This section contains a series of fact sheets, technical assistance papers, and issue briefs that profile important topics about building systems of child care that support quality care for babies and toddlers.
Some of these products are large files ranging from 200KB to 40MB. Adobe Acrobat files tend to be much smaller (less than 1.5MB).
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| NEW: QUALITY RATINGS SYSTEMS DESIGN ELEMENTS FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS |
Quality Rating Systems (QRS) are being implemented in States, Tribes and Territories to establish a means to both define and promote quality in child care settings. These rating systems include five common elements: 1) standards, 2) accountability measures, 3) program and practitioner outreach and support, 4) financial incentives, and 5) parent/consumer education. These are program-wide in scope, and apply to the care of all children. Given the developmental needs of babies and toddlers, however, specific aspects of care can be defined that speak to quality for the very youngest children in child care. This document offers suggestions for the intentional inclusion of quality indicators for infants and toddlers within QRS.
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| NEW: INFANT/TODDLER EARLY LEARNING GUIDELINES |
The purpose of this document is assist States, Territories, and Tribes working to improve the quality of infant/toddler child care. In response to the 2002 Good Start, Grow Smart initiative, States have developed guidelines for 3-5 year olds that align with K-12 standards. Some states used this momentum to establish early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers. This document is an overview of existing infant/toddler early learning guidelines (ELGs), intended as a resource for States and Territories as they develop and revise their ELGs for infants and toddlers.
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NEW: PLANNING FOR THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND TARGETED FUNDS FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS |
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This fact sheet lists key elements of a child care system that supports quality care for babies and toddlers, and describes the characteristics of each element. It also includes a graphic representation of the system that shows how the elements are inter-related and differentiates elements that impact direct services from those that are part of the child care infrastructure. The Initiative uses this model to help States and Territories map their current system to inform the planning of future work around infant and toddler child care. (more)
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| NEW: INFANT/TODDLER CHILD CARE CREDENTIALS |
States and Territories are increasing the availability of infant/toddler coursework and training and formally recognizing professional achievement in infant/toddler caregivers through credentials, certificates, certification, or endorsements. This fact sheet provides a list of States that have or are developing credentials for infant/toddler caregivers and provides a description of each credential. (more) |
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AT-A-GLANCE: INFANT AND TODDLER CHILD CARE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE AND ENGAGEMENT |
| There is a growing interest across the county in providing effective messages and information to the public regarding the importance of the first three years of life and how parents, family, and other caregivers, as well as early childhood professionals and policy makers, can work within their roles to provide the best start for babies and toddlers. There are new as well as existing efforts to engage parents and the public that may be of interest to States and communities. This document briefly describes some national and state campaigns and provides a few resources. (more)
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AT-A-GLANCE: EARLY CHILDHOOD SYSTEMS PLANNING FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS |
| Currently across the county there is an unprecedented interest in developing plans to improve and coordinate early childhood services in order to achieve an effective early care and education system. In the last few years system-planning initiatives have been sponsored and supported by federal, state, county and city governments as well as foundations and national organizations. Many states are involved in multiple planning initiatives and are interested in finding ways to integrate efforts and achieve a continuum of quality early care and education for all children birth to five. This document provides an overview of system planning efforts and includes considerations for states and communities who want to assess whether their planning efforts will meet the needs of children under three. (more)
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AT-A-GLANCE: FINANCING INFANT AND TODDLER CHILD CARE |
| In order to achieve high quality infant and toddler child care, funding needs to come from private and public sources, including parents, employers, civic groups, government, and foundations. Federal, state and community leaders are challenged to find, allocate, and effectively use funds for early childhood services. They face competing interests and priorities for limited resources. This document includes some key considerations to examine in financing services, integration of funding examples, strategic and effective use of funding, supports for families with infant and toddlers, public/private partnership examples and other financing efforts and resources. (more)
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AT-A-GLANCE: EVALUATION AND INFANT/TODDLER CHILD CARE |
| Every two years States and Territories engage in the process of developing plans for the use of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) to provide assistance to families to pay for child care and to improve the quality of care. While the majority of funds are used for child care subsidy, a great deal of attention is given to the potential uses of the quality set-asides and earmarks. CCDF administrators and other early care and education leaders want to find the most effective uses of funds to improve services for children. Because the years from birth to three are critical to children's development, school readiness, and future success, the effective use of the infant/toddler earmark and other funds for infant/toddler services is of particular concern. This document provides information about ways States and Territories can use system and program evaluation to determine the effective use of funds for children under three. (more)
