Comprehensive Community Child Care
2100 Serman Avenue, Suite 300
Cincinnati, OH 45212
Advancing to High Quality
Grant Application:
The Advancing to High Quality project will provide individualized professional coaching and training to child care programs to allow them to maintain and increase their Step Up To Quality rating. Step Up To Quality is Ohio’s five-star quality rating system developed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Ohio Department of Education. These resources will also help child care providers endure the long-lasting consequences of the pandemic by providing support to enhance their business and communication skills. Child care programs involved in this project serve approximately 19,800 children from low-income families. Quality early education ensures that children are ready for kindergarten, leading to success in school and life. Child care is foundational in the infrastructure of our community and Advancing to High Quality is a keystone strategy to ensure that our local community supports that foundation.
T
he main objective of Advancing to High Quality project was to provide child care programs with the necessary professional coaching and training needed to maintain or increase their Step Up To Quality rating and to ensure that children from low-income families received the high-quality early education and care they need to thrive. Specific goals for this project include:
Child care providers maintain or achieve high quality (three, four, or five-star) Step Up To Quality ratings.
•330 child?care providers will maintain their current high-quality rating or apply for a high- quality rating (three, four or five star) on Ohio’s Step Up To Quality scale by June 30, 2022.?
•150?child care centers (not currently highly?rated) will receive the coaching and materials needed to achieve a high rating?(three, four, or?five-star?rating) by June 30, 2022.?
Children from low-income families (families that pay for child care through state assistance) are enrolled in high quality child care programs
•12,250 Children from low-income families (families that pay for child care through state assistance) are enrolled in high quality (three, four or five-star rated) child care.
Grant Evaluation Report:
4C for Children’s Advancing to High Quality project was successful and made a lasting impact on the early education of our region’s youngest citizens. As a result of this project, over 13,000 vulnerable children are enrolled in high-quality child care programs and received the early education they need to enter kindergarten ready to learn.
To help child care programs increase their quality rating, 4C for Children coaches developed an individualized action plan that served as a step-by-step guide to maintain and increase their SUTQ rating. This individual assistance provided opportunities for the coach to observe the provider’s environment and give feedback. Additionally, coaches provided guidance and assistance to help child care providers understand Ohio’s Early Learning Developmental Standards (ELDS). Topics included developmentally appropriate practices, program business practices, and the use of environmental assessment tools. While coaching and training reminded virtual throughout the project year, providers continued to receive individualized assistance designed to meet their specific program’s goals.
This project was designed to ensure quality child care is available and accessible to vulnerable low-income families in our region, children receive the critical educational and developmental foundation necessary for their future success, and our local workforce mitigates disruption from a lack of available child care.
Quality early education makes all the difference in helping a child enter kindergarten ready. The goal of the Advancing to High Quality project was to ensure that child care programs maintain their current quality rating and work towards achieving a high quality rating (three, four or five stars). Throughout the project, 4C for Children provided professional coaching and training to 510 child care programs striving to maintain or increase their Step Up To Quality rating. Actual results of the program’s goals are below.
• Child care providers maintain or achieve high quality (three, four, or five-star) Step Up To Quality ratings.
o 407 child?care providers maintained their high-quality rating or apply for a high- quality rating (three, four or five star) on Ohio’s Step Up To Quality scale by June 30, 2022.?
o 73 child care centers (not currently highly?rated) received the coaching and materials needed to achieve a high rating?(three, four, or?five-star?rating) by June 30, 2022.?
• Children from low-income families (families that pay for child care through state assistance) are enrolled in high quality child care programs
o 13,041 (61%) children from low-income families (families that pay for child care through state assistance) are enrolled in high quality (three, four or five-star rated) child care
Additional Results (as of June 30, 2022)
• 21,445 (99%) children from low-income families (families that pay for child care through state assistance) are enrolled in quality child care (one – five-star).
• 440 (59%) eligible child care centers and Type A family child care programs are highly-rated (three, four, or five-star)
• 93 (18%) eligible type B family child care programs are highly rated (three, four, or five-star)
Through the Advancing to High Quality project, 4C for children provided 16,141.25 professional coaching hours and 12,453.5 training hours to child care programs. Overall, there was a 7% increase in the number of child care centers and type A family child care programs that achieved high-quality during the duration of the project.
Website:
http://www.4cforchildren.org Amount: $20,000
Date: December 2021
