Childcare is a dynamic industry. For those engaged in the daily work of educating young children, it can be rewarding, demanding, and filled with joy. It can also be challenging to keep up with changing requirements, new information and the shifting landscape of early education. Especially over the past several years, more 4-year-olds have moved to programs on elementary school campuses, leaving childcare programs to serve a younger population. Families continue to need information and support on a variety of issues and so do childcare providers.
Quality Counts California has been offering that support to childcare providers in various forms for over a decade. An umbrella group over 4 separate Quality Improvement (QI) grants, QCC’s goal is to foster high-quality programs for young children through supporting the providers who work in them. There are always classes, workshops and training available for those interested in furthering their knowledge in their field. But the QCC grants offer that extra component of a networking community to learn with and from, coaches to guide goal setting and a cash incentive for completing set milestones. For a field that is chronically underpaid and undervalued, sometimes these connections and rewards are just what a provider needs to feel valued, validated and part of a community.
For the 25-26 year, there are 80 individual applicants from 57 childcare programs (from Willow Creek to Redway) participating in Humboldt Quality Counts QI programs. These include family childcares and center-based childcare including tribal, head start, private and state preschools. These teachers will be engaging in many hundreds of combined hours of professional learning communities, coaching one-on-one and in groups, and attending classes, training and workshops to fulfil training requirements of grants and learn or maintain skills that enhance their ability to create quality childcare environments.