Success By 6 Impact Stories

The Quality Child Care Mentoring Collaboration.

Initiating and supporting The Quality Child Care Mentoring Collaboration. Partners include WorkSource Child Care Solutions, FamilyConnections, Austin Community College, City of Austin and Travis County.

Compelling evidence has mounted over many years that high-quality early childhood programs help young children, especially disadvantaged children, become better prepared to enter and succeed in school. Low-income children who experienced quality early childhood programs when they were 3 and 4 years old were more likely to finish high school, avoid teen pregnancy, and become employed after high school or college. Leading economists have estimated that every $1.00 invested in quality preschool programs can save society as much as $17.00 in remedial education, welfare costs, and court and prison expenses.

Accreditation is a major indicator of high-quality child care, as it involves meeting higher than minimum standards, self-evaluation and outside evaluations.

In Spring 2006, fewer than 15% of local child care facilities met any quality standards beyond minimal licensing regulations. Today, thanks to the work of United Way Success By Six, 30% of programs meet quality standards. Why is this so important? Because research shows that children who attend quality early child care facilities are much more likely to succeed in school and in life. And having more of our children fulfill their potential, means our community will continue to strengthen and prosper. We all win.

WorkSource Child Care Solutions, FamilyConnections, and Austin Community College have created the Quality Child Care Mentoring Collaboration. Through this cooperative effort, accreditation specialists mentor child care center directors and help them develop a program improvement plan. WorkSource provides additional resources for eligible programs, such as funding for teacher scholarships, equipment funding, and training.

What is the work of United Way in The Quality Child Care Mentoring Collaboration?

• Initiated the collaboration.
• Recruited mentors and volunteers needed to assist with the accreditation process through Hands On Central Texas, the volunteer center of United Way.
• Issued the 2007 Report Card on Child Well-Being, which tracks child care center accreditation and many other benchmarks affecting our community's care for young children. We are delivering the Report Card to city, county, and state policy makers in one-on-one meetings.
• Solicited in-kind contributions for nonprofit child care centers from the business community.
• Provided funding for The Quality Child Care Mentoring Collaboration, along with the WorkSource Board, The City of Austin, and Travis County.