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TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP: ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary Presentation

Board of Early Education & Care: Discussion March 13, 2012

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TWG’s Participants

                 Edward Madaus, Guild of St. Agnes George Richardson, Alliance Services of Metro Boston Margaret Rohanna, RMV Mal Hughes, Massachusetts Head Start Association Ardith Wieworka, Child Development and Education, Inc.

Bill Restuccia, Child Development and Education, Inc. and Transpro, LLC Liz Acosta, Transpro, LLC Bill Power, AMBTA Debbie Amaral, YMCA Evelyn Tobin, Massachusetts Alliance of YMCA George Flynn, NRT Bus, Inc.

JoAnn Howell, Community Teamwork, Inc.

Karen M. Pac, YMCA Southcoast Pamela Henry, AMBTA Gail Perry, EEC Carmel Sullivan, EEC John Swanson, EEC

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Management Responsibility TWG’s Recommendation

 Anyone who contracts and receives money is responsible for the child.

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Parent Notification Requirement TWG’s Recommendations

 Change language in the Policy’s first paragraph from “Parents and guardians are strongly urged to promptly notify the child care program that their child will be absent or will arrive later than scheduled that day” to “Parents and guardians must promptly notify the child care program that their child will be absent or will arrive later than scheduled that day.”  Adopt a “three strikes and you’re out approach” – this would place the onus on the child’s parent(s).

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Parent Notification Requirement TWG’s Recommendations (cont…)

 Delete the following sentence from the Policy’s second paragraph: • “If a provider is unable to reach the Transportation Provider, parent/guardian or emergency contact, the provider should contact the Family Child Care System or the umbrella organization applicable to that program to determine the location of the child.”  Delete the Policy’s third paragraph in its entirety:  “For any child who is privately transported or is transported on a vehicle supplied by a public school and who fails to arrive at the child care program within thirty minutes of his or her scheduled arrival time, the provider should contact the parent and/or the school to determine the child’s location, unless notified by the parent or the school that the child will be absent or will arrive later than scheduled that day.”

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Vehicle Safety: Adult Monitor TWG’s Recommendation

 If monitors are required, prefer to only have monitors for the age group of children that are too young to get out on their own (infants and toddlers) – however, additional funding would be needed.  Add language about an electronic monitoring device (child reminder system) if no monitor is available as a confirmation that the vehicle was verified.

 More affordable to install a vehicle monitoring device than to hire a monitor.

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Child Safety: Vehicle Monitoring Devices TWG’s Recommendation

 If vehicle monitoring devices are required, EEC should facilitate purchasing by providing a vendor for a reduced rate for the devices.

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Child Safety: Passenger Log TWG’s Recommendations

 Include language that states the following: “EEC expects that the Transportation Provider and the System or the Early Education and Care Licensed Provider, as appropriate, shall agree upon the form of the passenger log to reduce duplication.”  Obtaining parent/guardian signatures should be considered a best practice not a requirement.

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Child Safety: Secondary Vehicle Inspection TWG’s Recommendation

 Change the language from “immediately” to “when safety allows” conducting a post-trip inspection immediately after the last child is dropped off can be dangerous as there is not always a safe place to do this.

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Transportation Performance Standards TWG’s Recommendations

 The annual CORI reports for drivers are a duplicative expense:  The RMV 7D licenses must be renewed each year and, as part of the renewal process, a review of driving records and CORI reports.

 CPR/first aide requirement is costly for both driver and monitor:  Perhaps make it mandatory for only one adult on the vehicle to be trained in CPR/first aide.

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Transportation Performance Standards TWG’s Recommendations (cont…)

 Emergency, Accident and Safety Response: • Remove the following language: “If an emergency facility (i.e., hospital, Police Depart., Fire Dept., etc.) is known to be staffed with emergency response personnel and is within one minute or less travel time of the driver’s location, the driver must proceed immediately to that emergency facility and notify the Transportation Provider of where the driver is proceeding.” • Add the following language: “If an emergency facility (i.e., hospital, Police Depart., Fire Dept., etc.) is known to be staffed with emergency response personnel and is within one minute or less travel time of the driver’s location, the

driver must immediately call 911 and then notify the Transportation Provider and give his/her exact location and request emergency assistance (EMT, ambulance, state/local police, Fire Department, etc.).

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Transportation Provider Rates TWG’s Discussion Points

 Difficult to hire quality drivers: tough job, $13/hour, no benefits, high turnover rate.  No profit it the business: pour lots of money into the vehicles for maintenance, insurance rates are high, etc.

 What do other state agencies pay for transportation costs? What do other states pay for transportation costs?

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Transportation Provider Rates TWG’s Discussion Points (cont…)

 The four greatest costs for Transportation Providers:  (1) Payroll    (2) Gas (3) Workman’s Compensation (4) Insurance

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Transportation Provider Rates TWG’s Recommendations

 For quality transportation, $20 per child.

 EEC should conduct town meetings between now and the next Board meeting on the impacts of transportation rate changes.

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Policy and Research Committee Comments

 The policies and discussion points of the TWG were summarized for the Committee at the March 5, 2012 meeting.

 Members from the Committee suggested that EEC provide the Board with information regarding costs of quality transportation: the optimal number of children that can be served and the types of children eligible to benefit from transportation.