Bright Spots Winners: August 2024

Karen Segler

ERSEA Coordinator for Community Action Development Corporation (CADC) Head Start

If you have ever attended a ChildPlus PIR training or listened to our recent ChipChat podcast episode, you’re guaranteed to hear us say, “It’s never too early to begin working on the PIR.” This month’s Bright Spots winner lives by this motto.  

Meet Karen Segler, ERSEA Coordinator for Community Action Development Corportation (CADC) Head Start. Since one of Karen’s roles is ChildPlus Administrator, she serves as the project manager for PIR. Long before the program term began, Karen set a goal to submit the PIR by the first week in July. I’m sure we’d all like to avoid the last-minute cram sessions in August. We believe Karen’s strategies can help! 

To accomplish such a lofty goal, Karen rallied the support of each department, delegated duties and set regular deadlines. Here are just a few of her strategies.  

• Assigned PIR tasks to each department 

• Ensured teams were responsible for keeping each other accountable 

• Added PIR check-ins as an agenda item for reoccurring meetings 

• Utilized ChildPlus features and resources to address hurdles 

Thanks to a solid plan and supportive team, CADC met their goal of submitting the PIR in July – and even then, Karen kept going! She made note of obstacles and used that to inform changes to improve processes for the next year.  

It’s never too early to get started on the next one!