Accreditation and Professional Development

Organizations

National Association for Family Child Care
The National Association for Family Child Care is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting quality child care by strengthening the profession of family child care. www.nafcc.org

National Association of Child Care Professionals (NACCP)
NACCP was established in 1984 as a professional association for professional directors. NACCP membership is available to any individual in a supervisory or decision-making capacity in the child care industry.

Washington AEYC
WAEYC is the Washington State Affiliate of NAEYC, the nations largest organization dedicated to improving quality and accessibility of early child care and education programs for children from birth to eight. http://www.waeyc.org/

Online Education Opportunities

Professional Development for Child Care Providers

STARS/MERIT
Lutheran Community Services NW Parent Line is a certified training organization for the STARS/MERIT system. In 2008 we provided more than 250 hours of training to licensed and exempt providers in the 3 county areas of Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap. We survey providers and build our training schedules based on the interests and needs of the providers. Staff is also available to take trainings to homes and centers. We engage our community partners in offering trainings to the child care providers as well. The local health departments, CPS, drug and alcohol counselors, domestic violence counselors, Small Business Administration, attorneys, many different departments of city and county government are examples of the expertise available to provide valuable information to child care providers.

Community Colleges
Peninsula College and Olympic College both offer Building Bridges classes for the licensed provider community. Building Bridges is a joint effort of the community college system; Department of Early Learning and child care resource and referral agencies. Free tuition and books are offered to providers to take college level classes in order to enhance knowledge and the application of knowledge to the child care environment.

Early Childhood Academy
During late 2009 the Early Learning Academy will be revealed. The Washington State Child Care Resource and Referral Network, with its many partners will unveil a graduated system of trainings to meet the needs of child care providers at all levels of their professional development.

How will The Academy Benefit Providers?
The R&R Network believes the early learning and afterschool workforce will benefit from an intentional training approach that is competency-based and allows providers to see logical training sequences that meet their personal and professional goals. The Academy would serve as a vehicle for providers to determine how best to enhance their caregiving skills while meeting their annual 10 hours of continuing education required by licensing. This may be in the form of community-based training, higher education coursework, or some combination of both.