Parent Aware Redesign FAQs

Yes. The Parent Aware Redesign will address barriers to participation in the Parent Aware Quality Rating and Improvement System. More information on licensing changes can be found here, and the Provider Hub information can be found here. 

In 2021, the state engaged in efforts to better understand and address inequities within Parent Aware. As part of this effort, the department collaborated with Parent Aware partners through the Parent Aware Racial Equity Action Plan workgroup and engaged with hundreds of child care programs across the state to identify and report on barriers and to create a plan for improvement.

Guided by the recommendations made in March 2022, with the Parent Aware Racial Equity Action Plan, the Parent Aware Equity Engagement Report and the Parent Aware Equity Report, we held a series of targeted engagement events between summer 2023 and summer 2024. These public engagements brought together Parent Aware Ambassadors representing the individuals most impacted by barriers to participation in Parent Aware. 

As part of the Parent Aware Redesign, the department also evaluated how well Parent Aware supports positive outcomes for children, families and the early care and education workforce. This evaluation was required by law, began in March 2022, and was completed in September 2024. It focused on outcomes for children, quality of programs, parents’ experiences, and child care providers' ability to serve children. Learn more about the evaluation from Child Trends here.

1. Children thrive in environments where they feel accepted and validated as unique individuals. Programs with relevant and developmentally appropriate practices naturally encourage children to feel accepted and like they belong. Parent Aware wants to encourage and promote these practices, which also serves to minimize the use of suspension and expulsion of children from Parent Aware-participating programs. Currently there are disparities in the number of children suspended and expelled from programs based on race, gender, dis/ability, and income.

2. Parent Aware is working towards a desired state where all programs and providers can successfully participate in the program. Because some communities have historically not participated or have not remained in the program, we are identifying the barriers these communities have experienced and working to eliminate them. In cases where barriers cannot be eliminated, we are seeking to increase support for communities experiencing them so they can fully participate and remain in Parent Aware at the same levels other communities do.

3. Early educators in Parent Aware-participating programs access early child care and education workforce supports as part of participating in Parent Aware. These supports increase their knowledge and ability to work successfully with young children. However, there are currently disparities based on race, ethnicity, language, geography, and immigration status in early educators’ participation in early child care and workforce supports and achievement on the Minnesota Career Lattice. Parent Aware seeks to identify, address, and remove barriers to professional development participation and achievement.

4. Parent Aware wants to intentionally and continuously improve program standards, policies, practices, and programming. By centering the values and needs of families, educators, and providers who have experienced barriers in the past, we will ensure that Parent Aware does not set up barriers to accessing supports or participating, making the program open and available to everyone who wants to use it.

5. Our goal is for early care and learning environments to be safe and welcoming to children, families, and educators. Historical factors and systemic barriers have limited access for some people and communities to essential resources and opportunities, which created gaps that hinder full participation and success within those groups of people. By seeking to identify, address, and remove these factors and barriers, we will build more efficient, responsive systems that will allow all children, families, educators, and systems staff to fully engage and succeed.

   To support this goal, we are incorporating professional development focused on enhancing the ability to recognize and respond to a range of needs and perspectives within the communities we serve. These trainings will equip individuals with the skills to identify patterns that impact outcomes, improve communication, and enhance the overall effectiveness of their service delivery, ensuring that everyone has the support they need to succeed.

The Redesign aims to better serve early educators who have experienced barriers to Parent Aware related to their race, ethnicity, language, immigration status, dis/ability, gender and/or geography. By making targeted improvements for early educators that are informed by robust community engagement and evaluation, we know that families and children in Parent Aware participating programs will also benefit.

The Parent Aware Redesign decisions will largely be based on three factors: 1) the public recommendations from those with lived experience; 2) an analysis of what is feasible; and 3) which recommendations are most closely aligned with the five overarching goals of the Redesign.

The goal is to make changes to the Parent Aware System that are rooted in the Parent Aware Racial Equity Action Plan, the Parent Aware Equity Engagement Report, the Parent Aware Equity Report, the findings of the Parent Aware Evaluation, and from recommendations directly from parents, early educators and Child Care Aware staff and partners, in the Parent Aware System. The Redesign is broken out into five projects: Rating Pathways, Coaching and Advising, Reducing Suspensions and Expulsions, Addressing Incidents of Racial Bias and Discrimination, and Revising the Standards and Indicators. Each project is engaging the public through the Parent Aware Ambassadors and the Parent Aware Advisory Committee. 

The Parent Aware Redesign began in 2022 with a situation analysis, project selection, and public engagement with early educators and child care providers. In 2023 along with those working in the Child Care Aware system, and the Parent Aware Advisory Committee, over 300+ Parent Aware Ambassadors were recruited to give input on Parent Aware Standards and Indicators, Rating pathways and cohorts, coaching and advising, addressing racial bias and discrimination incidents, and the Develop database. In 2024 the Parent Aware Advisory Committee and 300+ Parent Aware Ambassadors were again recruited to give input through discussion sessions, surveys and focus groups. The department is testing some of the ideas put forth from public engagement by conducting pilots and by conducting additional engagement on Standards and Indicators, ideas for revisions to the Parent Aware framework, and on supports to early educators to reduce early childhood suspensions and expulsions. 

The Parent Aware Redesign recommendations will be shared in December 2024. Implementation of decisions will be introduced in 2026.