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Terminology
The family child care field has seen the development of many types of programs and organizations designed to support providers and/or to deliver services to parents and children. These include:
- local, state, and federal family child care provider associations;
- family child care community-support networks also referred to as family child care networks; and
family child care systems also known as family child care networks or family child care satellite systems.
There has been some confusion about the definition of these programs and the purposes of these organizations since they all support family child care providers by ending their isolation, bringing them together, and provide some resources, information, or training. There is also some confusion as to who delivers these programs as they can be either formal or informal organizations. The confusion also arises because the terms are used differently in different states. For example, a family child care network in Illinois is designed to deliver child care services to families while a family child care network in Georgia is a support program for providers.
It is hoped that the following information about these types of programs will end the confusion and help shape future discussions on the development, expansion, and improvement of these programs.
Family Child Care Associations
Family child care associations are membership organizations composed of family child care providers who join together to enhance their professionalism. There are local, state, or national associations. Some local associations can be very informal while others can be larger and incorporated. Many offer training and professional development opportunities and business training. Some offer of other types of services to providers. Associations help end provider isolation. Many advocate for changes in local, state, and/or federal polices that affect their profession. The associations have no direct relationship with children or families just with family child care providers.
Family Child Care Community-Support Networks
A community-support network also referred to as a family child care network in some states, is a community-based group of family child care providers convened by a sponsoring agency for the purposes of peer support, sharing of resources and enhancing their professionalism. The primary purpose of this kind of network is to support the family child care provider. The primary consumer of a network is the family child care provider. Community support networks have no direct relationship to children or families. The goal of the network is to improve the quality of family child care in a specific area, neighborhood or community by supporting family child care providers. The networks are usually inclusive in nature and are open to anyone who provides care to children. Many will recruit unlicensed and exempt providers to help them improve the quality of their care. They do this by ending provider isolation, offer training and professional development opportunities, offer business training, may have lending equipment and toy libraries, and help facilitate substitute care. Food program sponsors and child care resource and referral agencies are examples of organizations that are involved in community-support networks.
Family Child Care Systems/Networks
A family child care system/network is a direct service delivery mechanism similar to a child care center program or a Head Start program. The primary purpose of a system/network is to serve the needs of parents and children in the program. Support to the providers is a secondary purpose designed to make the child care service available, accessible, and of good quality. Families and children are enrolled in the system/network and the child care service is delivered by the family child care provider. The system/network also provides additional support services to the children and families. They have a direct relationship to a specific group of children and families who are enrolled in the system/network. The system/network has a direct responsibility as to the quality of the child care service being delivered to that group of children and their families enrolled in the program. A system/network will screen and then select a specific number of providers. They are exclusive in that their goal is not reach all of the providers in their community but to some who can provide a certain standard of care to a specific number of children and families. A formal contractual relationship exists between a system/network and family child care providers that articulates roles and responsibilities. Children and families are the primary consumer of the system. The sponsoring agency offers the providers opportunities for peer support, sharing of resources, and professional growth. They also end provider isolation, offer training and professional development opportunities, and offer business training. Providers may be independent contractors or employees of the family child care system. The military family child care program and the Head Start family child care option would be considered a system/network. In some communities, systems/networks are also called satellite systems.
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