Advocating For Quality Care

Advocating for Quality Care
Learning Activities
Defining Quality in Child Care
Considering Quality Child Care Choices
Locating Resources
Researching Good Resources
Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice

Background Information

Head Start has long been a leader in the field in promoting high standards of quality for the care of young children. Programs use a variety of strategies to promote quality in child care including: modeling quality practice, investing in staff development for caregivers, working collaboratively with others in the community to provide wrap-around services for children, and supporting parents as advocates for quality care. [These activities] focus on how Head Start can support parents as they advocate for quality child care. ...

While many of a family's needs for child care can be met within the Head Start program, there are times when families may need to look elsewhere. Before- and after-school care, night and weekend care are some examples of times when parents may need to look at caregivers beyond Head Start. Head Start can support parents in their efforts to access quality child care by helping parents become informed and critical consumers. When parents are informed consumers they are more likely to become strong advocates for themselves, their family, and the community.

[These activities] begin supporting parents as critical consumers by defining quality in early childhood care settings. To early childhood professionals, quality has generally been defined as a commitment to providing: developmentally appropriate curriculum for children; quality interactions among children and staff; a healthy, safe environment for children; a sufficient number of adults per children in group sizes appropriate for the children's ages; and strong communication between parents and staff.

In an ideal world, all programs would meet the optimal standards of quality. However, in the real world, there is a range of quality. Often, parents must make trade-offs in choosing programs for their children. Take, for example, a community offering three options for toddlers. A parent identifies one as being of higher quality than the others. This program, however, is on the other side of town and is the most expensive. One program, with fewer resources, has caregivers who speak Spanish, the native language of the family. The closest and least expensive option is not licensed, though it is used by many neighborhood families. The outdoor space is not adequately fenced and faces a busy street, and there are too many children for the single caregiver. Quality itself is but one piece of the child care puzzle for this family.

As with choosing child care, parents are making choices about other community services (e.g., adult education) and must weigh the available options considering their family's needs and preferences. Quality, convenience, and fit are all important considerations. Head Start can play a role in helping parents think through these factors.

Parents who have become smart consumers often discover that their community does not have exactly what they want. For example, they may locate a child care program that they think is excellent - except for the fact that the hours are too limited. Or, they may want to take a GED class at the local high school, but they really need on-site child care. In such cases, Head Start can play a role in helping parents work collaboratively with other community members to advocate for changes in existing services or for new services.

Defining Quality in Child Care

Purpose: Participants will reflect on the characteristics that define a high quality child care setting, and consider how they could organize information on these characteristics into a useful format for parents.

Materials

Handout 25: Turning Ideas Into Print; a brochure or resource from a state or local agency describing features of quality child care; sticky dots in two colors; chart paper; markers.

Trainer Preparation Notes:

The categories used for evaluating child care options in this activity are taken from a sample state brochure. You may want to select a local or state brochure more relevant for participants. The sample you select should reflect what research suggests constitutes quality (e.g., group size and ratios, qualities of caregivers and environment, the involvement of parents and health and safety standards, etc.). Prior to the workshop, write the category headings from your sample resource on chart paper and place them on the walls around the room. For example, if you were using the brochure in the appendix, the category headings would be: The Caregiver; The Environment; The Program; Nutrition, Health, and Safety; and Open Door Policy.

Process

Begin by stating that Head Start has long been a leader in the field in promoting quality care settings for young children. Programs use a variety of strategies to promote quality care including: modeling quality practice, investing in training for caregivers, working collaboratively with other others in the community to increase access to child care, and supporting parents as advocates.

Ask participants to reflect for a moment on the different ways their program uses some of these strategies. After participants have time to reflect, ask volunteers to share some of their ideas. Record the ideas on chart paper.

Once the list is completed, ask participants to review the list carefully and respond to this question:

Despite our best efforts, are there times when some of our Head Start families must look elsewhere for services?

