The Love Connection Podcast

Miren Algorri (MA): It sort of felt like we were failing instead of being looked at as a way to support those who had been underserved. Because if a provider is underserved, then the children she is taking care of, and the families who are counting on these early childhood educators, are being underserved as well.

Salaine McCullough (SM): The Love Connection is presented by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, a non-profit organization that promotes affordable, quality child care through research, education, policy, and advocacy. This podcast was made possible with support from First 5 LA, and research by Keisha Nzewi, Director of Public Policy at the R&R Network.

Hello! I’m your host Salaine McCullough. And you’re listening to The Love Connection. This is the first episode of a three-part podcast - about California's system to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in child care programs. In this episode, we’ll talk about how Quality Counts California was not created with people of color in mind, and how advocates are speaking up to change this.

You see, resource and referral agencies, known as R&Rs, have been around for decades to help parents find child care, and learn about safety and quality in child care settings.

Here’s Keisha Nzewi. She works as the Director of Public Policy with the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network or the “R&R Network” - and through her work, she provides support and education for child care providers and their rights.

Keisha Nzewi (KN): I represent our organization and our members, our child care resource and referral agencies in California – for most of their history, they've also been a great support to childcare providers, and parents, and children. But to home-based providers, especially in being a place to learn and grow, whether they're licensed or not licensed and whether they want to learn how to become a licensed child care provider. The local R&R has been the place to go. They're deeply rooted in their communities.

SM: Many child care providers have relationships with their local resource and referral organizations. R&Rs may help providers with many things, including becoming licensed, marketing their business, and joining professional development activities.

Quality Counts California, or QCC, is one of these activities. Providers can join to have their program rated, and then work to improve their program with the help of a coach. But some of these providers participating in QCC don’t know what they’re going to be evaluated on until someone shows up at their door to rate their child care site.

KN: The challenge was they had no idea until welcoming some stranger into their home, what they were being rated on, or what that would mean to them or for them. And then afterward, just seeing for some, what looked like, oh, you're just what they can interpret as being you're an awful, You're awful with kids. Why? Why are you doing in this business? That was disheartening and could discourage many from continuing in the field, even though they were given no heads up on what they should look for, or improve upon? Or do before being rated?

SM: The idea of being rated can be unnerving for some who don’t even know the guidelines they’re being rated by. That’s why Keisha, along with others, works to make sure everyone’s voices are heard.

KN: So my advocacy work as a public policy director is around issues that impact children and, and their families as well as childcare providers. And a lot of that is around state budget issues, federal budget issues as well as legislation. Before COVID, I was able to recruit and support and train home-based providers in California to become advocates and to attend our Lobby Day in Sacramento, and the plan was for them to also attend legislative meetings beyond that, and do budget advocacy and attend hearings and give testimony and whatnot, and then COVID hit. So they still did that and do that.

So at the network, we really want to build a childcare system that works for all Californians. And our current system as it is doesn't do that. And so, we had a long, we do have a long-standing and strong commitment, lifting up parent voice, and all efforts towards achieving that goal.

SM: Keisha says the state has not always done the same in lifting up provider voices.

KN: Most recently, they gained state right recognition to the establishment of childcare providers united, which is now the union of home-based providers who can bargain with the state of California for things like rates and other benefits that they don't have. So the goal in my effort to really organize child care providers in not organized labor, but to bring together childcare providers who weren't necessarily connected yet to the union, though many are and were was to help them be able to tell their own stories to legislators and other decision-makers who have power, power over the field and power and how they do their work. And so that's what I did is just train and provide opportunity. And the space for providers to speak for themselves instead of me or anyone else speaking for them.

SM: These efforts are needed because the system of support for child care providers was not created equal for all providers. You see, QCC, also known as QRIS, was established nationally about 30 years ago. And states had the option to pick it up. By now every state has implemented some form of QRIS. It was meant to be a way that parents can find what the people who created QRIS defined as high-quality childcare.

KN: There's people that create a QRIS then and 'til today typically are and have been white women who don't necessarily have field experience, like they're the furthest from the children. They may be complete experts in early childhood education and development, have lots of degrees and expertise around that, but not much expertise of actually caring for small children.

And that's reflected in how quality is defined, and how child care providers, those who work most directly with children, are evaluated. Because it often has little to do with what a child care provider herself determines quality, or what even parents determine as high quality. So, um, that bias that well, the reason why I say QRIS is racist, is because it does come from a white supremacist lens, it was created through that. And that's what many providers experience when they are mentored or coached or rated through the QRIS system or quality counts in California.

So one, you can only really participate fully and meaningfully if you speak English and read English and write English. Many providers have expressed, especially home-based providers have expressed, how it's clear that the person who came to observe them doesn't realize or the tools that they use, make no recognition that a home-based care, a family child care home actually takes place and in somebody's real home and house and expect that their setting would look and feel like a child care center. And ignore the fact that people choose, parents choose a home-based provider often because it is at a home and not at a center.

