Q&As for Required Ready by Five Trainings
Q: Who should attend trainings?
A: All direct professional staff and supervisors funded by the Ready by Five Millage at .5FTE or higher.
Q: How do I know who counts as a Ready by Five-funded professional?
All direct positions included in the current service provider agreement that is listed as .5 FTE or higher should attend. If an indirect position directly supervises one or more of these positions, they should attend the Supervisor Learning Cohort.
Q: What trainings are being offered? (Click the link to learn more!)
- Family Promise – Surviving to Thriving (1-hour training information - and - 3-hour-training information)
- Health Net West Michigan – Care Model Training
- Health Net West Michigan – Supervisor Learning Cohort
Q: Why is training required?
With the significant reach of children and expecting parents in Kent County, First Steps Kent sees an opportunity to further cultivate the “Kent County Way.” This is a network that is responsive to the needs of families and young children in Kent County as well as professionals in the network. These pieces of training were selected by the Resident Proposal Review Board as they offered important information that is relevant to all professionals who support families and aim to build peer support among program professionals – something that has been challenging to foster over the past few years.
Q: How do I find out when trainings are offered?
A: Information about upcoming training dates and times will be sent to the program lead of each Ready by Five funded programs. Information will come from Health Net of West Michigan and Family Promise.
Q: What documentation is required by my program to track?
A: Records that detail dates of training, attendance, and topics covered are to be maintained and made available during the annual assessment process. Confirmation of attendance should be sent to you by the agency providing the training to keep on file.
Q: What if a professional has already received similar training recently?
A: A professional may be waived from required training hours if they can verify that equivalent training has been completed in the past 12 months during the annual assessment process.
Q: I have been a supervisor for many years and am very experienced! Should I still attend the trainings?
A: Absolutely! The Supervisor Learning Cohort is about bringing professionals of all levels of experience together to learn from one another. Please do attend!
Q: Could additional early childhood professionals attend trainings?
A: Please see the following grid that provides additional details:
Q: Are there additional trainings that will be offered through the Ready by Five network?
A: Based on feedback from partners and the Ready by Five evaluation process, trainings may be modified, and additional opportunities may be added.
We also want to remind everyone that each of the Ready by Five Translation and Interpretation providers offer in-services for requesting agencies. This is an opportunity for professionals to learn about cultural considerations as they serve families and children from specific cultural groups. While these are not required, we highly encourage you to use these services.