Connecticut EHS FCC Program Builds State-level Partnerships

When Connecticut’s non-profit All Our Kin (AOK) first learned of the new Early Head Start for Family Child Care (EHS FCC) demonstration project, they saw an opportunity to increase awareness of family child care at the state level – an essential goal as most infants and toddlers spend their days in family child care settings.

AOK’s mission is to increase family child care providers’ access to subsidies, training, professional development, and program improvement.  They also aim to inform the community about what family child care is and how to recognize a high quality program.  “We saw the Early Head Start for Family Child Care Demonstration Project as a wonderful opportunity to begin a dialogue about family child care with state policymakers and administrators” said Jessica Sanger, AOK executive director.

AOK engaged in a number of productive activities with good results:

• They made presentations on the project and the benefits of the EHC-FCC model at state meetings and conferences.
• The organization is now on a subcommittee of the state advisory council looking at Quality Rating Systems.
• They obtained state funding to offer training to groups across the state in using Connecticut’s Early Learning Standards for Infants and Toddlers.
• They also wrote a publication titled “What Is Family Child Care?” that provides basic information to parents and community members.
• And one key result: It is now easier to obtain information about children’s eligibility for child care services.

Through the demonstration project, AOK proved to the state that EHS FCC is a model that raises standards and holds child care providers accountable for high quality service while supplying them with incentives, training, and resources.

“This project helped illustrate that family child care providers can meet high standards of quality, given sufficient resources,” said Janna Wagner, chief knowledge and learning officer.  “It opened the door for new ways to think about investing in quality family child care in Connecticut.”