Children and Family Services Training and Support for Childcare Providers
Easter Seals Blake Foundation’s Children and Family Services provide a number of programs designed to improve the efficacy of early childhood education providers (whether in home, school, or center-based settings). We have particular expertise supporting caregivers working with children who have special physical and/or behavioral needs. Specific programs include:
Project “Me Too!” Statewide Workshops/ Technical Assistance: Project “Me Too!” is our Early Childhood Professional Development and Technical Assistance Department. Project “Me Too!” provides free educational workshops, and onsite technical assistance, for licensed childcare centers, group homes, after-school programs, and certified family care providers across 14 Arizona counties (all but Maricopa). We have been funded by the Arizona Department of Economic Security Child Care Administration since 1994 to provide these services, offering a broad range of 132 training topics. In FY 10/11, we provided 750 hours of training to 6,648 participants and 513 hours of technical assistance to 901 participants statewide.
For more information, please contact: 520-207-7310 x150
Project “Me Too!” On-site Coaching: We provide on-site coaching for licensed centers and group homes, certified family home providers, and after-school programs in Pima County, to help promote the inclusion of children birth to age 12 who demonstrate challenging development and/or behavior. In FY 10/11 2,674 hours of direct service were provided for 151 children (funded by Pima Association of Governments since 1998).
For more information, please contact: 520-207-7310 x150
Project “Me Too!” Professional Development: We provide a 44-hour course (with optional college credit from Pima Community College) using the Frank Porter Graham (UNC) Partnerships for Inclusion Curriculum, on-site inclusion coaching and mentoring for participants, and an annual Inclusion Conference with nationally-known experts to support the inclusion of children, with special needs aged birth to five, in the childcare setting. Since February 2010, 96 Pima County students have enrolled in the 44-hour course and 341 participants attended two Inclusion Conferences (funded by First Things First since 2009).
For more information, please contact: 520-207-7310 x150
Project “Me Too!” Early Care and Education Inclusion Plus: Funded by the Yuma First Things First Regional Partnership Council, Early Care and Education Inclusion Plus (ECEI+) utilizes a combination of training and on-site coaching assistance to help early childhood education providers include and serve children with special health and/or developmental needs (birth to age five) in Yuma County. Since program implementation in January, 2011, ECEI+ has provided intensive individualized support for five centers and 10 family home providers, as well as targeted technical assistance for one center and two homes. We have performed 319 coaching visits, 132 ASQ-3 screenings, and completed 32 Individualized Classroom or Intervention plans. Due to the success of this program, Yuma childcare providers have enhanced skills and are more receptive to enrolling children with differing abilities into their programs.
For more information, please contact: 928-276-9225
Smart Support Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Smart Support is an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant service funded by statewide First Things First. We are subcontracted by Southwest Human Development to provide Smart Support services in Pima and Pinal counties, building the capacity of childcare staff, programs, and families to prevent, identify, and reduce the impact of social-emotional development problems among children birth to age five. We provide training, as well as direct technical assistance and coaching, for more than 70 childcare providers. First Things First’s year one program evaluation found that childcare centers and homes that participated in Smart Support demonstrate statistically significant improvements in teacher’s perceptions, classroom emotional climate, staff interaction and cooperation, teachers’ self efficacy, teacher-child relationships, and knowledge of social-emotional development.
For more information, please contact: 520-207-7310 x310
Quality First: This program is delivered in partnership with theUnited Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona and is funded by statewide First Things First. Quality First (QF) provides expert coaching, mentoring, and financial support services for enrolled childcare homes and centers to support quality improvement activities as part of First Things First’s statewide quality rating system. Since 2009, we have provided QF services in Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties, as well as to the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui tribal communities. Through QF, we provide these services for 68 child care centers and 60 family care homes across the service region.
For more information, please contact: 520-207-7310 x168
