The results of a 1992 nationwide survey of state regulatory agencies that are presented in this report serve to update information on the licensing of family day care homes that was gathered in 1991. Terms relevant to family day care are defined; commonly asked questions about family day care are answered; and regulatory requirements for family…

Several reports on the link between the economy and the quality of child care indicate that: (1) early care and education benefits two generations of workers; (2) quality is essential to, but is rarely found in, early care and education programs; and (3) the key to quality is the professional development of practitioners. A vision of dynamic…

This paper examines four issues relevant to planning the use of funding resources for installing a career development system for practitioners in the early childhood education field. The first issue concerns the need for a career development system. Arguments for the importance of such a system are based on the need for a dynamic career ladder and…

Florida's District 12 Veterans Administration (VA) wanted to deliver medical case-management services to veterans not receiving home-based services due to the geographic restrictions of the VA's Hospital-Based Home Care Program. The Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) desired to demonstrate the effectiveness of nurse…

California's Family Day Care Training Program was designed to recruit and train, in 7 weeks, Lao, Vietnamese, and Chinese refugees to establish their own state-licensed, family day care homes. Topics in the program's curriculum include an introduction to family day care, state licenses for family day care, state licensing requirements for family…

Presents child care-related work experiences and training, teaching activities, and recurrent problems in the provision of child care as reported in a survey of 266 family day care providers in Texas. Results indicated training needs. Some Texas family day caregiver training programs are briefly described. (NH)

The Child Care Bureau is reissuing the minimum standards as a "Health and Safety Guide" for Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Tribal Lead Agencies in conjunction with the 2005 Tribal Cluster Trainings, "Supporting the Physical, Social, and Emotional Wellness of Our Tribal Children." These voluntary guidelines represent the baseline from which…

This research brief is part of the Massachusetts Capacity Study and focuses on the characteristics of the workforce caring for infants and toddlers in licensed or regulated early care and education in Massachusetts. The brief reviews the latest information on workforce education, staff-child ratios, group size, teacher tenure and turnover, and…

Distinguishes between training and coaching, asserting that the latter focuses on the staff person as learner. Offers strategies for staff development: clarify when one is supervising versus coaching, identify issues before developing strategies, ask questions that spring from genuine curiosity, offer detailed descriptions of teacher actions,…

Outlines an innovative approach taken by a TAFE (technical and further education) institute in Tasmania to overcome problems associated with effective implementation of on-the-job training in field placements of early childhood students. The program involves a college-based child care training center, where students in an Associate's degree…

Describes Project CREATE (Caregiver Recruitment, Education, and Training Enhancement), designed to improve the quality of community-based child care programs in Delaware, and provided in three 1-credit modules at no cost to participants. Identifies barriers to providing education to infant and toddler caregivers. Presents preliminary evaluation…

This paper presents a needs analysis conducted to obtain information concerning online dementia care training of healthcare workers in long-term care (LTC) facilities. The resulting information was used to guide the development of an online dementia care training program designed to facilitate the acquisition of skills and knowledge necessary for…

Family, friend and neighbor (FFN) child caregivers represent a significant proportion of caregivers for young children. Yet, these caregivers receive little support for their services. In 2003, the First 5 California Children and Families Commission (First 5 California) began a study to determine the work-related needs of FFN caregivers in…

Today we often hear that early care and education is becoming or should become a profession. In this article, the authors discuss what it means to be a profession, and a professional and consider how these characteristics apply to the field of early care and education now and in the future. Professionals possess specialized knowledge and…

This qualitative research study evaluated the impact of the Family Child Care Connection, a model designed to improve the quality of family child care for infants and toddlers. This 5-year project was administered by the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago and implemented in four satellite networks of family child care providers located in low income…