Some suggested responses could include:

Care for young siblings
Before- or after-school care for older siblings
Evening or weekend child care
Child care during school vacations

Continue the activity by stating that when Head Start cannot provide all the child care services needed by parents, an important role of the program is helping parents become informed and critical consumers of child care services. Selecting child care is one of the more important decisions parents make, affecting both the development of the child and the wellbeing of the family. A wealth of information is available to help parents make the right choice. However, parents may not know where to find this information or how to make use of it. Head Start staff can play an important role in helping families evaluate their child care options.

Note that organizations such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and many states have published guidelines and information on what to look for in child care. Tell participants that their task in this activity is not to "recreate the wheel" but to:

Consider how to make the information already available more accessible and more personalized for the parents they serve.
Add parents' perspectives to the definition of quality.

A critical first step in this task will be to bring parents' voices into the process. Divide participants into two groups. Direct half of the participants to do this activity from the parents' point of view, and direct the other half to take on the staff's point of view. Encourage participants to keep their assigned role in mind when they decide what quality child care means to them. Distribute markers to all participants.

Provide participants with copies of a sample brochure on what to look for in a quality child care setting. Point out the chart paper taped around the room and review the headings listed on each piece of paper. Explain that their task is to think about what qualities they would expect in each category if they were looking for a good child care arrangement. For example:

The caregiver: warm and loving
The environment: clean, light
The program: includes story-reading
Nutrition, health, and safety: there are working fire detectors
Open door policy: parents can drop in anytime
Accessibility and convenience: close to work

Encourage participants to read the information in the brochure and think about how to put it in their own words. Also encourage them to think about characteristics of quality that are not in the brochure but that are important to them.

Ask participants to move around the room, writing one to three characteristics of quality that they think are important on each piece of chart paper. Suggest that participants add new ideas to each list rather than repeating an idea that has already been recorded.

After everyone has finished, ask them to sit down and review the lists. Then tell participants their next task is to vote on the five most important characteristics of quality within each category. Provide each participant with five sticky dots per category; give one color of dots to "parents" and another color to "staff." Have participants move from paper to paper, selecting their top five choices in each category by placing sticky dots next to them.

When voting is finished, ask:

Which characteristics of quality are considered most important by both staff and parents?
Are there indicators that one group, but not both, considers most important?
Does this voting tell us anything about the importance of parents' opinions when preparing materials for them?

Divide participants into small groups. Direct them to use the information gathered in this exercise to consider how they could develop a checklist, brochure, poster, or community resource directory to help parents evaluate child care options. Distribute Handout 25: Turning Ideas Into Print, and direct groups to use the questions on this handout to guide their discussion. Allow 45-60 minutes for small group discussions.

Have a volunteer from each small group give a summary of their discussion. Have groups commit to a next step for developing their resources. Encourage groups to combine efforts, if they so desire.

Debriefing

Summarize by stating that while this activity used a brochure as a way of bringing in parents' concerns, it is but a starting point. Parents' ideas and concerns must be continually heard in order to individualize choices for families.

...

Conclude the activity by reminding participants of the following:

There are many characteristics that need to be considered when choosing quality child care. For example, the needs of infants and toddlers are different than those of older children.
Different families will want and need different child care arrangements. No single child care arrangement, regardless of its quality, will work for all families.
For parents to be able to select child care that works best for the child and for them, they need to know what constitutes good care for children, what options are available to them, and how to evaluate these options.
Head Start staff can play an important role in helping families evaluate their child care options. To do this successfully, they must be familiar with the quality of child care options available in their community.

Considering Child Care Choices

Purpose: Participants will identify elements of quality child care settings and use the information to make informed decisions when selecting child care.

Materials

Handout 26: Considering Child Care Choices; pens or pencils.

Coach Preparation Notes:

For this activity, team up with one or more parents who are looking for child care.

