Provider Services...

Education and Training

Child Care Choices is dedicated to improving the lives of children in Johnston County. One way we strive to do this is by offering educational training and workshops for Child Care providers. There are a wide variety of topics offered. Child Care Professionals are required to attend training yearly. Child Care Choices offers this training throughout the county, no longer making it necessary to travel outside the county to receive the required hours. Training topics are approved by the NC Division of Child development and attendees are given credit towards their required in-service training hours.

Child Care Choices strives to assist Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes in Johnston County in enhancing their existing programs. This assistance is designed to help centers and homes offer the best possible service to young children and their families. One way that we do this is by working on Quality issues through our Quality Enhancement Projects. These activities provide ongoing training to encourage and assist providers, in improving the quality of their programs. The Environmental Rating Scale is the tool used to assess programs which participate Quality Enhancement Project.

These scales have recently been adopted for use in North Carolina’s new Star Rated System. They are divided into 7 sub scales including: Space and Furnishings; Personal Care Routines; Language-Reasoning; Activities; Interaction; Program Structure and Provisions for Parents and Staff. Each area is evaluated to award an overall indicator of quality in the child care facility. Provisions have been made to include assessments for inclusion of children with disabilities and sensitivity to cultural diversity.

Specifically there are four scales which are used to evaluate the variety of child care environments.

1. Infant/Toddler Environmental Rating Scales (ITERS):ITERS is used to assess the learning environments of children ages 0-30 months.

2. Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales-Revised (ECERS-R): ECERS-R is used to assess the learning environments of children ages 30 months – 5 years.

3. School Age Care Environmental Rating Scales (SACERS): SACERS is used to assess the learning environments of children from 5-12 years of age.

4. Family Day Care Rating Scales (FDCRS): FDCRS is used to assess the learning environments of children of all ages that are enrolled in Family Child Care Programs.

The Teacher Incentive Program (TIP)

TIP is a supplemental incentive program designed to reduce turnover by empowering childcare providers to increase their levels of education and remain in the early childcare field. This activity works in collaboration with TEACH and WAGE$, which are programs offered by Child Care Services Association.

This activity includes three components:

• Rewarding providers for the length of time spent in their current childcare centers, as well as the level of education in which they have attained.
• Pay 1/3 of the cost of the childcare providers' insurance for eligible centers and family childcare homes.
• Provide childcare incentives to providers that have already attained at least an Early Childhood Associates Degree or are on a TEACH Scholarship.

  This program plays an instrumental role in reducing childcare provider turnover in Johnston County, which is essential in increasing the quality of care being provided to Johnston County's children.

Child Care Choices, in addition to education, training, TIP and quality enhancement, offers Technical Assistance to directors, teachers and in home providers. Our staff can answer questions on a wide variety of topics in the child care field. Individuals working in the child care field can also take advantage of on-site technical assistance. By assisting teachers, directors and providers, we can hopefully improve the quality of care available to families with young children throughout Johnston County.

Child Care Choice’s Provider Specialist is available to answer any questions concerning old and new laws and regulations. On-site technical assistance is available, to assist providers with room arrangements, professional development, etc. We can also assist individuals that may be interested in opening their own Child Care Center or Family Child Care Home.

Training Registration Form