Early Childhood Focus

Smart Horizons Institute Offers Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) Program Online in English and Spanish

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:12:41 PST

EXCERPT FROM: PRWeb
By PRWeb
Smart Horizons Institute now offers the Florida Child Care Professional Credential(FCCPC) online for both English and Spanish speakers. The Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) certificate focuses on the competencies required by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) for early childhood professionals seeking a Florida staff credential. The program provides early childhood professionals the skills and knowledge necessary for working with young children.

House panel unveils proposed education budget

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:41:39 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Florida Times-Union
By Matt Dixon
The panel tasked with crafting the House's education budget unveiled their first proposal.

I-Team: State loop hole allows childcare facilities to ditch complaints on DCF site

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:02:29 PST

EXCERPT FROM: ABC Action News
By Alan Cohn
TAMPA - An I-Team investigation has discovered a state website designed to help parents check out whether the day care where they send their children is safe may not tell the whole story. Not even close.

Budget Cuts Hit After-school Programs

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:09:23 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Miami Herald
By Kathleen Mcgrory
Miami-Dade schoolchildren return to the classroom this week, but as many as 4,500 may not be returning to their after-school programs.

Jacksonville Families Struggle for Access to Quality Early Education

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:59:59 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Florida Times-Union
By Deirdre COnner
Every day in Jacksonville, thousands of children are denied the opportunity to learn during their critical first years, often despite parents' best efforts.

Will Florida Raise the Bar for Child-care Centers?

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:27:37 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Florida Times-Union
By Mary Kelli Palka
Florida is in the beginning stages of creating a statewide rating system, similar to one in Duval County, to help improve the quality of early learning in child-care centers and give parents a tool in finding care.

City of Hope: Many Duval Child Care Providers Lack Adequate Training

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:33:37 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Florida Times-Union
By Mary Kelli Palka
With a kiss and a wave, Jayson Richemond's mother drops off the 1-year-old shortly after 5:30 one rainy January morning at Kidz n Kidz Academy in Arlington.

Childcare Background Screenings Go Unchecked

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:40:28 PST

EXCERPT FROM: WBBH News
By Andy Pierotti
FORT MYERS: To keep children safe, Florida law requires daycare centers to conduct criminal background checks on its workers. The state reviews those checks multiple times a year at licensed facilities; but it can't review them at unlicensed faith-based daycares.

Children's Movement's Goal: Helping Florida's Kids

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:43:08 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Miami Herald
By Carol Marbin Miller and Mar Cabra
The founders of The Children's Movement of Florida say they have discovered something that almost all Floridians hold in common: They love their children.

Set Statewide Safety Rules for Child-care Centers

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 10:35:24 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Palm Beach Post OPINION
By Rhonda Swan
At its first meeting Tuesday, a task force created to examine Florida's child-care standards will review how the state licenses the 12,846 facilities that provide care to more than 700,000 children.

Childcare Fees to Increase Per Defense Department Guidelines

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:29:59 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Florida Times-Union
By Kaylee LaRocque
Childcare fees at the NAS Jax Child Development Center (CDC), Youth Activities Center (YAC) and through the Child Development Home (CDH) program are increasing Oct. 1 due to inflation and increased incomes.

New State Law Exempts All Child Care Centers from Kitchen Inspections

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:14:11 PST

EXCERPT FROM: WPTV.com
By Staff
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The new law is creating problems for early head start centers which must provide two meals a day for low income children and it is keeping at least one center from opening. House Bill 5311 took effect July first. It prohibits the state Department of Health from inspecting not just this center, but all child care center kitchens in Florida, in both new and already operating centers. Pam Davis, the Executive Director of Kids Inc., says parents should be concerned. �The fact that no one is going to be out inspecting these kitchens that are in child care centers and schools and nursing homes," Davis said. "That concerns me as a citizen. I think that�s a public health hazard.�

Child-care Centers Struggle to Survive as Jobless Parents Withdraw Children

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:52:47 PST

EXCERPT FROM: The Palm Beach Post
By Laura Green
The day-care center director learns the whole embarrassing truth often before the mother-in-law, the pastor and sometimes even before the unemployment office.

Board Delays Vote on Child Care Funding

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:50:01 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Tampa Bay Online
By Jeff Schmucker
BROOKSVILLE - Criticism of a proposal to limit government funding to younger children - while eliminating funding for those 6 years or older - was enough to postpone a vote Monday by board members overseeing that funding to childhood education programs.

Amid Pleas, Hernando-Pasco Agency Delays Any Child Care Cuts

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 08:54:10 PST

EXCERPT FROM: St. Petersburg Times
By Tony Marrero
BROOKSVILLE � Caught between a tight budget and a roomful of angry child care providers and parents, the governing board of the Early Learning Coalition of Hernando and Pasco Counties on Monday delayed a decision on whether to cut child care subsidies for older children from low-income families.

State House and Senate Budget Proposals Drop Cuts to School Readiness

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:38:23 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Tallahassee.com
BY Tamaryn Waters
Early learning coalitions statewide are breathing a sigh of relief after successfully fighting against state budget cuts in school-readiness programs.

Program Helping Working Class Afford Child Care, Employers & State Pitch in to Fill the Gap

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:22:41 PST

EXCERPT FROM: PR Log Free Press Release
PR Log (Press Release) � Mar 29, 2010 � The Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida (ELC) is participating in the Child Care Executive Partnership Program (CCEP), helping to fill the gap in child care funding for working parents.

Fla. House Committee Votes for 1 Percent Cut in Pre-K Funding

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:51:31 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Firstcoastnews.com
By Dave Wax, Ann Butler, Erich Spivey
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida House Pre K-12 Appropriations Committee voted today to reduce per-student funding for pre-kindergarten by about 1 percent, rather than the originally proposed 15 percent, or $400.

Northeast Florida Parents Struggling to Find Safe Places for Children After School

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:22:52 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Jacksonville.com
By Deirdre Conner
When Maribel Hernandez got the school bus postcard two weeks before her daughter headed off to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts this year, she felt her stomach drop.

Bill Cotterell: Closing Child-Care Center Devastating for State Employees

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:47:26 PST

EXCERPT FROM: Tallahassee.com
By Bill Cotterell
State employees are understandably reluctant to talk on the record about any developments in their offices, especially when the news is bad.