Process

Begin by asking participants to reflect for a moment about their own experience as a child. Ask them to think about who cared for them before or after school or when their parents worked (or went out). Think about what that experience was like - what was enjoyable and what was difficult. Then ask participants to think about what type of care experience they would want for their own children.

After participants have had an opportunity to reflect, introduce this activity by stating that (as a small group) you will be expanding your consumer skills in regard to selecting child care. Continue by presenting the following:

Decisions about child care are complex and personal. For any family, there will be no perfect option. Each will have its advantages and its drawbacks.
While we now know a great deal about what makes for quality child care, standard measures of quality are not always enough to make good matches for all families.
Factors such as cost, convenience, flexibility, and style, as well as the family's comfort level, all work together to make some programs a good fit and others not.
In two important ways, Head Start staff can serve as a resource to parents who are searching for child care: they can help parents become familiar with characteristics of quality, and they can help parents match their needs and preferences to the good options that are available.

Provide participants with Handout 26: Considering Child Care Choices. Read through the questions on the first two pages of the handout. Then, have participants work individually, or as a group, reflecting and writing down responses to each question.

When participants have finished, continue the activity by stating that one way to gather information about a child care setting is by observing the setting. Using their responses as a guide, have participants discuss what they need to do when they visit a child care setting to observe it. Then refer participants to the third page of the handout. Have them write down or discuss five important observations they need to make for each category on the handout.

Once this exercise is completed, have participants make arrangements to observe at least two different child care settings (with or without you, as they prefer). As needed, guide participants in making appointments to visit and arranging transportation and child care.

Encourage them to bring the handout with them to use as a tool for their observations. Set a time and place to get together afterward to talk about the observations.

Debriefing

Ask participants to share the information they gathered from observing different child care settings. Using the last page of Handout 26: Considering Child Care Choices, work together to think through the advantages and drawbacks of each setting. Discuss the following:

If you had to make a choice between one of the settings you observed, which one would it be? Why?
What can you do, as an individual or with others, to help turn that setting's weaknesses into strengths?

Make the following points in summarizing the activity:

All families deserve a basic level of quality in the child care arrangements they use.
There is no perfect child care setting: for any particular family, all quality programs have advantages and drawbacks.
To make the right child care choice, parents need to reflect on their family's needs and preferences.

Locating Resources

Purpose: Participants will identify community resources that support family learning.

Materials

Chart paper; masking tape; markers; colored paper for signs and landmarks; colored dots.

Trainer Preparation Notes:

Prior to the meeting, draw the community boundaries on a large piece of paper to be taped to the wall. Decide on the community boundaries (e.g., the area around the Head Start Center, the neighborhood in which participating families live, etc.) based on the participants in your group.

Process

Begin the activity by explaining that every community has resources that support family learning. Some resources are formal (for example, public libraries or adult education programs) while others are informal and personal (for example, parents exchanging information when they meet at the park or bulletin boards at the grocery store).

Refer participants to the chart paper map. Ask the group to suggest landmarks to add to the map. Be sure to locate the Head Start Center and any other places important to the group (e.g., each participant's home). Keep markers available to add more places as the activity progresses.

Tell them you are going to read a list of questions. For each question they may call out a location in their community where they might go for an answer. Ask for a volunteer to place dots on the map to indicate participants' responses.

Begin with the questions below, adding any that you think would be appropriate for the group with which you are working.

Where would you go if you wanted to further your own education?
Where would you go for information on parenting?
Where would you go to get books for yourself? for your child?
Where would you go to get educational toys for your child?
Where would you take your child for a learning experience?
Where would you go so that both you and your child learn something new?
Where would you go to find child care?
Where would you go to find your friends? to meet new people who share your interests?
Where would you go to get a question answered about your child's behavior? your child's health?
Where would you go to get help to advocate for changes in services?

Pause after each question has been answered and summarize the responses by naming each one and asking:

What makes this a good resource?
Would you refer other parents to this resource?

After completing the activity, lead a group discussion about the process. What did they learn about the formal and informal networks in their community that support family learning? How often was Head Start used as a resource by participants?

