The OCC Systems Building Resource Guide is designed to provide an overview of key system-building issues to support Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) State Administrators (SAs) in pursuing system-building initiatives.
Child Care State Capacity Building Center
The Child Care State Capacity Building Center (SCBC) works with State and Territory leaders and their partners to create innovative early childhood systems and programs that improve results for children and families. SCBC focuses on enhancing the effectiveness of programs implemented under the Child Care and Development Fund, improving the quality and supply of infant-toddler services, and advancing the development of early childhood systems. Guiding principles include the following:
- Effective State-level technical assistance establishes credibility and expertise, builds partnerships, and develops systemic capacity from Child Care and Development Fund Administrators to child care providers.
- Context matters. Effective capacity building requires understanding and respecting each organization's history, values, and vision.
Services are available through the SCBC's Infant/Toddler Specialist Network, Intensive Capacity Building Network, and State Systems Specialist Network.
Highlighted Tools and Resources:
The Infant/Toddler Resource Guide offers a host of materials to support the development and implementation of policies and practices for high-quality care for infants and toddlers.
Building a Comprehensive State Policy Strategy to Prevent Expulsion from Early Learning Settings provides a review of expulsion research, discusses dimensions of expulsion, and provides the Expulsion Policy Strategy Tool—a practical tool designed to support states and territories in designing and implementing a multifaceted policy approach to developing a continuum of supports for programs, families, and children.
Emergency Preparedness plans help ensure child care programs and staff are prepared to react in a manner that protects the safety of children and staff when an emergency occurs. Emergency plans also establish mechanisms to help programs during the recovery phase and get businesses “up and running” as soon as possible, which promotes continuity of care and reduces the risks of clientele and income loss.
Template for Displaying Serious Injuries, Deaths, and Instances of Substantiated Child Abuse in Child Care describes the requirements for posting aggregate data and provides an example of how states and territories can display the aggregate number of serious injuries, deaths, and instances of substantiated abuse in child care on their consumer education websites to meet CCDF regulations.
Designing Websites That Are Accessible For All Families guide offers best practices, strategies, and examples for state and territory staff to consider as they work to ensure their consumer education websites are accessible to people with disabilities.
Best Practices for Consumer Education Websites: Translation guide offers best practices, strategies, and examples for states and territories to consider as they work to provide translated materials on their consumer education websites.
Guide for Increasing Search Engine Optimization introduces search engine optimization (SEO) to CCDF Administrators and other child care professionals who want to ensure that their state and territory consumer education websites effectively serve their communities.
Guide for Measuring Web Traffic and Engagement introduces digital analytics to audiences with limited experience in digital strategy, including CCDF Administrators and other child care professionals who have a stake in ensuring their consumer education website effectively serves their constituency.
Improving Consumer Education Websites with User Research summarizes key methods that are widely applied in user-experience research and design. It also highlights best practices and key considerations in conducting user research to help states and territories enhance their consumer education websites.
Office of Child Care Announcement:
- The Child Care State Capacity Building Center (SCBC) is pleased to announce a series of webinars designed to help states and territories improve their consumer education websites. SCBC will partner with experts from our Website Development and User Experience Team, along with experts from the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment, National Center on Child Care Data and Reporting, National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance, and National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, to offer these webinars. Full session and registration information is available by clicking the link above.
Success Stories:
Michigan Establishes a Statewide Infant/Toddler Consultant Network
In 2014, Michigan recognized a need for an infant/toddler consultant network. In order to best meet the need, the state surveyed its infant/toddler providers to gather their thoughts on what supports would be the most valuable. As a result, in 2016, the statewide system of resource centers established an infant/toddler consultant network that included all 10 of the resource centers. Synergistically, the State Capacity Building Center (SCBC) Infant/Toddler Specialist Network (ITSN) was ready to pilot the Six Essential Practices of Relationship-Based Care training for trainers (TFT) in the fall of that same year. Michigan’s Infant/Toddler Consultants received this training and began to strategize how to incorporate it into their work.
In 2017, the resource centers, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start and Early Childhood Investment Corporation, began to pilot regional learning communities with programs and providers who served infants and toddlers. Building on participation in the state’s quality rating and improvement system, Great Start to Quality, this included:
- Offering monthly group sessions
- Mentoring onsite
- Coaching and consultation on quality improvement
- Providing professional development at focused meetings
- Infusing all of their work with the Six Essential Practices of Relationship-Based Care
Over the following two years, the SCBC Infant/Toddler Specialists provided enhanced professional development opportunities and technical assistance to the Michigan Infant/Toddler Consultants, during which time their capacity to deliver this training, build reflective learning communities, and support responsive caregiving has excelled. Their commitment to continuous quality improvement is obvious in their scaffolded support structure of providers that is tailored to meet the needs of each learning community. In a parallel process, the consultants are part of their own learning community in which they have the opportunity to integrate reflective practice.
In 2018, a detailed transition plan was put into place for the first group of learning communities. Providers were given the opportunity to determine the supports they needed to become self-sustaining and form a support network, enhancing care for infant and toddlers in other programs as well. These providers’ star ratings moved from 1–2 stars to 3–4–5 stars, offering developmentally appropriate experiences and materials to the children in their care, as well as demonstrating relationship-based care practices and decreasing the amount of challenging behaviors. The Michigan Infant/Toddler Consultants continue to move this work forward with recruitment of their second group of regional infant/toddler learning communities and ongoing relationships with the first group. In February 2019, their work was highlighted at the Opening Minds Conference, a national conference for early childhood providers in Chicago, Illinois
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A primary goal of the Office of Child Care is to help early childhood programs support children's healthy growth and development. This goal becomes especially important in the event of a major disaster or emergency, as children are among our most vulnerable populations. Child care can be a...
The Guide to Effective Consultation is a collaborative effort of ACF Region I Workgroups composed of representatives from all six New England States, national technical assistance providers and staff from the Region I Office of Child Care and Office of Head Start. This guide defines the...
This 2010 factsheet provides information on State Infant Toddler Specialist Network (ITSN) including the number of states with ITSN, professional qualification requirements, funding sources, service delivery, and administrative oversight and responsibility.
This document provides a framework and practical suggestions for coordinating and educating consultants. It discusses how child care consultation networks can improve I/T caregivers’ access to discipline-specific services, including health, mental health, oral health, education, early...
This 2010 factsheet provides information on Infant Toddler credentials including the States and Territories with credentials, single-level and multi-level credentials, education and training requirements, delivery systems, articulation, and linkages to the Child Development Associate (CDA)...
This document is a transcript of a webinar highlighting a collaborative effort by Region I States to share information on interdisciplinary consultation as a strategy to improve quality in infant and toddler child care settings. The focus is on implementing a crosscutting approach within each...
Infant/Toddler Curriculum and Individualization is one of three infant/toddler modules created to support consultants working in child care settings, especially consultants who have not had education or training specific to infants and toddlers in group care. These modules were designed...
Relationships: The Heart of Development and Learning is one of three infant/toddler modules created to support consultants working in child care settings, especially consultants who have not had education or training specific to infants and toddlers in group care. These modules were...
Infant/Toddler Development, Screening, and Assessment is one of three infant/toddler modules created to support consultants working in child care settings, especially those who have not had education or training specific to infants and toddlers in group care. These modules were designed...
