|
Examining the Feasibility of Using Home Visiting Models to Support Home-Based Child Care Providers
|
|
Foundation for Child Development Grants in Action
Child Trends, Inc. released its report, Examining the Feasibility of Using Home Visiting Models to Support Home-Based Child Care Providers report, providing critical information on how home visiting models can be adapted to deliver unique support for home-based child care (HBCC) providers. The report advises that utilizing home visiting models as a method of professional development is a promising approach for states to use to improve the quality of care and enhance child outcomes.
As the report details, HBCC providers face unique challenges in accessing effective professional development (PD) that aligns with their needs and helps them bolster the learning and development of children of various ages in their care. HBCC providers often work unconventional hours, with small staff, and have difficulties accessing PD due to the issues surrounding the location, hours, and costs of PD opportunities. They seek PD that is applicable to the children and families they serve, tailored to help them enrich their early care and education environment, and addresses their role as small business owners. Further, HBCC providers prefer PD which cohesively builds a strengths-based quality improvement approach rather than a compliance-based priority approach.
The research highlighted in the report examines the feasibility of scaling home visiting models that have adapted their curricula for HBCC settings. It reviews tailored curricula, funding options, and the implementation experiences of ParentChild+, Parents as Teachers, and Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters. The home visiting models profiled have demonstrated positive outcomes related to child development and family engagement.
The report suggests that adaption of home visiting models is a promising approach for states to use as a method for ensuring high-quality care within HBCC settings. Such implementation requires state, federal, and local coordination to adapt, scale, and finance this professional development strategy to sustain the infrastructure necessary for this approach to be effective.
|
|
Key findings of the report suggest that:
- Home visiting addresses common barriers to HBCC provider participation in professional development. Providers interviewed for this report discussed challenges with traveling to training locations and finding training that did not conflict with their work schedules. Home visiting can address these issues by providing professional development in the home and providing support on a schedule that aligns with providers’ needs.
- Existing federal and state policies and funding streams could support this type of professional development for HBCC providers. Early care and education funding streams and policies often allocate money for quality improvement efforts, which could be used to support home visiting for HBCC providers.
- Existing work by home visiting models to adapt their curricula for HBCC providers provides insight into how this could work at a larger scale. Information gathered from current efforts to adapt and pilot home visiting for HBCC providers can inform future efforts to scale up this model.
|
|
ABOUT US Research, policy and practice—we connect these pieces to help build early childhood systems that enable children to reach their full potential. Founded in 1900, the Foundation for Child Development identifies needs, fills gaps and integrates knowledge for successful implementation and continuous improvement. Learn more about our focus areas and download resources by clicking these links:
|
|
|
|
|
|
