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Childcare Resources of Indian River Children in Centers Program. Funder Children's services Advisory Committee C. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (Entire Section C, I — 6, not to exceed two pages. 1 . List Priority Needs area addressed. Increase childcare capacities and subsidies for underserved populations, particularly infant and toddler population; improve the quality of childcare programs and increase accessibility for children from lower income families. 2. Briefly describe program activities including location of services. a) Quality Childcare: Childcare Resources contracts with six centers on eight sites : Community Preschool (central Vero), Learning Nest/Tiny Treasures (Sebastian), Maitland Farm (south county), SunCoast Primary School (central Vero), Nanny' s Preschool (central Vero) and Turner' s I and 2 (Gifford) . The Childcare Resources Family & Center Resource Coordinator (FCRC) closely monitors the quality by unannounced site visits. The FCRC looks closely at student: teacher ratios and at developmentally appropriate curriculum . Childcare Resources currently pays $25 . 75 per day for preschool age children and $28 .90 per day for infants and toddlers. Children attend the centers five days a week, up to ten hours a day. Parents are responsible for transporting their children to centers . Families qualify on a first come, first served basis as application data is completed and verified. Once accepted, parents sign a contract with Childcare Resources committing to a sliding scale for tuition, participation in orientations and parent/teacher conference, and a minimum of 3 parent participations. The Board has made a commitment to raise the per diem rates in the coming year by $ 1 .25 per day as we have done in each of the last three years. Childcare Resources asks centers to provide a higher quality of program and wants to provide equitable funds. b) Center Quality : program services require that each contracting center sets and maintains Childcare Resources Standard of Quality, including appropriate teacher to student ratios, low staff turnover, adequate teacher compensation, teacher certifications, meaningful teacher in- service training, and center accreditation. c) Parent Education: Childcare Resources offers many parent education opportunities throughout the year, alone and in collaboration with other agencies. Opportunities include: parentichild interactive programs and monthly parenting programs. Individual centers also offer a variety of programs throughout the year for their families . We have a Parent Advisory Board to obtain feedback from parents and learn what other support and education Childcare Resources parents need. d) Resource and referral : Childcare Resources provides in-house mentoring, identification of needs and problems with the family and/or at the center, and refers its families to other local agencies and resources. 3. Briefly describe how your program addresses the stated need/problem. Describe how your program follows a recognized "best practice" (see definition on page 12 of the Instructions) and provide evidence that indicates proposed strategies are effective with target population. Childcare Resources provides financial support for childcare, and families therefore have added income for other goods and services necessary for the safe and healthy development of their children. Parents can work or attend school, which will likely further improve their economic situation. The Standards of Quality adopted by this organization are research based factors proven to have the greatest positive, long-term impact on the life of the child. The High/Scope Educational Foundation' s 27 year longitudinal study, Perry Preschool Study, shows that children 5