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Childcare Resources of Indian River, Inc. Children in Centers Children's Services Advisory Committee C. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (Entire Section C, I — 6, not to exceed two pages) 1. List Priority Needs area addressed. a. Child Care Access-increasing the availability of quality childcare. b. Parent Support and Education-promoting programs that focus on "individual" parenting programs. c. Mental Health Wellness-increasing programs that promote enhanced emotional-social skills. 2. Briefly describe program activities including location of services. a. Quality Childcare: Childcare Resources contracts with six centers on 8 sites: Community Preschool (central Vero), Nanny's (central Vero), Learning Nest/Tiny Treasures (Sebastian), Maitland Farm (south county), SunCoast Primary School (central Vero), and Turner' s I and II (Gifford). The Childcare Resources Family Resources Coordinator (FRC) closely monitors the quality by unalmounced site visits. The FRC looks closely at student:teacher ratios and at developmentally appropriate curriculum. There is parental choice among centers. Childcare Resources pays centers $22.50 per day for preschool age children and $27.65 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 fee scale for tuition, participation in orientations and parent/teacher conferences, 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 two 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 Standards of Quality, including appropriate teacher to student ratios, low staff turnover, adequate teacher compensation, teacher certification, meaningful teacher in-service training, and center accreditation. c. Parent Education: Childcare Resources offers many parent education opportunities throughout the year, alone and in collaborations with other agencies. Opportunities include: Parent/child interactive Saturday programs and monthly Conscious Discipline 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 situations. Having safe, dependable care for their children allows parents to focus on improving other areas of their lives. One of our mothers is in the final stages of completing the US citizenship process. Another mother was able to get herself away from an abusive husband. Two of our families are in the process of building their own homes with Habitat for Humanity. Two of our families will not be returning in the fall because they have improved their situations so greatly they no longer need our assistance. 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 a child. The High/Scope Educational Foundation's 27 year longitudinal study, Perry Preschool Study, shows that children with high grWity preschool experiences are more likely to succeed in school, graduate and find employment. Another study ("The Economic Impacts of Child Care and Early Education: Financing Solutions for the Future", a conference spansored. by Legal 6