Measles is circulating in Oregon. As of 30 August 2024, 31 measles cases have been reported—mostly in children, and all unvaccinated.
Measles is circulating in Oregon. As of 30 August 2024, 31 measles cases have been reported—mostly in children, and all unvaccinated.
Measles is highly contagious, quite unpleasant, and potentially dangerous. Measles is caused by a virus and spread from person to person through the air by infectious droplets. Just being in the same room with a child with measles could result in exposure. Measles generally presents with high fever (~104°F/40°C), cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes, and rash. A person with measles is considered contagious 4 days before the rash begins, so they can spread it even before they know they have it. They remain contagious for 4 days after the rash appears.
Safe and effective vaccines are available.
Although there is no cure for measles, there is a reassuringly safe and exceptionally effective vaccine—MMR—which offers protection against measles, mumps, and rubella. Healthy early learners should get two doses of MMR vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 to 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age. The vaccine is 97% effective in measles prevention.
Every two years, state agencies in Oregon are tasked with creating an Agency Request Budget (ARB). This important document outlines the agency’s recommended investments for the Governor and Legislature to consider. The 2025-2027 ARB marks a significant milestone for the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC), as it’s the first budget developed since the department’s inception.
Every two years, state agencies in Oregon are tasked with creating an Agency Request Budget (ARB). This important document outlines the agency’s recommended investments for the Governor and Legislature to consider. The 2025-2027 ARB marks a significant milestone for the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC), as it’s the first budget developed after the department’s inception.
DELC was established with a clear mission: to unify and strengthen Oregon’s early learning and child care system. By bringing together Oregon’s largest child care and early learning programs, DELC is committed to ensuring that all families with young children have access to the services, support, and information they need to thrive. The department’s approach is comprehensive, focusing on data-driven quality assurance, coordinated program administration, and active community engagement to shape policies that directly impact children and families.
The 2025-2027 ARB is built around two core priorities:
Sustainable Operations: Ensuring that DELC has the necessary infrastructure to support early learning and care across the state.
Access to Resources: Providing children and families with the tools and supports they need to foster a love of reading and promote literacy from a young age.
These priorities are vital as DELC continues its work to create a robust, equitable, and effective early learning system for Oregon’s youngest residents.
To dive deeper into DELC’s 2025-2027 Agency Request Budget and understand how these investments will shape the future of early learning in Oregon, read the full report here:https://www.oregon.gov/delc/about-us/Pages/delc-arb.aspx.
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DELC is designing a new Online Provider Management Platform that will integrate CCLD licensing and the ERDC program into one system.
The creation of DELC brought together the Child Care Licensing Division (CCLD) and the Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) program into the same new agency. Both are using 20+ year-old legacy systems. DELC is designing a new Online Provider Management Platform that will integrate CCLD licensing and the ERDC program into one system. The Online Provider Management Platform will allow child care providers to login and access certain licensing information, complete licensing applications, and track training requirements. Additionally, ERDC providers will be able to login and complete and submit billing forms using the Online Provider Management Platform. While we are designing this new Online Provider Management Platform, we want to hear what would be helpful to you to manage your own ERDC and Licensing in this new online system.
If you are interested in participating in an Engagement Session for this new system, please register for an engagement based on the type of care you provide. You can register here. A link will be sent to you two hours before your session.
Licensed Exempt ERDC providers
Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (interpretation available)
Certified and Registered Family providers
Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (interpretation available)
Certified Centers & School Age programs
Thursday, October 24, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
This is a virtual event. Registration is required to attend via Zoom. You may submit questions in advance on the registration form. You may also participate on DELC’s Facebook page live stream at the same time. DELC staff will monitor the Facebook comment section for questions. Note: Attendees utilizing interpretation services (Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese, and ASL) should join the session via Zoom.
