Child Care Assistance/Early Childhood Program

Child Care November Newsletter

Our Mission
To provide high-quality, culturally based child development support, services, outreach and advocacy for children, families, child care providers and community on or near the White Earth Reservation to help our children succeed.

The White Earth Child Care Program welcomes you to our website, and hope that we have the information that you are searching for. Our Program is located in White Earth, MN and is part of the White Earth Education Department. Please feel free to contact our program for more information on services. We are available Monday - Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Central Time.

Child Care Licensing - Child Care Assistance/Subsidy Program - Outreach Services Early Childhood Community Initiatives - Early Childhood Education Enhancement - Quality Improvement/Technical Assistance - Child Care Learning Centers

Click here to view a video on finding the right place for your child.

Additional information is provided in the sections below

This program helps parents who are working or attending school, and who do not qualify for any other child care assistance programs such as county or school funded sources, and who are having difficulties in paying for their child care costs. Eligibility is based on the following:

• Household income and family size
• Verification of Native American descent (children, parents or grandparents)
• Verification of work or school (min.20hrs/week)
• Must reside in our service area (Becker, Mahnomen and a portion of Clearwater Counties)

You must reapply for assistance every 12 months and notify the agency of any changes in household income.

Additional information is provided in the links below:

• Assistance Application
• Assistance Policies
• Assistance Payment Schedule
• Child Care Providers Map

If your child is not enrolled but is a descendant of the White Earth Nation, please fill out this form and bring it to your intake:

Request for Verification of Descendency

If your provider is NOT licensed (i.e. Family Member, Friend, Neighbor) please have them fill out these forms and bring them to your intake:

Unlicensed Provider Background Investigation

Once you have completed all of your application forms you can email them to margaret.myhre@whiteearth-nsn.gov or fax them to 218-983-4106 or mail them to Margaret Myhre at:

PO Box 418
White Earth, MN 56591

Please view the forms page for additional forms related to the Child Care Assistance/Early Childhood program.

Early Learning Scholarship Program
WE Early Learning Scholarship Application

What is an Early Learning Scholarship Program?
An Early Learning Scholarship can help you pay for high-quality child care and early education to help your child get ready for school. A scholarship must be used at a Parent Aware-Rated program. Parent Aware is a rating tool to help parents select high-quality child care and early education programs. For more information, visit the Parent Aware website.

The Early Learning Scholarships increase access to high-quality early childhood programs for 3- and 4-year-old children with the highest needs to improve school readiness for all young children. Children birth to 2 years old are eligible if they meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Child of a teen parent
• Currently in foster chare
• In need of child protective services
• Experience homelessness in the last 24 months

Priority for scholarships will be given based on family income, child poverty, one of the special populations as noted previously, and geographic region. Families must meet eligibility requirements as outlined in Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.165.

Where Can my Child Use a Pathway I Scholarship?
Pathway I Scholarships are awarded directly to families who meet eligibility requirements. Pathway I Scholarship funds are paid to the early childhood program that the family chooses. You may use your Pathway I Early Learning Scholarship at any eligible child care or early education program in Minnesota with a Parent Aware Rating. Pathway I Scholarships “follow the child” and are awarded to the family for up to 12 months.

Scholarship amounts are based on the Parent Aware rating level of the program you choose.

Families interested in applying for an Early Learning Scholarship should contact the Area Administrator serving their county. Learn more about area administrators.

Where Can my Child Use a Pathway II Scholarship?
Pathway II Scholarships are awarded to families through an eligible Four-Star Parent Aware Rated program. These include Head Start, school district prekindergarten and preschool programs, and child care programs. Programs participating as a Pathway II site receive Pathway II Scholarships funds for up to 12 months.

Our program manages 3 licensed child care learning centers that strive to offer quality care to the children they serve.

Mahnomen Child Care & Learning Center
Licensed to serve ages 0-12

Mahnomen Child Care Learning Center provides age appropriate activities. The staff is positive role models for all center children. Our focus is on building self-esteem and enhancing social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of all children. This is accomplished through a curriculum that is developmentally appropriate and through positive interactions and communication between center children, parents, and staff.

The activities at Mahnomen Child Care Learning Center are designed to enhance a child’s creative learning and critical thinking skills. These activities include both teacher directed and child-initiated activities.

