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Think Small/Child Care Aware of Minnesota Training Policies

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Think Small/Child Care Aware of Minnesota Training Policies (PDF)

Health and Safety Plan and Training Policies

These protocols are designed to keep the early childhood workforce safe, including trainers, educators, and staff from Think Small/Child Care Aware of Minnesota.

Participants who are exhibiting signs or symptoms of any communicable illness (including COVID-19) should not attend training. Assistance with transferring to an alternative training will be provided when Think Small is notified of an illness before the training event. Contact pdsupport@thinksmall.org or call (651) 641-3549.

  • Per current CDC Guidelines, please stay home and away from others if you have a respiratory virus, including COVID-19. You can attend a training after you have been fever-free (without fever-reducing medication) for at least 24 hours and your symptoms are improving. If you are attending a training within the first five days of resumed activity, please consider taking additional precautions, such as maintaining good hygiene, wearing a mask, and practicing physical distancing.
  • Masks are optional for all participants and trainers for the duration of the training.

Registration and Payment

  • Registrations are final. We are unable to offer refunds.
  • A Develop account or membership and a Think Small Institute account are required for registration.
  • Training registration is available online at Develop and Think Small Institute.
  • Technical assistance with Develop and Think Small Institute is available through Think Small PD Support by email at pdsupport@thinksmall.org and by phone at (651) 641-3549.
  • Registrations will be accepted up to 5 days prior to the start of training.
  • Pre-registration is required. No walk-ins are allowed.
  • Children aged 13 and above, with paid registration, will be allowed to attend training. Children under age 13 are not permitted to attend training.
  • Breastfeeding or nursing mothers whose newborns are solely dependent on them for nutritional needs may bring their nursing infants (under 7 months of age) to training sessions held at Think Small or at an off-site location. If, in the trainer’s judgment, the child becomes a distraction to the training, the mother will be asked to step out of the classroom with the infant. All other attendance policies remain in effect.

Cancellations made by Think Small

  • Child Care Aware of Minnesota/Think Small may need to cancel a training for various reasons. In the event of cancellation, participants will be notified as soon as possible, and a refund of the training fee will be issued.
  • Weather-related cancellations will be made by 2:00 pm for weekday training. For Saturday trainings, decisions will be made by 2:00 pm the day prior to the event. Child Care Aware of Minnesota/Think Small staff will notify participants via phone and/or email.

Attending Training: In Person

  • Training will start and end on time. Participants who miss 15 minutes or more of the training or fail to comply with the training policy will not receive credit. Participants arriving late will not receive a refund.
  • Your training instructor will record attendance during class. The trainer will record attendance for multi-session events at each session. To receive credit for the course for a multi-session event, all sessions must be attended; no partial credit will be given.
  • All cell phones must be silenced and put away during training sessions unless there is an emergency. Excessive cell phone use during training may result in loss of participation credit. Participants who need to step out to take a phone call should limit their absence to no more than 15 minutes to ensure full participation in the session.
  • Participants will have access to the training classroom 15 minutes prior to the start of training.
  • Training attendance and verification can be accessed on DevelopToolMN.org by logging into your individual Develop account and viewing or printing your Learning Record. Hard copy certificates are not available. You may also access your attendance record through your Think Small Institute account.
  • Attendance will be updated in Develop within three business days of the training event. It is your responsibility to ensure that your attendance is recorded in the training.
  • Child care is not provided, and children are not allowed to attend unless they are registered for the course and are 13 years of age and above.
  • Bring appropriate learning materials (paper, writing utensil, and/or laptop or tablet).
  • Select courses have a corresponding participant guide. This will be indicated at the time of registration and in the training reminder email. Participants are responsible for bringing their own copy to training. To access guides, please visit DCYF Participation Guides. Guides are located under their course title.
  • Think Small/Child Care Aware of MN staff, trainers, and training participants must follow the guidelines of the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct.

Attending Training: Online

  • For your safety and full participation, you may not participate in an online training event while driving. Participants driving during a training will not receive attendance credit.
  • Training will start and end on time. Participants who miss 15 minutes or more of the training or fail to comply with the training policy will not receive credit. Participants arriving late will not receive a refund.
  • Each participant must register individually and be prepared to join the training event on their own electronic device.
  • To receive attendance credit in Develop, you must be present, on camera, and actively participating (including break-out sessions) for the duration of the event.
  • Do not disconnect from the training event during any breaks. Turn off your camera and mute yourself instead.
  • Please check that your displayed name is your real name (first and last).
  • If you have technology issues, please alert your trainer.

Interpreters

  • Upon request, Think Small can provide an interpreter free of charge. Please contact pdsupport@thinksmall.org or (651) 641-3549 to request an interpreter or to notify us that you will be bringing your own interpreter as soon as possible, or at least 7 days before the training event.
  • We will try to accommodate all interpreter requests. If an interpreter is not available, we will assist participants in finding alternative training options.
  • If a participant prefers to bring their own interpreter, that interpreter must be 18 years of age or older.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

  • Child Care Aware of Minnesota/Think Small will comply with all federal and state laws concerning the support of persons with disabilities and act in accordance with the regulations and guidance of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
  • Upon request, Think Small will provide an educator with an ADA Disability Accommodation Request Form. The accommodation form must be received 7 days prior to the training event. If requests can be reasonably accommodated without creating undue hardship or causing a direct threat to workplace safety, services will be provided. Think Small staff will work with the individual to determine reasonable accommodations. The individual will receive a response after submitting the Accommodation Request Form to PD Support at PDsupport@thinksmall.org.
  • Accommodations may include, but are not limited to:
    • Changes to the environment, which may include making existing facilities readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials, or policies, the provision of qualified readers or interpreters, and other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
    • Modifications for people with communications disabilities (blind, Deaf, Deaf/Blind). Guidance is available at ADA Effective Communication.
    • Service animals, which must follow the ADA Service Animals policy.

Child Care Aware of Minnesota Professional Development Contacts

To contact your local Child Care Aware organization:

In-person training

Online training