The Child Care Improvement Project: Helping Children Get a Strong Start
(from the November 2008 Newsletter)
Too many low-income families needing child care find themselves in a Catch-22: Children in disadvantaged homes often need the very best care and educational opportunities available – to get the strongest start – but because of financial pressures, parents rarely are able to choose a setting based on quality.
Instead, they choose based on cost – and they often choose smaller, “family-based” child care options based in someone’s home because these are generally more affordable than “center-based” care options such as KinderCare. Because they do usually charge less, family-based providers too often get by on thin margins, have little access to peers or expert resources, and have limited ability to invest in their capacity and improve their quality.
The Child Care Improvement Project (CCIP) – an investee of Social Venture Partners since 2006 – is uniquely committed to addressing this important gap and improving the quality of family child care and the lower-income families these programs serve. To strengthen the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of CCIP, Social Venture Partners Portland’s investment is supporting its growth into new markets and strengthening its infrastructure. Bill Porter is the lead partner. This summer, SVPP Partners rolled up their sleeves to help Oletha, a CCIP provider (pictured above), improve her outdoor play space. Thanks to the SVPP day of service, Oletha was able to get her garden started and now grows fresh vegetables that she serves her children in care and shares with their families.
Currently serving more than 110 providers who are caring for more than 925 children and their families, CCIP offers participating providers early childhood development training, support, resources (including mini-grants) and assistance in business planning and management. It also conducts an annual quality assessment of all providers in its network, measuring the quality of their child care and environment against criteria that represent research-based best practices.
How does CCIP make a difference? Myrna considered herself a “babysitter” when she first joined the network three years ago, charging her few families $1 per hour. A CCIP coordinator guided Myrna on making her space meet the developmental needs of the children and ideas around using play materials and toys to help children learn; her coordinator also connected her to government resources such as food programs and child care subsidies. Myrna now has her program at full capacity and is serving primarily lower-income families. She is making a good income – so her business is stable – and she is working toward an early education certification.