Make the point that parents know a lot about how to "work" the community to get the supports they need. Lead a discussion on what Head Start can do to help parents share their insights into community resources with each other.

Next, ask participants to consider what this activity revealed in terms of community supports for families that are weak or missing. Ask what they as individuals or Head Start can do to strengthen these supports.

Debriefing

Summarize by making the following points:

Most families use a combination of formal and informal resources to support their members' learning needs.
In creating a list of community resources it is important to include parents' perceptions about where to go for information and support.
Head Start can play a pivotal role in linking families to services and helping communities build and strengthen those services.

Researching Good Resources

Purpose: Participants will research where families go for information and/or resources that support family learning environments. They will consider ways that Head Start can share information about good resources.

Materials

Handout 27: Where Do You Go?; chart paper; markers; pens or pencils.

Process

Select four participants (either parents, staff, or a combination of both) to work together as a team of researchers. Introduce them to the activity by stating that every community has resources that support family learning.

Sometimes these resources are part of the "formal" community network (e.g., public library, adult education programs). Others are informal, often personal, networks. Both types of networks are important for families.

The task for the team will be first to collect information on how Head Start parents use resources within the community and then to decide how to share the information with others.

The team will be collecting information for this activity by interviewing parents. The first step in completing their task is to pilot (or try out) the interview questions on each other. Explain that piloting the interview helps them become more comfortable with the questions and will give them some information about resources they can later use as examples.

Distribute Handout 27: Where Do You Go? to participants and ask them to fill out the first page of the handout. Remind participants that they may not have an answer for every question and that "I don't know" or "this question doesn't apply to me" are okay answers. Allow them 10-15 minutes to do this part of the task.

When participants have finished the first page, ask them to share their responses with each other. Ask for a volunteer to record the responses. Lead the group in a discussion about the interview questions (e.g., were any of the questions confusing?) and decide if any question should be changed. If the group decides to make changes, adapt the next two pages of Handout 27 to incorporate their comments before proceeding with the second half of this activity. Allow time for participants to practice interviewing each other once the list of questions is finalized.

Explain that the next step in this activity will be to collect information about the use of community resources directly from parents. Provide participants with multiple copies of the second and third pages of Handout 27 (or your adapted version). Ask participants to select one of the four items from the handout to focus on for their research, based on their own interests or needs. Or, have the team divide the topics so that each one is covered.

Have them circle the item they will be addressing where it appears on the top of the second page of the handout. Then direct them to interview four parents, asking for their responses to that one item. Remind participants to collect information on the quality and usefulness of each resource mentioned by parents. Also encourage them to take notes during or after each interview. Arrange for a time and place to meet after the interviews are completed.

Debriefing

Reconvene the group. Have participants describe or summarize their research results. Record responses on chart paper. As a group look for patterns (e.g., there is one resource everyone goes to for many different types of information; there is a resource that is under-used) across the different topics.

Ask the group if they have enough good information to share with other parents and staff. If the team feels that they do not, encourage them to develop a plan for collecting more information (e.g., interview more parents or change some questions). If the team feels they have enough information to share, encourage the team to brainstorm how to share the information. Develop an action plan to implement either decision.

Next Steps: Ideas to Extend Practice

Serve as a mentor to parents thinking about enrolling in adult education. Using Activity 4-1 and 4-2 as models, help parents reflect on the quality of adult education programs, evaluate their needs and preferences, observe programs to gather information, and weigh the pro's and con's of each option. Use the Quality Considerations for Adult Education resource in the appendix as a guide for your discussion on quality.
Mentor a parent who is advocating for changes at a child care setting or other community resource.

...

If you haven't already, contact your State Child Care Resource and Referral network for information about child care in your state. All states have an R & R network that can provide a lot of information on child care resources and quality.
Create opportunities for parents to help each other find child care. For example, provide a board where parents can create a "swap-shop" for services.