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DAP Category: Quality

News

September 10, 2020

Child Care and Education Planning Tools

About

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many early learning programs and all schools in Pennsylvania had to close abruptly and drastically adjust their operations. In turn, this left many families without access to child care and education services for their children.

In response to this crisis, Trying Together and our partners worked rapidly to develop several new platforms and resources to support the continuity of care and education for families in Southwestern Pennsylvania and to support the early learning professionals who provide these services.

To learn about our tools and resources, continue reading below. Share this flyer with your network.

 

Allegheny Child Care

In partnership with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services and Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School-Time (APOST), Trying Together developed Allegheny Child Care. By using this online tool, parents and caregivers of young children can search for available child care spots at early learning, after-school, out-of-school, summer camp, and virtual programs in Allegheny County.

To use the tool, visit the Allegheny Child Care website. For additional support in finding child care and/or funding your child care needs, visit the ELRC Region 5 website or call 412.350.3577.

Family Care and Education Forum

In response to uncertainty surrounding the 2020-21 school year, Trying Together launched the Family Care & Education Forum. This new resource connects parents and caregivers across Southwestern Pennsylvania and provides a space to ask questions, network, and support one another.

Upon signing up, users will be able to post questions, respond to comments, and learn more about care and education opportunities in their area. To discuss your care and education plans for this fall with other families, visit the new Family Care and Education Forum.

Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) Region 5

Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRCs) provide a single point-of-contact for families, early learning service providers, and communities to gain information and access services that support high-quality child care and early learning programs.

To request support and learn more, visit the ELRC Region 5 website or call 412.350.3577.

 

News

August 11, 2020

How to Find, Choose, and Pay for High-Quality Child Care

About

Choosing child care for the young children in your life can be less stressful if you know what to look for when determining whether or not a program is “high-quality.” Continue reading below to learn what to look for, how to find and pay for child care, and more!

 

 

What to Look For

Caregivers who:

    • communicate through talk and touch, songs, and stories
    • engage at the child’s level, sitting, squatting, or laying on the floor
    • use a warm and supportive tone of voice while addressing a behavior or redirecting attention

Classrooms and settings that include:

    • organized, clean, and accessible materials for children to select without adult assistance
    • a variety of materials available for all types of play:
      • physical—developing gross and fine motor skills
      • object—sensory tables with rice, sand, or water, loose parts play
      • dramatic—costumes, housekeeping, or kitchen objects
      • constructive—art materials, blocks
      • games with rules—fingerplays to music or books, board games

Curriculum:

    • play-based and allows for exploration, creativity, and inquiry

Family Engagement that includes:

    • an open-door policy for family members to drop-in
    • regular updates about a child’s day
    • special events, family nights, and programming in the evenings or on weekends

Designations like:

* Note that only licensed child care programs may participate in these rating systems.

 

 

Find Child Care

Now that you know how to determine if a program is high-quality, it is time to find programs that meet your location, time, and transportation needs. Here are a few resources to support your search.

Allegheny Child Care

Caregivers and parents of young children can now search available child care spots at all Allegheny County early learning, after-school, out-of-school, summer camp, and virtual programs in real-time with the Allegheny Child Care tool. Visit the Allegheny Child Care website to try it out and learn more.

Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) Region 5

ELRC Region 5 provides a single point-of-contact for families, early learning services providers, and communities to gain information and access services that support high-quality child care and early learning programs. To learn more, visit the ELRC Region 5, email elrc5@alleghenycounty.us, or call 412.350.3577.

United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania

To talk to a resource specialist, call 2.1.1 or text your zip code to 898-211. Pennsylvania 211 resource specialists will listen to your needs and connect you to programs in your community.

 

Paying for Quality Care

You found a high-quality child care program and are ready to enroll your child, but how do you pay for it? Do you qualify for publicly-funded programs? Learn more about qualifying for subsidy and supplemental payment programs available for families below.

Pre-K Counts

Pre-K Counts is available to families with incomes that are no more than 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Pre-K Counts is a school-day, school-year program for children ages three to four. This program may give preference to four-year-olds.

