During our Foundations course, I examined the Erikson Institute's website, https://www.erikson.edu/. The website is divided into multiple sections as it is both a college and a source for research and community outreach. One of their divisions, the Center for Children and Families, offers a full range of services for children and families. This includes developmental assessments, medical assessments, Early Intervention, mental health support, transition support for children with disabilities, support for parents adopting abroad, therapy, home visits, and something that they call the "Fussy Baby Network" which is a comprehensive support and outreach program for parents of babies who are excessively fussy or who have difficulty eating or sleeping.
The Erikson Institute is located in Chicago and the outreach services that are offered are generally within the confines of that area. However, there are network sites in seven other states in order to increase the likelihood that families receive the services and support that they need. In most areas, multilingual staff are available. This eliminates the need for a translator and more adequately allows the families to participate in the programs.
EDIT: I re-read the assignment and realized that though the Foundations course was referenced, I believe the website information that we are to share should be from the current course. I'm adding that below as I already have a comment from a peer and do not want to delete the previously posted information as it may lead to confusion.
For this course, I selected NACCRRA (National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies)/Child Care Aware as my focal organization. Their site can be accessed here: http://www.usa.childcareaware.org. This organization is a network of child care resource and referral agencies. They provide early childhood related information, trainings, research, and support to parents, teachers, and the community. The organization also acts as political advocates and helps the community to advocate for quality care, better funding, et cetera. Currently, one of the biggest "action items" on the site is for followers of Child Care Aware to contact representatives to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). This grant funds many states' child care tuition assistance programs and the impact would be tremendous for families and providers if the grant is not reauthorized. A call to action is necessary and well-founded to protect our families, the children in our programs, and our programs themselves.
Erica,
ReplyDeleteI looked at the link you provided this week. I clicked on the "Center for Children and Families link. I read more about their approach one of the key points I found they build upon is building relationships and the importance of this. I have found in my studies for this to be a key trend in the early childhood field. Do you have any thoughts on this?
I have noticed with some of the child care assistance programs, that the programs are not always able to cover the entire expense because many of the centers prices are to high. It seems like you have to go broke now a days to get your child in a good child care center.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing the link to that website it sounds very interesting and I will definitely be looking into it not only for professional reasons but for personal reasons. Childcare is very expensive these days and having sites like that around can be a great help.
Hey, the links that you provided this week was very interesting and I think that they will be helpful as well.
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