Children Northwest staff move off-site, become independent

On May 31, many came to wish Kristi Baker, Helen Cascaddan and Carol Sasse well in their transition to the Image Early Learning Center. We will miss seeing you at the main campus, but we’re happy knowing that you’re still working tirelessly for our ECE families with Children Northwest!

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In case you missed it…

Several weeks ago Tim announced that the Early Care & Education department was undergoing some restructuring around our relationship with our longtime partner, Children Northwest (CNW). This is due to the recent Early Head Start grant, which requires that the ESD do a public Request for Proposal (RFP) to staff the grant-funded positions. The ESD saw this as an opportunity to deliver a blended services model where we can share staff, professional development, management responsibilities and other supports collectively for SWCCC, ECEAP, and EHS programs.

CNW responded to the RFP and was selected to continue providing staff for the ECE programs, which means that all the employees in our child care centers will continue to provide services to our children and families. In order to establish the required separation between the ESD and CNW, the three member CNW team will move to their own office. Some former CNW staff housed here at the ESD main office officially became ESD employees on May 1.

“As state and national trends move toward blended funding and aligned program standards, we believe this structural change is the right thing to do,” wrote Tim in his announcement. “We are deeply committed to a smooth transition and commit to do everything possible to help CNW as they transform to an independent entity.”