Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care

Support a Diverse and Culturally Competent Workforce

Online Resources

Information on improving cultural and linguistic competence in child care policy and practice:

• CLASP has written a checklist, Selected State and Local Policies to Support Immigrant and Limited English Proficient (LEP) Early Care and Education Providers, that offers strategies and examples for improving policies in the areas of language access, training, and professional development.
• The Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) is a training curriculum for infant and toddler providers that includes an emphasis on cultural sensitivity throughout its content. The California Department of Education has implemented the PITC model across the state in multiple languages.
• The National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC) is a source for multiple resources on cultural and linguistic competency, with an emphasis on improving culturally competent care in health and mental health services. NCCC also has a project focusing on the important of improving cultural and linguistic competence to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Other Infant Death (SIDS/ID).
• The Crosswalks Project includes an interactive database of resources that address key areas of early childhood or early intervention content and linguistic and cultural diversity.
• The Annie E. Casey Race Matters toolkit is designed to guide policymakers and other individuals in designing policies and practices that result in more equitable outcomes for all children, families, and communities.
• CLAS Early Childhood Research Institute is an online resource of research materials pertaining to culturally and linguistically appropriate early childhood services.
• New Voices/Nuevas Voces is a North Carolina-based professional development program for early childhood professionals working with young children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their families.
• The Early Childhood Resource and Training Center in Minnesota provides training, resources, and technical assistance to families and providers, particularly those from communities of color and immigrant and refugee communities.
• Arkansas uses CCDBG quality funds to support the Welcome the Children project, which provides training and technical assistance to early childhood providers, caring for children of all ages, on issues related to cultural sensitivity and appropriately serving ELLs. The Welcome the Children project trains community teams in local areas as future trainers, to ensure sustainability.

 

Information on state QRIS to increase diversity and cultural competence:

• CLASP's presentation, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems and Cultural Competence, discusses the importance of incorporating issues of cultural and linguistic competence in QRIS and ways of doing so.
• The BUILD Initiative has published Developing Culturally-Appropriate Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, which provides examples of measures that could be incorporated into QRIS systems to address cultural competency.

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Visit page: http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/recommendations?id=0005