Child Care Works

Child Care Works (CCW) is available to families with incomes that are no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Through CCW, children ages birth to 12 may receive a voucher to attend a child care program based on their family’s or household’s school or work schedule. A small co-pay is required from the family to receive services.

Head Start

Head Start is available to families with incomes that are no more than 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Head Start is a school-day, school-year program for children ages three and four. This program may give preference to four-year-olds.

Early Head Start

Early Head Start (EHS) is available to families with incomes that are no more than 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Early Head Start serves children birth to age two in home-based or center-based programs. Most of these programs are not full-time care.

Scholarships and Tuition Assistance

Even if you do not qualify for the programs listed above due to your income, many programs offer their own independent scholarships or tuition assistance programs. Ask each program you are considering if they offer financial assistance.

 

Take Action

After searching for an affordable high-quality program, too many families find themselves making compromises in the process. Affordable programs fill up quickly and many have long waiting lists. Simply put, there are just not enough high-quality slots to meet the needs of all families.

As a leading advocate in western Pennsylvania, Trying Together works every day with our local, regional, and state partners to advocate for child care access, affordability, and quality. Join our effort to expand access to high-quality child care by signing up to receive our advocacy action alerts!

 

Print This Resource

This resource is available as a downloadable PDF (English) (Español).

 

News

June 15, 2020

Questions for Your Early Learning Provider During COVID-19

Child Care and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Child Care Operations in Pennsylvania

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all child care programs located in counties in the yellow or green phase of Governor Tom Wolf’s Process to Reopen Pennsylvania are permitted to offer services to families and caregivers without a waiver. However, to maintain the health and safety of children, families, and staff, all programs must comply with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Guidance for Child Care Programs that Remain Open.

To better understand the type of care and services your early learning program is providing during the COVID-19 pandemic, ask your early learning professional the following questions. For additional questions on program quality, visit our Questions to Ask Your Early Learning Professional page.

 

 

Questions to Ask Your Child Care Program

    • What are your current operating hours? (COVID-19 might have affected the normal hours.)
    • What is the health screening process you are implementing for children and staff?
    • What is your drop-off and pick-up process right now?
    • What is your policy regarding visitors and non-essential staff in your program?
    • What is your program’s policy on adults and children wearing masks?
    • Can you share with me a little about your handwashing and hygiene practices?
    • What is the staff-to-child ratio you are currently following?
    • How are you handling groupings of children and use of space in general (ie., meals, nap time, outdoor activities)?
    • How is your program communicating with families?
    • Can you tell me about the communication you will have with families about illnesses?
    • Does the program have an emergency plan for a child or staff member showing COVID-19 symptoms?
    • Can you share your sick/illness policy with me before enrolling?
    • How will you meet the developmental needs of my child while following the health and safety guidance of the CDC?
    • Do you have an outside play area or a plan to get children outside every day?
    • Recognizing the increased need for cleaning and sanitation, are cleaning supplies and chemicals locked up and out of the reach of children?

Print this Resource

This list of questions is also available as a printable Family Checklist (PDF).

Find Child Care

Is your family in need of child care? Use the Allegheny Child Care tool to search for child care, before and after school programs, and summer programs near you! This tool displays real-time available child care slots at early learning programs in Allegheny County. Visit our Find Child Care page to learn more and start your search.

More Information

If you are looking for additional questions to assess program quality, visit our Questions to Ask Your Early Learning Professional page. For more information and to stay up-to-date on COVID-19 guidance, please visit the Pennsylvania Department of Health website.

 

News

Questions to Ask Early Learning Professionals

Type & Quality of Care

When a child has access to high-quality early care and learning environments, they have access to certified, experienced professionals who support their development. To learn more about the type and quality of care your child care professional is providing, consider asking the following questions:

Program Details

    • What will a typical day for my child look like?
    • Does your program use a play-based curriculum? Can you tell me a little bit about it?
    • Is your facility Keystone STARS certified? If so, what is your STAR level?
    • How does your program contact families?
    • Will there be family engagement events or opportunities? Can you tell me more about them?

Health and Safety

    • What is your adult-to-child ratio for each age group?
    • How will I be alerted if there is an emergency?
    • What is your facility’s Emergency Preparedness Plan?
    • Are all staff at your program certified in pediatric CPR and first aid?
    • Are all staff at your program required to complete a PA Child Abuse History Clearance, PA State Police Criminal Record Check, FBI Criminal History Background Check, and National Sex Offender Registry Clearance?

