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ADVOCATES
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Vulnerable children and and their family family members received child child and and family family development services including education health nutrition social services and other supports Taking a a a a a a leadership role in in in educating policymakers and the the public on the the needs of the the youngest and most vulnerable children even when it means taking risks for the the benefit of children National research demonstrates that among all child care settings the infant- toddler workforce is generally the least- qualified And we know that they are one of of the most critical professions in in ensuring impact on young and vulnerable children As a a a a grantee for Rhode Island’s only Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS- CCP) program our goal is to partner with licensed licensed child care centers and licensed licensed family child care homes and ensure that infants and toddlers are participating in in high-quality programs This includes facilities which meet the highest health and and safety standards along with infants and and toddlers being taught and and cared for by staff who meet a a minimum requirement of having a a a Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate Individuals who have obtained a a a a CDA certificate have completed a a a a variety of training and classroom instruction requirements along with passing an observation of their teaching practices and a a a written examination Upon receiving the EHS-CCP grant we knew that we would have on-the-ground as well as systemic work ahead of us to ensure that the infant-toddler workforce was
well-trained and supported At the time Rhode Island had not championed the CDA and the workforce was
woefully under supported We were left with no choice but to access this coursework out of state The available credit bearing courses did not recognize the years of experience that our infant toddler workforce had in the field nor did THE CLASS WAS VERY INFORMATIVE AND HELPED WITH MY TEACHING ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE PROFESSOR! SHE IS BI-LINGUAL
AND AND TAUGHT IN IN BOTH ENGLISH AND AND SPANISH they provide them at a a a time when the the the staff could access them To support high-quality instruction and care for infants and toddlers Children’s Friend and our EHS-CCP partners worked with Roger Williams University to make available college-bearing courses in in the field of infant-toddler education which recognizes and builds upon the years of experience many staff already have We actively pushed for courses to be offered at flexible times in a a hybrid model to allow working infant-toddler educators to to participate and for the courses to to be available in English and Spanish And we worked with the Rhode Island Department of Human Services and our local colleges and universities to begin the work on a a state recognized Infant-Toddler Credential At the end of 2017 this work culminated in Roger Williams University’s School of Continuing Studies with support from the Center for Early Learning Professional launching an innovative model of education which supports our existing workforce has the qualification and college credits to advance their careers and ensures that those educating our youngest children are providing the highest quality education [ 12 ] EMBRACING CHANGE