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The Child Care Partnership Project Children’s Home Extended Care Program |
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Description
I work the graveyard shift. Where can I find nighttime child care? – Newly employed single mom In Hamilton County, Tennessee, parents can rely on round-the-clock care for their children while they are working nontraditional hours, continuing school, or receiving job training. Once a home for orphans, then foster children, the Children’s Home now employs credentialed staff who accommodate the irregular schedules of working parents during all hours. The evolution of the Children’s Home shows how one program engaged partners to meet the changing needs of children and families. By collaborating with hundreds of volunteers, the local United Way agency, state and local government, Head Start, and a committed board of directors, the Children’s Home is able to offer an extended day care program to the children and families of Hamilton County. Partners Partners in the project include:
History and Development In 1872, a group of concerned women organized the Young Women’s Christian Association to take care of orphaned children. Their mission grew during the first third of the century, and in 1939 they built the Children’s Home. Societal changes led to revisions in child welfare practices, and the Children’s Home provided foster care services over the next three decades. In 1969, a visionary board of directors argued that many foster children could remain with their parents if parents had the option of child care during nontraditional hours. Once again, the Home changed to meet the needs of children, creating an extended child care program for children from 6 weeks to 12 years of age. The Children's Home stopped providing residential foster care, but in 1983 the Chambliss Emergency Shelter relocated to the Children’s Home. The Shelter now provides extended child care and residential care on an emergency basis to children from birth to 12 years of age who are abused, neglected, or abandoned. Current Activities When the Children's Home began providing child care, it started by serving two children. In 1999 it provides child care to more than 450 children each year, averaging 250 per day during the week. The Children’s Home cares for children with special needs, as well as infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who enjoy a specially designed program to promote their early learning. During the school year, before- and after-school care is provided, along with transportation to and from the schools to the Children’s Home. Children whose parents work late or work second shift eat dinner at the Home. The care continues for those who will spend the night. The rapid growth of the extended care program soon led to a long waiting list, and the Children’s Home partnered with other child care centers to meet the demand. The Children’s Home now manages four child care centers in Hamilton County, and has added two Head Start classrooms on-site at the Children’s Home. Head Start shares the cost of care with the Children’s Home. A formal partnership with the Chambliss Emergency Shelter provides respite child care for the parents of children who are in foster care, have been residents of the shelter, and are in the legal custody of the state. Even with the additional child care facilities, a long waiting list of children still exists. The greatest area of demand is for infant care. To address this need, the Home participated in the Voluntary Registration Project that allows staff to recruit, train, and support individuals interested in developing a family day care business. With a grant from the Tennessee Department of Human Services, the Home has been an effective change agent, registering more than 400 new family child care homes. Resources The Children’s Home/Chambliss Emergency Shelter operates on an annual budget of $2 million. Child care subsidies and parent fees, based on a sliding scale, provide 30% of program funds. The Hamilton County government provides additional funding (28%), along with the USDA reimbursements for food (10%), the United Way (17%), and endowment fund interest (12%). Each year, more than 9,000 volunteer hours are dedicated to the Children’s Home/Chambliss Emergency Shelter. For example, in 1998 the senior nursing students from Southern Adventist University administered complete physical exams to all children over 2 years of age who had not had a health examination in the last year. In-kind services may lead to new funding. For example, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Speech and Hearing Center provided speech/language and hearing screenings for all 3- and 4-year-old children, as well as 2-year-olds with teacher referral. As a result of the screening, the United Way decided to fund speech/language therapy for all the children who required services. Results The rapid growth and continuing demand for services provided by the Children’s Home demonstrate its success in meeting the needs of working parents. More than 250 children spend time at the Children’s Home each day, and an additional 200 benefit from centers managed by the Children’s Home. Part of this success is due to continuous efforts to improve services. Twice a year, parents and/or guardians of participating children evaluate the program’s facilities, food services, and the quality of instruction. In partnership with the United Way, the Children’s Home/Chambliss Emergency Shelter is working to develop a method for evaluating and disseminating, to interested parties, the outcomes of the work with children and families. A variety of outcome measures are being designed to track services provided to preschool children, as well as kindergarten students. Sustaining and Replicating Like many programs operating during non-traditional hours, the Children’s Home struggles to find the necessary funds to supplement parent fees, government subsidies, and private contributions. The project with United Way to evaluate and disseminate outcomes will help the Children’s Home sustain the interest and support of its funders. The outcomes-based management system also will help the Home determine areas for improvement. This model of care during nontraditional hours has been replicated in three cities in Tennessee, and several residential centers are considering starting similar programs. Lessons Learned Document demand. The Children’s Home uses its budget as a tool to lobby for more state and charitable donations to the program. Staff document costs and demand to show the discrepancy between what is available and what is needed. Budgets can be a powerful device to convey the need for more support. Location. Location. Location. Parents who need care during nontraditional hours require child care that is accessible to them. Strive to locate the care center where the most families with the need for 24-hour care can access it, including the single-parent population. Build on existing strengths. The Children’s Home easily extended its services to include the extended-care program because management and service providers already knew how to operate a facility 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Communities in need of care during non-traditional hours should consider partnering with residential centers to provide this care. Invest in staff training. Even though the residential staff knew how to operate 24 hours a day, they needed training in how to provide early childhood education and care. Initially, the Home subsidized staff to complete training in early care and education. Now, all staff must be working toward a 2- or 4-year degree in child development. The Home provides financial assistance for this training. Cultivate volunteers. The Children’s Home provides stability for the children at the center by relying heavily on volunteers from the community to participate in all types of activities, from reading and playing with children to providing help with field trips and special events. Contact Information Phil Acord |
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