Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Vermont Department for Children and Families’ (DCF) mission is to foster the healthy development, safety, well-being, and self-sufficiency of Vermonters. The Department is structured around six Divisions that deliver programs and services to Vermonters; one of those Divisions is the Child Development Division (CDD). CDD works to increase access to high-quality, sustainable services that are developmentally beneficial for children, strengthen families, and meet their needs. The Strengthening Families Approach, including the Five Protective Factors Framework™, is a researchinformed approach (also referred to as “The Approach”) to increase family strengths, enhance child development and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. The Approach is founded on engaging families, programs, and communities in building the protective factors. CDD established the Strengthening Families Program (SFP) in 2010, as part of major reform in child care assistance policy and practice to be in alignment with the Vermont population-level quality of life outcomes contained in Act 186. The purpose of the CDD’s SFP is to support families and children who are experiencing medical, socio-economic, and/or developmental challenges to have equal access to high-quality, comprehensive early childhood services, including child care services that contribute to enrolled children’s readiness for school and help families provide stable and supported households for their child(ren). The Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division (hereinafter the “State” or “CDD”), is seeking to award a grant or grants to one or more Vermont early childhood programs, including family child care homes and center based child care and preschool programs, to implement the Strengthening Families Approach in their early childhood programs. The Strengthening Families Program (hereinafter the “SFP”) seeks to promote better engagement, support, and partnership between childcare providers and caregivers (i.e., parents, foster parents, kinship caregivers, etc.) in order to achieve the best outcomes for children.
