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Showing stories 1 - 5 of 5.
VA - Local nonprofit proposes standard requirements for child care workers
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Monday, January 22 @ 09:31:04 EST by emohan
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A local association is proposing nationwide adoption of community-based training requirements for all childcare workers.
Currently, there are nearly 12 million children under age 5 cared for every week in childcare facilities in the U.S. Many are small family-run organizations operating out of the home
“It is astonishing that in America today adults can begin working in child care with no previous training or experience in early childhood education,” said Linda Smith, executive director of the Arlington-based National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
NACCRRA’s proposal, released last week, would require a minimum of pre-service training for all paid providers caring for unrelated children on a regular basis. The agencies that her group represents would actually do the training, once a program has been approved and vetted by the individual states.
Smith told The Examiner that many of the agencies that make up her group had been calling for a more formal series of training guidelines and a national standard for childcare workers.
“Most states only require 12 hours of training a year, and that can be anything that people want, even taking the same workshops over and over again,” Smith said. “Our research showed that the quality of (child) care is not improving, and that agencies have been urging formal training programs as a way to improve the quality of care.”
“This effort should begin at the state and federal level by creating training requirements for all child care providers,” Smith explained. The plan also calls for a national trainer credential to be established.
Many referral agencies have already started their own training programs.
“We make individual assessments of our care givers, starting with home evaluations and site visits,” said Wynne Busman, associate director of the Infant and Family Toddler Day Care in Fairfax, a local referral agency.
Full text available at the Examiner
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FL - A New Plan May Increase Child Care Employee Training
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Thursday, January 18 @ 09:12:07 EST by emohan
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Dana Clary is a teacher with experience at Mahan Preschool. Years ago she was hired by a day care but had no experience in taking care of young ones.
"When I started working I didn't have training at all. It was more of someone taking a chance and hiring me."
Neither Florida nor Georgia requires child care workers to have training before they're employed in day care. That has some parents concerned.
Lori Womack is one of those parents.
"I wouldn't like to know that I had a provider coming in to take care of my child with no training," she said.
In Florida new employees are able to work with children right away, but have 90 days after their date of hire to enroll in training courses.
Some day care directors like Laura Smith say that is unacceptable.
"If you want to go into a certain field you normally get trained to do it, so why should child care be any different? You should have the training when you walk in the door. What I would say is urge the directors to not hire the people that don't have the training. Make that your policy."
Now the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies is trying to change these policies with a new plan. One main focus would make child care training mandatory before an employee's first day of work.
Full text available at Eyewitness News
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Quality child care expensive: WI, MN are among the least affordable states
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Wednesday, January 17 @ 11:06:22 EST by emohan
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Riley Hunter has two children, no husband and a job that doesn’t always end at 5 p.m. or on Fridays. The 27-year-old sells insurance and needs to be available when clients are, she said. Her schedule makes finding child care a challenge.
She rushes during the week to pick up her children each day before the free after-school program at Franklin Elementary closes at 5:15 p.m., and relies on family and friends to fill in the gaps when she’s not home.
Anything more, she said, is financially out of reach.
“I’m a single mom, and it’s hard. I need every penny,” Hunter said. “Child care is way expensive.”
She’s not alone in that struggle to find child care that is both decent and affordable.
Nearly 12 million children younger than 5 are in some type of child care every week. The cost, on average, is more than rent or many other monthly household expenses, according to the study “Parents and the High Price of Child Care” from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
Minnesota and Wisconsin rank among the 10 least-affordable states in the United States in child care costs for infants and 4-year-olds in a child care center, according to the study.
Wisconsin parents paid an average of $6,968 in 2005 for full-time preschool care and $8,372 for full-time infant care, while Minnesota’s average prices were $8,832 and $11,796, respectively.
Child care subsidies are available in many states, including Wisconsin and Minnesota, and can help offset costs for some working families. But many low-income parents have trouble just meeting the required co-payments, experts said, or they don’t know the aid programs are available.
The result is some parents sacrifice quality for cost, according to the national study, or bounce from one child care provider to another to dodge bills.
Average full-time rates in a La Crosse County licensed center in 2005 were $146.93 a week for a child younger than 2 and $119.09 for ages 2 to 12. Family Resources’ Child Care Resource and Referral said the 2006 averages weren’t expected to change much.
Child care providers set their own prices, which can include hours spent planning activities, shopping for supplies and attending continuing education classes, said Audra Wieser of the Child Care Services Department at Family Resources in La Crosse.
“Parents need to remember (providers) are running a business,” Wieser said. “It is important people understand there is a lot that goes into it.”
It’s important as well, she said, that parents remember a higher price doesn’t necessarily indicate better care.
“Parents can shop around for child care, but I hate to encourage shopping around for price,” Wieser said. “The level of care should always be the most important thing.”
Parents should tour the home, check references, talk with other parents and inquire about a daily schedule before enrolling their child in a particular program, she said.
They also can check with their local Child Care Resource and Referral for any health or safety violations.
Full text available at the La Crosse Tribune
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Protecting children when disaster strikes
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Monday, November 20 @ 13:11:27 EST by emohan
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Thirty-one children were saved last week by quick-thinking staff who gathered them into the only safe place in their Montgomery, Ala., day care center as high winds turned the building into a pretzel of torn metal.
The staff knew what to do because they had been drilled on the facility’s disaster plan. Now the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies is working to be sure all day care centers are as well prepared.
The Arlington-based group has launched a nationwide effort to train day care providers, inform parents and partner with government agencies to develop plans to shelter or transport young children in the wake disasters such as storms, chemical emergencies or a terrorist attack.
The centerpiece of the initiative is a disaster planning guide covering every type of child care facility in the nation.
“We recognized that child care is virtually “invisible” when it comes to emergency planning,” said the association’s president, Linda Smith.
Smith’s organization worked extensively with providers and referral agencies in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
Her group began a review of what kinds of information was available to providers and parents that could guide their actions and planning for a catastrophe.
“That’s when we realized there were no detailed plans or procedures as to what to do in the event of a disaster,” Smith said.
NACCRRA began to hold meetings and conferences with those who had experienced the issue first hand.
These included child care workers from Oklahoma City, areas that had experienced floods, tornadoes and even earthquakes — and New York City where a day care center in the World Trade Center was evacuated.
The experiences of the day care workers became the foundation for a disaster planning guide that is now being distributed nationwide. Smith’s group is also training day care workers and other trainers.
Full text available at the Washington Examiner
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CA - Child care for military
Submitted by emohan. Posted on Monday, November 20 @ 12:39:16 EST by emohan
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Child Care Resource Center offers child care assistance for active and reserve military
Area military families now have a new place to turn to when searching for child care and child development programs. The Child Care Resource Center, in partnership with the Department of Defense and the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies is offering child care assistance to active-duty military families who live off-base and do not have access to on-base child care. The program includes child care financial assistance and one-on-one support to help locate high-quality child care for active duty and reserve military families. "We know that military families can face significant challenges while a parent or guardian is away from home serving our country," said Mitchell Chase, Community & Government Relations Manager for CCRC. "That's why we're pleased to be able to offer services to meet the unique needs of military families and let them know that CCRC is here to help." Chase was also be on hand as emcee at Antelope Valley's Veterans Day Welcome Home parade for military veterans.
CCRC is a member of the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, which works with the Department of Defense to support the child care needs of off-base parents who are activated or deployed for military service.
Full text available at the LA Daily News
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