Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care

Establish Core Competencies

Policy Ideas

What policies can states use to move toward this recommendation?

To move toward this recommendation, states may use multiple policy levers at the same time, starting from different points. Potential state policies include:

Licensing

Require all licensed infant/toddler providers to have pre-service and ongoing training that addresses age-specific core knowledge and competencies.
Require infant/toddler-specific competencies and qualification levels in licensing regulations to ensure that licensed providers caring for children from birth to age three have core knowledge of infant/toddler development and the core competencies to respond to the developmental needs, including special needs, of each child and family.
Require all licensed infant/toddler providers to assign a primary caregiver to each child in care.

Subsidy

Require all child care providers receiving subsidies to care for babies and toddlers to demonstrate proof of acquiring core knowledge and competencies, such as training or credentials.
Require all caregivers receiving subsidies to participate in appropriate information sessions on core knowledge or state birth-to-three early learning guidelines.
Pay higher child care subsidy payment rates to infant/toddler providers who demonstrate they have learned about core competencies by completing approved state training, achieving a state infant/toddler credential, or reaching the highest level of a Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) with rigorous core competency standards for infant/toddler providers.

Quality Enhancement

Convene state experts and stakeholders to review existing state standards for core knowledge and competencies to determine whether they need revision to more adequately address the needs of babies and toddlers or to create an added specialization for early childhood professionals working with children from birth to age three.
Establish a core body of knowledge and competencies along a career ladder for all providers and caregivers working with babies and toddlers, based on current developmental research.
Create a state infant-toddler credential that is credit-based and addresses the core body of knowledge and competencies.
Ensure that state institutes of higher education that offer infant/toddler coursework earn accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) or the National Association for the Education of Young Children Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation (ECADA).
Ensure that the standards, design, and incentives of state Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) specifically address and encourage provisions that providers and caregivers of babies and toddlers have the core body of knowledge and competencies.
Establish developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate early learning guidelines on what babies need, how they learn, and what they are able to do from birth to age three, and make the guidelines accessible through educational materials and training to all providers, caregivers, and the public.
Conduct informational outreach to parents to explain how to look for child care providers and caregivers with the core body of knowledge and competencies.

Related Project Recommendations

Visit page: http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/recommendations?id=0001