Additional information is provided in the links below:

MCCLC Parent Policy Handbook
MCCLC Application

White Earth Child Care & Learning Center
Licensed to serve ages 0-5

White Earth Child Care Learning Center provides age appropriate activities. Our focus is on building self-esteem and enhancing social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of all children. This is accomplished through a curriculum that is developmentally appropriate and through positive interactions and communication between center children, parents, and staff.

The activities at White Earth Child Care Learning Center are designed to enhance a child’s creative learning and critical thinking skills. These activities include both teacher directed and child-initiated activities.

Additional information is provided in the links below:

WECCLC Parent Policy Handbook
WECCLC Application

Nay-Tah-Waush Child Care & Learning Center
Nay-Tah-Waush Child Care Learning Center provides age appropriate activities. Our focus is on building self-esteem and enhancing social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of all children. This is accomplished through a curriculum that is developmentally appropriate and through positive interactions and communication between center children, parents, and staff.

The activities at Nay-Tah-Waush Child Care Learning Center are designed to enhance a child’s creative learning and critical thinking skills. These activities include both teacher directed and child-initiated activities.

This is a coalition of community parents, volunteers, programs, agencies and schools whose goal is to help improve the lives of children zero to five. We work to provide ongoing community projects to ensure children are safe, healthy and ready for school. We encourage parent participation in thier children's activities at home, child care, pre-school and community. We work to provide parents with the resources they need for their children to grow and have a bright and fulfilling future.

Early projects include:

Early childhood partnership with reservation and county police
Parent/community involvement with children through "Caring for Kids Store"
Increased oral health resources for children
Opportunities for community family events
Waubun/Ogema/White Earth School Success Team
Develop, print and distribute a White Earth Reservation Early Childhood Resource Guide
Increased community access to library resources
Community Projects:

Police/ECI parnership
Caring For Kids Passports
Oral Health Resources
Dental Health Clinic
Annual Fathers' Festival
Annual Celebrating Our Children
Kids Count
School Success Team
Annual Week of The Young Child Event

The Early Childhood Training/Education initiative offers quality improvement and early childhood development classes to licensed and unlicensed providers, parents, families, and community members. A variety of topics and curriculums are used to offer early childhoods information through these classes, such as: Positive Indian Parenting, Six Key Strategies for Promoting Children’s Mental Health in Early Childhood Programs, SIDS/SBS, Stop it Now (Preventing child Sexual Abuse), Project Exceptional (Children and Challenging Behavior: Making inclusion work), Program for Infant and Toddler Curriculum (PITC), TouchPoints (Dr. Brazelton), Sensory Processing Disorders, Hand in Hand (Play Intervention), SEEDS (Literacy and School Readiness), and Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos and Preschoolers. These classes are co-sponsored with CCRR.

At our site visits and classes the Early Childhood Training/Education Initiative supports children and their families by partnering with the providers to develop and provide culturally appropriate ideas for activities, experiences, and routines. We support and promote providers and parents to use “Ages and Stages” as a screening tool to see where the children are in their development so they can foster children to their next developmental milestone in all areas in their environment. To assess the progress of each child’s development we support having parent/teacher conferences two times a year using the “Creative Curriculum Development

Additional Information is provided in these links below.

• Training Curriculum/Tips
• Ojibwe Words you may also find more Ojibwe words and language here or an Ojibwe/English dictionary here.

This program licenses Child Care Providers on or near the White Earth Reservation. The goal of the licensing program is to improve the quality and availability of child care throughout our service areas (Becker, Mahnomen, and a portion of Clearwater County). This program is for anyone who is an enrolled member in a federally recognized tribe OR a direct descendant of an enrolled member. There are many advantages to becoming a licensed child care provider that are listed in our Provider Information Packets. Assistance in the start up of a child care program is available. Please contact our office for more information on services.

Parent Aware
Parent Aware is Minnesota's Quality Rating System for child care professionals. White Earth Nation encourages and supports all tribally licensed child care providers to become PA rated. More information on PA can be found on: childcareawaremn.org/providers/parent-aware

Parent Aware helps programs find opportunities to improve their quality, supports them with the tools and resources they need to succeed, and celebrates the work they are doing to create better lives for children in Minnesota. childcareaware.org/state/minnesota

Additional information is provided in the links below:

• Family/Group Licensing Standards
• Licensing Application
• License Renewal Application
• Tribally Licensed Providers
• Provider Brochure
• Provider Showcase

Additional information is provided in the links below:

READY SET READ!