August 2024 Department of Early Learning and Care Updates
A Message from the Director
Welcome to the July Edition of Chatterjee Chats! This month represented a big milestone with the celebration of One Year of DELC! This past year has been a blur of activity – we have accomplished so much together, and there is still more work to do. Here are some reflections from me as we close out the month and head into Year Two 😊
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Our August Update
Customer Service Survey As a new agency, we will be launching our first DELC Customer Service Survey in August. If you have received funding from us, called our customer service team, been licensed or interacted with us in any way – we want to hear from you! While all agencies are required to conduct a customer service survey, we are particularly excited to hear from you as we’ve offered services as DELC. This survey should take you less than five minutes, and any feedback you share with us will help us operationalize our value for continuous improvement. For more information, please check out our website: Department of Early Learning and Care : About Us : State of Oregon
Budget Development This will continue to be a topic here for awhile! We are entering the last month of Agency Request Budget (ARB) development. ARB will be released by September 1, 2024. Given the current revenue forecast, our ARB requests will be smaller compared to last biennium, but it is just the first step in the process and there is still a lot of work to do before the Governor’s Recommended Budget (GRB) is released in December.
Legislative Concepts In addition to budget development, another part of preparing for the Legislative Session is preparing legislative concepts (LCs) for consideration. While ARB will be released in September, LCs will take a bit more time. We won’t expect to receive a draft of our legislative concepts until late October, and we will have a very short turnaround (a few days). From there, our legislative concepts will still need to be reviewed and approved by the Governor’s Office prior to release. More information to come, but this is still in the works.
Tribal-State Government-to-Government Summit On July 24, DELC’s Tribal Affairs Director, Paulina Whitehat and I had the great pleasure of attending the 2024 Tribal-State Government-to-Government Summit, co-hosted by Governor Tina Kotek and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. The summit took place in Canyonville at Seven Feathers Casino Resort. Tribal leaders of Oregon’s nine federally recognized sovereign Tribal nations along with staff from multiple state agencies discussed a range of issues including evolving best practices in Tribal consultation approaches, indigenous ecological knowledge, and topics related to economic and sustainable futures. It was wonderful to see so many colleagues and partners in person, and the summit is always an informative and moving event. We are deeply appreciative of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe for hosting this year’s gathering.
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July 2024 Department of Early Learning and Care Updates
A Message from the Director
My name is Alyssa Chatterjee, and I am the director of the Department of Early Learning and Care, also known as DELC. Going forward, this will be a segment where I share my reflections on some of the big work we are doing across the agency each month. Today though, I wanted to take a look back at the past year – our first year as an agency.
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Our one-year anniversary update
There was an incredible amount of work that went into creating DELC between 2021 and 2023. But the work isn’t finished! Here are a few high points I’d like to share with you from the past year:
DELC Strategic Planning & DEI Action Plan Implementation – Our team worked with you – parents, providers, community partners – as well as our internal staff to design ambitious, but achievable plans for our agency that are now live. You can now check out Growing Oregon Together and our DEI Action Plan for yourself! Last week, we kicked off our first Implementation Team to keep this work moving – I am so excited to start making progress on these plans and share more with you in the coming months.
Birth Through Five Literacy – The Governor’s Early Literacy Success Initiative recognized the important role that early care and education plays in literacy development. We released our first Birth Through Five Literacy Plan in December, and are in the process of releasing a Request for Applications for programs to apply for the Birth Through Five Literacy Fund. As part of the Governor’s focus on early literacy, we were honored to be part of the expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program! Now, even more young children will have access to a free, developmentally appropriate book to look forward to every month.
Child Care Licensing and Risk-Assessed Rules – We have updated the Certified Center licensing rules and completed the first stage of Risk-Assessed Rules data collection. This is a critical step in creating consistent, objective licensing monitoring and compliance that reflects the spectrum of risk to children. We are beginning engagement to revise our Registered Family and Certified Family rulesets as well.
Child Care Infrastructure Fund – This week, we cohost a webinar with Business Oregon to share more information about the Child Care Infrastructure Fund application that will go live later this month. This is an amazing opportunity for child care providers, community-based organizations, culturally relevant programs, and other partners to access funding specifically for capital investments and improvements in their programs. This is an amazing example of how agencies can work together for a common goal, and highlights the shared responsibility many agencies have in supporting access to child care.
This is just a small sample – there is so much more incredible work we have accomplished together over the last year. I encourage you to read the anniversary press release for additional highlights. I am excited to continue on this journey together.
Cheers to 1 Year of DELC!
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