Project Create:Bridging the Gap in Training for Infant/Toddler Child Care Providers (original) (raw)

Childhood education, 2000

Abstract

T he need for accessible, high-quality infant and toddler care has increased significantly due to a growingawareness of how crucial the first three years of life are to brain development, coupled with an increase in the number of families needing out-of-home care. Despite this need, the majority of child care for infants and toddlers fails to meet quality standards (Helburn, 1995). One critical factor in promoting quality care is the education and training of child care providers. Project CREATE (Caregiver Recruitment, Education, and Training Enhancement) was developed to address this factor in community-based child care programs in the state of Delaware. According to the Children’s Defense Fund (1999), approximately 6 million UlS. infants and toddlers are placed in out-of-home care. This number is likely to escalate as a consequence of welfare reform. As the need for child care continues to grow, research on how the environment affects brain development has reached a critical mass (Lindsey, 1998; Shore, 1997). Science has shown what caregivers always have known: the first three years lay the foundation for a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional development, setting the trajectory for life (Lally, Mangione, Honig, & Wittmer, 1988; Teo, Carlson, Mathieu, Egeland, & Sroufe, 1996). Articles in general readership publications such as Newsweek (Begley, 1996) and Time (Nash, 1997) have brought this message to a wide audience. Policymakers and the public are beginning to realize that steps must be taken to ensure quality programs for infants and toddlers (Newberger, 1997).

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