SEWELL — The Southern Regional Child Care Resource Center, (SRCCRC), is proud to announce the New Jersey First Steps Infant/Toddler Specialist Initiative. SRCCRC was selected to implement the initiative in the southern region of the state.
The other grantees are Programs for Parents, Inc. in Essex County and Community Coordinated Child Care of Union County. The Initiative is funded by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development.
The primary goals of the initiative are to improve the quality of infant/toddler care and increase the availability of infant/toddler care in New Jersey.
The grantees partner with the childcare resource and referral agencies in each county to provide training opportunities specifically targeted to those who care for children from birth through age three. Until this initiative, most training was designed for caregivers of preschoolers and school age children.
Recent studies have shown that the care that a child receives in the first three years of life has a profound impact on later learning and social skills. Studies also indicate that 90 percent of these children are receiving inadequate, and, at times, harmful care. The initiative is an effort to reverse these startling statistics.
Since Nov. 1, 2008, the SRCCRC has hired three infant/toddler specialists who will train child care providers and provide technical assistance for child care centers and registered family child care providers at no cost. The specialists are trained by the Program for Infant Toddler Care (PITC), a program which promotes quality care for the youngest children.
PITC is sponsored by WestEd and the California Department of Education. The specialists have also been trained in the use of the Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-R) and conduct assessments of centers and homes that serve infants and toddlers.
All services are provided free of charge to providers. For more information, please contact Pat Wallace, Program Manager at 856-582-8282 ext. 145.
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