Center for Children's Initiatives

Results: Highlights 2010 Supporting Families • Over 3,500 families across the City learned to navigate the maze of finding and choosing child care, enroll in Pre-K, and pay for care. CCI maintains a database of over 10,000 regulated programs in all five boroughs including child care, Head Start, Pre-K, out of school time programs and summer day camps to insure parents receive the most up to date support. • Provided enhanced referral service to 200 low income working families to enable them to find child care and retain employment. Promoting Excellence • More than 2,100 center-based programs and family child care providers received consultations on regulations, curriculum and business management to improve quality and increase capacity. • 500 professionals participated in professional development on all aspects of early development. Creative curriculum, financial and program management, and board development as well as effective programming for after school services. Many of these educational opportunities were offered in English and Spanish. • Over 400 individuals working with infants and toddlers received training to strengthen their work with babies and toddlers. 25 infant toddler programs received intensive technical assistance resulting in improved classroom practice. 10 program administrators were mentored to increase their capacity to coach and assist classroom staff in meeting the unique needs of babies and toddlers. • Over 1,000 health consultations were provided on administering medication, health promotion, and effective management of infectious diseases, nutrition education and meeting safety standards. • 50 family child care providers enrolled in CCI’s multifaceted Entrepreneurial Program improving their skills in marketing and financial management. Family child care providers were able to stabilize their businesses in a year of tremendous economic challenge and to continue to improve the quality of their services to parents and children in communities throughout the city. Over 100 new child care providers received start-up grants. Driving Effective Policies • Protected funding for Pre-K and child care for 2010 through the Winning Beginning NY Coalition. • Served as a community lead agency for the Quality StarsNY field test to design and implement a quality rating and improvement system for early childhood programs in New York State. • Published “Strengthening the Pre-K Investment: Next Steps to a Winning Beginning for Every Child in New York State.” The paper’s findings were presented to leaders in City and State government to promote the recommendations for better integrating and supporting Pre-K as a cornerstone for an early childhood system serving children from infancy through grade three.

Target demographics: CCI works with three target popiulations: Parent Child Care Professionals Policy makers

Geographic areas served: The five boroughs of New York City

Programs: See schedule occi assisted over 2,300 families in all five boroughs in finding and choosing child care. Cci provided these families with detailed information about all of their options, how to choose and recognize the quality of programs. Cci also assisted families in identifying resources to assist them in paying for child care, including how to access public subsidies where appropriate. Cci provided this information to families using our specially designed data base of over 11,400 regulated service providers that is updated regularly to provide the best possible information to families. These families also received assistance in how to navigate a complex system of public support for early childhood services and how to understand eligibility requirements for those services. Cci provides access to the at&t language line to serve families from the multi ethnic communities across the city. Cci's counselors can assist families in spanish, as well as english.

see schedule 0cci provides training and technical assistance opportunities to individual practitioners, program directors and teachers, including intensive on site support to more than 30 organizations offering center based and family child care services to families for children under the age of three. Each reported substantial improvements along research based quality improvement standards. Cci provided over 3,600 basic ta's to regulated providers and over 1,400 intensive ta hours to regulated providers. Other activities included multi session training offering an experienced based credential to school age program staff and directors, training and consultation on curriculum program management and supervision and individualized consultation to programs and family child care providers to support expansion and quality improvement. This work is done in all five boroughs of new york city and training is offered in spanish and english. Cci also worked intensively with 40 family child care providers to improve their business and marketing strategies to stabilize their family child care small business. Cci publishes timely reports on funding regulations and other policy briefs.

cci continued to provide support for the expansion of the universal prekindergarten and child care in new york state. This included development of policy briefs, dissemination of information and outreach to support enrollment, attention to cultural diversity and parent engagement.