Qualifications

    • Is your program state certified?
    • What other qualifications or certifications are staff required to have at your location?
    • What topics are staff regularly trained on or learning about?
    • How often do your staff access professional development courses?

Reflection

In addition to asking questions, parents and caregivers can benefit from personally reflecting on their visit to the early learning program. Take a few minutes to answer the following questions:

    • What did you notice during your visit to the early learning program?
    • Were caregivers playing with and talking to children at their level?
    • Were caregivers using a warm tone and kind touch to engage with children?
    • Were caregivers responsive rather than reactive?
    • Was the facility clean?
    • Were toys and materials readily available for children to engage with?

Print this Resource

This list of questions is available as a printable PDF.

More Information

Looking for additional questions you can ask to learn about your program’s updated procedures and operations during the COVID-19 pandemic? Visit our Questions to Ask Your Early Learning Provider During the COVID-19 Pandemic page.

 

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News

May 27, 2020

Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Series

Creating high-quality learning experiences at the earliest stages of your child’s life

As an early childhood nonprofit, Trying Together recognizes that a child’s parent is their first and most important caregiver.

From the moment a caregiver meets their child, whether that is through birth, adoption, fostering, or guardianship, parents use their instincts and experiences to guide their personal caregiving style. Caregivers’ perspectives are valuable and can be especially powerful in supporting children’s long-term success when paired with research and science on the way that children learn and develop.

Evidence-based research shows that children’s brains develop rapidly from zero to age five. Through consistent and caring daily interactions with their children, parents and other caregivers are able to build healthy relationships with and best support the early development and learning of their children. When children grow up in safe environments with engaged, supportive caregivers, the positive effects are felt throughout their lifetime. But where do caregivers go to find information and resources that help them do this?

Through the family resource series Developmentally Appropriate Parenting, Trying Together assists parents and caregivers like you in creating high-quality learning experiences at the earliest stages of your child’s life.

About the Series

Developmentally Appropriate Parenting is a family resource content series developed by Trying Together as an effort to empower caregivers to create high-quality experiences at the earliest stages of their child’s life. To do this, we are developing digital and print content for families that covers critical early childhood topics.

To stay up-to-date on available materials, sign up to receive our newsletter.

Featured Content

Use the list below to navigate through each series topic:

Request free printed materials from our Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Series.

Available Languages

Caregivers viewing our online resources can use the “Select Language” button in the top right corner of the screen to access the information in their native language.

Printed Materials

Request free printed materials from our Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Series. Printed materials are available in English and Spanish.

More Information

For questions about the Developmentally Appropriate Parenting series, email Trying Together at: info@tryingtogether.org.

 

News

April 23, 2020

Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Series: Part III

Child Care

About

When children have access to high-quality child care, caregivers know that their children are learning in a safe, supportive environment with early learning professionals. However, due to limited slots and increasing costs, many caregivers in Pennsylvania have had a difficult time accessing high-quality programs, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To assist families in their search, Trying Together developed family resource content that will explore how to identify, access, and afford high-quality child care.

 

 

Featured Resources

How to Find, Choose, and Pay for Child Care

Finding an early learning program that meets your family’s needs can be difficult. That’s why Trying Together created our resource How to Find, Choose, and Pay for High-Quality Child Care to assist parents and caregivers in this process.

Affording High-Quality Child Care

Found high-quality child care but wondering how to pay for it? Read this post to learn about subsidy and supplemental payment programs.

What Types of Child Care Are Available?

Did you know that there are several types of early childhood education and care programs that you can enroll your child into? To find a program type that works best for your family, check out this post.

Call It Child Care

Child care supports children’s healthy development and a lifetime of learning. That’s why we call it child care. To learn more about the Call It Child Care initiative, visit this post.

 

 

Find Child Care

If your family is in immediate need of child care, access the resources below to identify early learning programs near you.

Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) Region 5

ELRC Region 5 acts as a single point-of-contact for Allegheny County families, early learning service providers, and communities to provide information and access to services that support high-quality child care and early learning programs. For more information, call 1.888.340.3572 or visit the ELRC website.