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AT-A-GLANCE: A PLACE AT THE POLICY TABLE FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS |
| Effective policies and adequate resources support and sustain essential programs in order to meet the needs of babies, toddlers, and their families. This document provides an overview of policy goals and strategies that support the three elements listed above. (more)
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| UPDATED: INFANT/TODDLER SPECIALIST NETWORKS |
Infant/Toddler Specialists are individuals whose job it is to provide support to professionals and caregivers who provide early care and education to infants and toddlers. This fact sheet includes a map showing the States that have Infant/Toddler Specialist Networks and describes each State's approach. It also includes a chart that details each network’s funding sources, staffing levels, and the year the network started. (more)
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| UPDATED: EARLY LEARNING GUIDELINES |
The development of early learning guidelines for 3- and 4-year olds is one of the three goals included in the Good Start, Grow Smart initiative. Many States and Territories are including early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers in their work on this goal. This fact sheet describes special considerations in developing early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers, including those with special needs, and explains how early learning guidelines differ from program standards. It also provides links to State and Territory early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers that had been identified as of April 2006. (more) |
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| CAREGIVER EDUCATION AND TRAINING |
Professional development is one of three goals included in the Good Start, Grow Smart initiative. As States and Territories move
forward with their
work, many are including professional development opportunities that are
directed to infant and toddler caregivers. This fact sheet provides a
number of highlights taken from the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) State plans and the Council for Professional Recognition's Child
Development Associate (CDA) program, that relate to education and
training for providers who care for babies and toddlers. (more)
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| CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND INFANT/TODDLER EARMARK |
| This fact sheet presents a national picture of how State and Territory activities funded with the FY2004-2005 infant/toddler earmark address key elements of an early care and education system that supports quality care for babies and toddlers. It includes the percentage of States and Territories that are addressing each element, as well as selected examples of activities. This publication also lists the kinds of activities that are included under each key element, and serves as a good companion to "Early Care and Education Systems that Support Quality Care for Babies and Toddlers: Key Elements." A PowerPoint presentation that presents similar information is also available (HTML format).
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CREATING A SYSTEM OF HIGH-QUALITY CHILD CARE FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS: LINKING TO GOOD START, GROW SMART |
In April 2002, President Bush introduced the early childhood initiative Good Start Grow Smart . This effort was launched to support young children's school readiness from ages 3-5. Because the foundation for school readiness skills takes root before age 3, infant and toddler child care programs and providers are critical stakeholders, along with States, preschool programs and schools, in Good Start Grow Smart initiatives. This publication discusses how the three key areas of early learning guidelines, professional development, and program coordination, can be used to improve the quality of infant and toddler care. (more)
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| LICENSING RULES FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS |
| Based on the information in a report by Sarah LeMoine and Gwen Morgan, the Initiative developed national maps that show the licensing ratios for infants and toddlers at 6 weeks, 9 months, 18 months, and 27 months. The report, available through the Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting web site, titled "Do States Require Child Care Programs to Educate Children? (Report #3: Infant/Toddler Rules to Assure Early Education and Strong Relationships)" , examines the baseline requirements that states have for child care centers that serve infants and toddlers. The report is part of a study of State child care licensing rules to determine whether the States require child care centers to provide education to children or intend the rules only to protect children's health and safety.
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INFANT AND TODDLER SCREENSAVER |
The National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative and the Early Head Start National Resource Center developed a screensaver in 2003 to present facts about infant and toddler child care in an engaging format. The screensaver was officially released at the 2004 Birth to Three Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The screensaver has been shared with State/Territory child care administrators, Early Head Start Programs nationwide, and members of the 20 State/Territory teams participating in the National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative.
To download the screensaver, click on the icon to the right. It is the responsibility of each user to ensure that their computer is up-to-date with the latest version of virus detection and protection software. The National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative bears no responsibility for virus(es) transmitted via the internet. The information contained in the screensaver is also available in an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file. If you cannot download or access these files, contact the National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative at itcc@zerotothree.org to obtain a single copy of the screensaver, which can then be re-produced.
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| Additional publications related to infant and toddler child care can be found at the NCCIC On-line Library. |
