The county collaborative core team must include four key members. These include representation from the county school system pre-k program, the county school system preschool special needs program, a licensed community child care program in that county not operated by the county school system, and the Head Start program in that county. A representative from the local Department of Health and Human Resources and/or child care resource and referral agency shall be included in the core team when there is no licensed community childcare representative. The licensed community childcare representative must be elected through a vote conducted by all participating child care center representatives. The voting process should only be conducted by community childcare directors. Additionally, there should be a mechanism for the childcare representative to serve as an intermediary for other childcare center directors. As an intermediary, the elected childcare representative should ensure provisions for sharing information among childcare directors and solicit input for the pre-k program.

The county collaborative early childhood team must also include a full county team with various representatives. Membership should include the parent/guardian of a preschool child, representative(s) from the West Virginia Birth to Three System Regional Administrative Unit, local Department of Health and Human Resources, and/or Child Care Resource and Referral agency; school health representative; classroom teachers; Family Resource Networks; Parent Education Resource Center; Starting Points; faith-based early childhood program providers; and/or other community organizations and persons interested in, knowledgeable of, or who provide support or education to young children and their families. Due to the nature of child care, every licensed child care program in the county must be extended an invitation to participate on the full collaborative team. This coordinated system, as illustrated below, provides county collaborative early childhood teams with comprehensive resources and promotes linkage of services for children and families birth throughout elementary school. The county collaborative early childhood core team shall annually assess the composition of the full county collaborative early childhood team.