Allegheny Child Care

Allegheny Child Care is a digital search tool that was developed to support the care and education needs of families. Parents and caregivers can now search for real-time available child care, pre-k, after-school, summer camp, and virtual spots at programs in Allegheny County. Visit our Find Child Care page to learn more and start your search.

Family Care & Education Forum

The Family Care & Education Forum is an online community where parents and caregivers can engage in conversation with one another, post questions, respond to comments, and learn more about care and education opportunities in their area. To sign up, visit the Family Care & Education Forum page.

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services created an online Child Care and Other Early Learning Program search tool to expedite caregiver’s search for child care that meets their needs. Visit the COMPASS website to learn more and start your search.

 

 

More Information

To stay up-to-date on available resources, follow Trying Together on Facebook and Twitter or sign up to receive our newsletter.

 

News

April 10, 2020

Affording High-Quality Child Care

 

 

You found quality care. Now what?

You found a high-quality child care program and are ready to enroll your child, but how do you pay for it? Do you qualify for publicly-funded programs? Learn more about qualifying for subsidy and supplemental payment programs available for families below:

 

Federal Poverty Guidelines 2020
Persons in
Household		 100% 200% 300%
1 $12,760 $25,520 $38,280
2 $17,240 $34,480 $51,720
3 $21,720 $43,440 $65,160
4 $26,200 $52,400 $78,600
5 $30,680 $61,360 $92,040
6 $35,160 $70,320 $105,480
7 $39,640 $79,280 $118,920
8 $44,120 $88,240 $132,360

 

Pre-K Counts

Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts provides high-quality pre-kindergarten services to three- and four-year-old children at no cost to families.

Eligibility

To be eligible, children must live in families that earn no more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level (see above). If eligible, Pre-K Counts is offered in school districts, Keystone STARS 3 and 4 child care programs, Head Start programs, and licensed nursery schools.

Application

To learn if you’re eligible and to apply, visit the COMPASS website or contact your local Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC).

Child Care Works

The Child Care Works subsidized child care program helps low-income families pay their child care fees and is managed by the Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) office located in your county.

Eligibility

To be eligible, families must earn no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level (see above); meet work or education requirements; and meet other eligibility requirements. If eligible, your local ELRC will provide a child care subsidy that will pay a portion of your child care cost. Families will be held liable for the remaining cost, which is referred to as a “family co-pay.” Both the subsidy payment and the family co-pay will go directly to the child care program.

Application

To learn if you’re eligible and to apply, contact your local ELRC.

Head Start

Head Start is primarily a federally-funded program that provides education, health, and social services to families with children ages three, four, or five. Head Start programs help children develop academic and social skills that prepare them for school and life. While enrolled in a high-quality Head Start pre-kindergarten program, children receive nutrition, health, and other supports that help them grow mentally, physically, and socially. Families are also offered support to help them obtain services for a variety of needs, including employment and housing.

Eligibility

To be eligible, families must earn no more than 100 percent of the federal poverty level (see above). If eligible, the pre-kindergarten program will be available for free. Due to limited funding, Pennsylvania Head Start only provides services to a limited number of children and families. However, a waiting list is available if all spots are filled.

Application

To learn if you’re eligible and to apply, contact your local Head Start program or Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC).

Early Head Start

Early Head Start serves pregnant women and families with children from birth to age three. Operating similarly to Head Start, Early Head Start works to ensure that every child receives high-quality services that help them grow physically, academically, and socially and that families obtain needed services to help them become self-sufficient. The program may be offered as center-based or home-based services and is free.

Eligibility

To be eligible, families must earn no more than 100 percent of the federal poverty level (see above). Due to limited funding, Pennsylvania Early Head Start only provides services to a limited number of children and families. However, a waiting list is available if all spots are filled.

Application

To learn if you’re eligible and to apply, contact your local Head Start program or Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC).

More Information

Even if you do not qualify at the levels listed above, many programs offer their own independent scholarships or tuition assistance programs. Ask each program you are considering financial assistance. For more information, contact your local ELRC. If you live in Allegheny County, contact ELRC Region 5 at 412.350.3575 for more information.

Information provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services