What do You Know????

Early Care & Education

Different Components of ECE

ChildcareZero to Three

Early Head Start-Zero and up Head Start 2 to 5

Pre-K Ages 4 to

5

Understanding that workers with young children need reliable child care, the Childcare Subsidy Program

helps low to moderate income families have access to child care services for hundreds of thousands of children

while their parents go to work.

We know from both current research and day-to-day

experience with children that the quality of child care is

critical for a child’s growth and development.

How do we measure, maintain and reward high-quality programs?

Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) are a recent trend as states work to build early care and education infrastructure (s).

Child care programs are assessed based on a set of criteria and assigned a rating level. (Parents can make choices based on this information.)

Sound QRIS initiatives are fully funded and have knowledgeable staff to back them up; incentives to

participate; support to make improvements and achieve higher quality levels over time; andrewards for reaching higher levels

QRIS

QRIS

Alabama PathwaysAlabama Pathways includes the Alabama Pathways Professional

Development Lattice that provides early care and education

professionals with a tool to track their professional development. The

professional development lattice reflects eight (8) levels of training and education to guide caregivers

and teachers of children from birth through twelve (12) years on the path that promotes high quality

early care and educational

knowledge and skills.

Alabama Early Learning GuidelinesThe Alabama Early Learning Guidelines (AELG) is a tool to guide early childhood caregivers and teachers in preparing each child for success in school and in life. The AELG address the building blocks that are essential to high quality early care and education of children from birth through five years in the areas of:

1) self-concept/emotional development2) social development3) language and literacy development4) physical development5) cognitive development

Assessment-The assessment of the AELG will measure the effectiveness and implementation of the Guidelines. A survey will be conducted in early August with individuals who completed the nine module course and received the AELG Credential

Child Care Time and Attendance System (TAS)The ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, (hereinafter referred to as "the Department"), invites qualified Vendors to submit a proposal to deliver and implement a Child Care Time and Attendance System (TAS). The State is open to all responsible Vendor solutions for delivery of the TAS, including the transfer of a compatible system from another state and modifying it to meet Alabama-specific requirements or a custom-developed solution based on Alabama requirements.

There are many types of child care in Alabama, including:

• Licensed Child Care Centers• Licensed Family Child Care Homes

• Exempt Child Care Centers (faith-based & school-based)• Preschool/Mother’s Day Out Programs (part-day/part-

time)• School-Age Care

• Relative Care• In-Home Care

• Head Start• Pre-K

• Many Parents DO NOT know when they have their left child in an uninspected and unregulated place.

Parents assume that if a child care facility is operating, it is of course regulated and inspected,

just like restaurants, nursing homes, and nail salons

What can you do?• Host a meeting and invite a member of FOCAL or

the Alabama Childcare Alliance to talk about unregulated/uninspected child care in Alabama

• Tell others how Alabama’s children are at risk.• Place brochures in your community at places of

business and worship• Join the Alabama Child Care Alliance

•TELL PEOPLE TO LOOK FOR THE SIGN

Connecting the Dots-What communities Need to know about Childcare

Early Care Educators

& Facility

FOCAL (Federation of Child Care Centers of Alabama)

The Alabama Childcare AllianceVOICES for Alabama’s ChildrenNational Women’s Law Center (NWLC) National Association for Family Child Care

(NAFCC)National Association for the Education of

Young Children (NAEYC)National Association Child Care

Professionals (NACCP)

Resources