purpose of Georgia’s Pre-K Program is to prepare children for success in Kindergarten and later school years.  Pre-K programs usually operate on the regular school system calendar for the length of a typical school day and are offered at local public schools or...

Send us Fan Mail From the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, this is a special edition of DECAL Download: COVID-19 Coronavirus in Georgia and DECAL’s response.  Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs and Chief Communications Officer Reg Griffin host our special coverage with Deputy Commissioner for Georgia’s Pre-K Program and Instructional Supports Susan Adams, Deputy Commissioner for CAPS Elisabe...

Send us Fan Mail It may be March, but our Nutrition Team has their mind on Summer and the need for eligible organizations to serve healthy meals to children when school is not in session.  Last year we served over 4.8 million meals across Georgia, but the need is always growing.  Joining us to talk about the Summer Food Service Program and how your organization can play an important role is Tamika...

Send us Fan Mail It’s never too early to be thinking about your child’s college education, even if your child is four years old!  That’s the idea behind the Path from Pre-K to College Sweepstakes happening during March and sponsored by DECAL, Path2College 529 Plan and the Georgia Student Finance Commission.  Four lucky Pre-K students will be randomly selected to win $1,529 and give a little boost...

Send us Fan Mail For child care providers in Georgia receiving CAPS funding, the clock is ticking.  In order to continue to receive CAPS payments for your children and families served, you must be Quality Rated by December 31, 2020.  Here to talk about the CAPS/Quality Rated 2020 Deadline is Laura Wagner, Community Outreach and Partnerships Director; Denise Jenson, Quality Rated Director; and Shaw...

Send us Fan Mail In January, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education presented its 16th edition of Top Ten Issues to Watch Report.  This year’s report considers the educational progress Georgia has made over the past decade and how are we are preparing for 2030.  Joining us to talk about the Top Ten Issues is Dr. Dana Rickman, Vice President of GPEE, and Dr. Robert Gaines, Director of...

Send us Fan Mail Governor Brian Kemp has announced that Georgia has received a three-year, $11.2-million Preschool Development Renewal Grant (PDG) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education. Georgia is one of only 20 states to receive this grant that will allow the state to expand efforts to help families access high quality early childhood services...

Send us Fan Mail The 2020 Georgia General Assembly has been in session for almost a month now.  The opening week starting January 13 included the annual State of the State Address by Governor Brian Kemp.  Joining us to discuss the General Assembly and the State of the State is Liz Young, Director of Government Relations and Special Projects for DECAL, and Rian Ringsrud, our Deputy Commissioner for...

Send us Fan Mail All next week, February 10-14, the State of Georgia and all of us at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning are celebrating Inclusive Early Learning Week.  It’s our effort to increase public awareness and advocacy for inclusion…and to celebrate inclusive classrooms here in Georgia.  Here to talk about this special week and how you can get involved is Veronica Thomas, In...

Send us Fan Mail With over 700 employees across the state, Information Technology is vitally important to the success of our agency, from personal laptops and smartphones to custom applications on a myriad of servers and websites.  2019 was a busy year of moving information to the cloud and rebranding of DECAL IT and formally establishing our internal IT Service Management processes using ServiceN...

Send us Fan Mail When Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Program moved from DFCS to DECAL, part of the restructuring was the addition of a Family Support component, working alongside Program Administration and Scholarship Administration.  The new CAPS Program was charged with working with families to help them achieve self-sufficiency, beyond the need for assistance in paying for child...

Send us Fan Mail Research tells us that, regardless of their abilities, children in high-quality child care programs are better prepared to enter school and more likely to develop healthy social and emotional skills.  Here at DECAL, we’re proud of our Inclusion and Behavior Support Services Unit, and a new helpline they recently launched that makes assistance just a phone call away.  Joining us to...

Send us Fan Mail For the fourth consecutive year, DECAL has named Georgia’s Pre-K Program Teachers of the Year, recognizing a winner from a local public school system and a winner from a private child care center.  Joining us to talk about the Teacher of the Year recognition are Heather Williams and Johnathon Hines, our 2019-2020 Pre-K Teachers of the Year. They’re joined by Meghan McNail, Summer...

Send us Fan Mail Since 2016, DECAL has offered paid internships to students currently enrolled in a Georgia college, university or law school with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.  This semester our interns are representing Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University, Rice University, and Savannah State University.  Here to talk about the DECAL Internship Program is Darien Watson, Re...