Quality Expansion Activities |
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Index: ACYF-PI-CC-99-05 | Examples of Activities | Quality Improvement Earmarks | FY98 Funding | Suggested Activities | Innovative Programs | ACF RAs | (Collection available in Word and PDF) |
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Related Items: FY 2001 CCDF Final Allocations and Earmarks |
List of Suggestions: Activities to Increase the Supply of Quality Care for Infants/Toddlers |
LIST OF SUGGESTIONS:
ACTIVITIES TO INCREASE THE SUPPLY OF QUALITY CARE
FOR INFANTS/TODDLERS
Ensuring that families have access to safe, affordable and high quality child care appropriate for infants and toddlers is a top priority for the Child Care Bureau and the Department. We know that many of States, Tribes and communities have implemented innovative and promising practices for infants and toddlers. We offer these suggestions for your consideration as you explore options for increasing the supply of quality care for infants and toddlers. This list is not intended to be a complete list of possible activities.
HEALTH CONSULTATION IN CHILD CARE & OTHER HEALTHY CHILD CARE AMERICA CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES
Rationale: The vulnerability of infants and toddlers to injuries and infections as well as their rapid change in behavior makes regular and frequent visits and contacts by health consultation extremely important to the quality of their care. However, many child care providers caring for infants have little or no access to health consultation.
Suggestions:
- Outstation health consultants in child care resource and referral agencies to provide health consultation to child care programs caring for infants and toddlers.
- Establish a "warm line" with a toll-free number where health consultants respond to inquiries from infant and toddler care providers.
- Develop a network of health consultants to provide technical assistance, training, and disseminate information to infant and toddler providers on a regular basis.
- Support collaborative activities underway in the 48 States, the District of Columbia, Republic of Palau and Puerto Rico to improve the health and safety of children in child care. Linking the child care and health community can help ensure that infants and toddlers are cared for in a safe environment and receive the health services they need.
MONITORING OF CHILD CARE PROGRAMS
Rationale: Frequent visits to child care programs caring for infants and toddlers can help ensure that programs are meeting state and local requirements as well as implementing appropriate child care practices for infants and toddlers.
Suggestions:
- Utilize state licensing or monitoring specialist to provide technical assistance during or as a follow-up to the licensing inspections.
- Increase monitoring and unannounced inspections of child care settings.
FAMILY CHILD CARE NETWORKS:
Rationale: Infants and toddlers are more likely to be cared for in family child care homes for a variety of reasons: home-like environment, close proximity to the child's home, flexibility in the hours of operation, meeting the needs of parents working nontraditional hours.
Suggestion:
- Develop networks to provide outreach, technical assistance and ongoing support to family child care providers.
TRAINING CURRICULUM
Rationale: Pre-service and continuous training of providers will provide the knowledge and skills needed to appropriately care for infants and toddlers.
Suggestions:
- Invest in pre-service and ongoing training that includes the care and development of infants and toddlers, and the identification of children exposed to violence or who are victims of child abuse and neglect.
- Partner with mental health services to provide support and training to providers caring for infants with psychological, emotional or behavioral problems.
- Partner with accredited institutions, health centers, nursing schools as a resource to educate and provide on-going training to providers.
- Recruit and train providers caring for infants and toddlers with disabilities.
- Provide to support to providers for integrating infants with special needs into child care.
SCHOLARSHIPS/GRANTS
Rationale: Financial assistance can enable providers to obtain on-going training and education.
Suggestion:
- Provide grants and scholarships to assist providers with meeting accreditation standards or health and safety requirements.
MENTOR PROGRAMS
Rationale: Mentoring programs can help build an infrastructure to support and promote the healthy development of infants and toddlers.
Suggestions:
- Develop mentoring programs for infant and toddler providers using accredited centers or organizations, Head Start Programs, licensing staff and the Department of Defense (DoD) program.
- Provide opportunities and resources to train providers to interact with teen parents as part of the child care experience to promote parent involvement.
STAFF-TO-CHILD RATIO
Rationale: Lower ratios make infant and toddler care more costly than care provided for older children.
Suggestion:
- Set higher reimbursement rates for providers caring for infants and toddlers.
CONTINUITY OF CARE FOR INFANTS/TODDLERS
Rationale: Continuity of care is important to the emotional and physical development of infants and toddlers.
Suggestions:
- Fund demonstration projects that promote practices to allow infants to remain with the same provider throughout the first three years.
- Increase wages for providers caring for infants and toddlers to reduce the high turnover rates.
CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL AGENCIES
Rationale: There are over 600 Child Care Resource and Referral programs in 49 States. They maintain databases on all legally operating child care and have on-going access to parents and providers. Each year Child Care Resource and Referrals train nearly 350,000 individuals who work in child care programs.
Suggestion:
- Partner with Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies to: train providers, conduct Medicaid outreach to ensure that infants and toddlers receive preventive care, and to expand the recruitment of infant and toddler providers.
KITH AND KIN CHILD CARE
Rationale: According to a report released by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau, families with working mothers most often rely on fathers, grandparents and other relatives for primary care of children under the age of 5.
Suggestion:
- Partner with child care resource and referral or other child care organizations to develop and implement a project to provide information, training, outreach to informal care providers.
LINKAGES WTIH DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD) CHILD CARE PROGRAMS
Rationale: In an executive memorandum dated April 17, 1997 the President directed the Department of Defense to share the military child care expertise with the civilian child care programs. In response to the directive DoD has established a 1-800 number (1-888-CDP-3040) for programs to order DoD training materials and to receive information on local DoD installation programs.
Suggestion:
- Partner with the Department of Defense for staff training and monitoring of child programs
LINKAGES WITH EARLY HEAD START PROGRAMS
Rationale: Early Head Start (EHS) programs provide comprehensive child development and family support services to low-income families with children under age three. EHS will provide training to new and existing grantees through a national Infant/Toddler Training and Technical Assistance Network.
Suggestions:
- Partner with EHS to train child care providers caring for infants and toddlers.
- Partner with EHS to increase the supply of high quality child care for infants and toddlers.
- Partner with EHS to enhance program services to child care programs caring for infants and toddlers.
PURCHASE EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS
Rationale: New recruits or current providers may need start-up or set-up materials to provide a safe and nurturing setting for infants and toddlers.
Suggestions:
- Provide mini-grants to providers for the purchase of equipment and materials such as cribs, toys and developmental supplies.
- Provide mini-grants to help providers meet health and safety standards.
CHILD CARE SUBSTITUTES
Rationale: Program funding and working long hours to meet the demands of working parents, does not allow providers time to participate in training and education.
Suggestions:
- Provide financial assistance to programs caring for infants and toddlers. The funding will allow the programs to hire substitutes to care for children while staff participate in training and education.
- Train substitutes to care for infants and toddlers.
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| Index: ACYF-PI-CC-99-05 | Examples of Activities | Quality Improvement Earmarks | FY98 Funding | Suggested Activities | Innovative Programs | ACF RAs | (Collection available in Word and PDF) |
| Related Items: FY 2001 CCDF Final Allocations and Earmarks |