It may be biased against the type of foods that are served or the type of toys that are available. And other things like that. So for many providers, there's a lot of things about the quality counts, California or whatever it's called in their county, as well as QRIS in general that are very biased against the women, primarily immigrant women, Black women, indigenous women, people of color, who are caring and have always cared for our youngest children. And now suddenly, they're told they're not good at it. And they're being measured against really expectations of whiteness instead of the culture that they themselves represent.

SM: Keisha continues to push forward efforts to improve the quality rating and improvement system. So, is change coming?

KN: No, I think that most people who participate in, who implement Quality Counts California within their counties, those at our state level are listening. I mean, I didn't mince my words now, and I didn't mince my words a year ago. And while it may have been like surprising and shocking, from what I could tell, most people were like, “Really?”, and then they would pause and think about the work that they do if they're part of the Quality Counts initiative in their county, and how it interacts with the providers who they know and love, and only want to do good by. And upon further reflection, realize, “oh, wow, there is something wrong here.” And I think that over this year, that people have been able to pause and receive feedback and are trying to figure out a better way to move forward.

I think there's resistance as there would be anywhere but for most people, they were able to take that moment, you know, be it maybe be offended for a second, but after just further thought and reflection, see the truth. Even, and I'm not saying everyone has to agree with everything that I say or we say, but just to reflect upon it and see some if not all the truth and be willing to make a change. And so we've seen that come down through the state with them. And local org and the local implementers really reaching out and having intentional feedback sessions, listening sessions. And change will take time, this is a huge, huge system that can't change overnight. But they're taking the time to do it. So it's, you know, I remain hopeful.

SM: Keisha, like the providers we spoke to, believes their work is crucial to creating that change. She says that progress can't happen unless the people who actually work with children or raise children, such as parents and family child care providers, are leading the efforts of defining what quality child care is, what it looks like, and what families and providers need in order to offer high-quality care. For this crucial change to happen, stakeholders with direct experience caring for children must have the most powerful seats at the table.

Here’s one of those stakeholders. Miren Algorri from Chula Vista, California. She’s a family child care provider and says she has seen those changes over the time she’s worked with QCC.

MA: Of course, there are areas where we need more support from QCC. And this has been a learning process and in not only for, for me as an early childhood educator or in my assistance, but I believe that the way that the program has been implementing the support has shift, to make it more inclusive, and to make it more equitable, because my experience at the beginning is that it was honestly, like, it's been said before, it was discriminatory, because it seemed like the early childhood educators, and family child care providers that were not up to the level that we were, what's the word that I'm looking for… expected to meet, it sort of felt like we were failing instead of been looked at as a way to support those who had been underserved. Because if a provider is underserved than the children she is taking care of, and the families who are counting on these early childhood educators, are being underserved as well.

So I have seen that shift, as time has gone by how the program is meeting, the educator, meeting the provider, we're where they are, and that is terrific. So it's been an amazing journey, a learning journey, I believe, not only for us providers, not only for me, as a provider, but for the coaches and for the agencies that are supporting QCC and are actually delivering the coaching and the support for QCC.

SM: Miren decided to be a family child care provider because her mom is a retired family child care provider and Miren was her mother's assistant. And now she’s been licensed as a child care provider for 24 years. She has been participating in QCC for the past four years, and in that time has seen the program becoming more inclusive and supportive of home based providers through focusing more on coaching providers.

SM: Child care providers work hard to support the growth and learning of the children in their care. Programs like Quality Counts California can offer a lot to providers, who are tasked with taking care of our society’s youngest learners during years when their brains are rapidly developing. Through providing coaching on developmental milestones and resources for their physical environment, QCC can greatly benefit child care centers and home-based programs alike.

And yet, as Keisha and Miren shared, it can be incredibly discouraging to have an outside observer come into your home and give you a negative rating on your child care program because it does not meet a set of standards that you were not aware you were being measured against – especially when these standards are ultimately based in a white supremacist view of what quality child care looks like.

In 2020, QCC paused its ratings and as of this podcast recording in 2022, they are still paused. QCC is instead focusing on the coaching and training aspects of the program. Through speaking with and listening to the child care providers they work to support, our systems of support can become stronger, more equitable, and better assist the field. This is why advocates are speaking up to demand better for our providers, children and families.

[music]

SM: Thank you for listening to The Love Connection. Hosted by me, Salaine McCullough. Engineering by Maximo Planes. Interviews by Paola Marizán. Music by Chad Crouch. Inspired by research by Keisha Nzewi.

If you would like to learn more about the research that went into The Love Connection and read the full report, visit www.rrnetwork.org. Listen to our next episode where we talk to child care providers about their first-hand experiences with QCC and the value that coaching and peer support can offer to their programs.

This series is made by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, and made possible by support from First 5 LA. You can follow the Network on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube at CARRNetwork to stay up-to-date on child care news in California.

If you need help finding child care or growing your child care business, connect with your local resource and referral agency by visiting www.rrnetwork.org/findchildcare.

Tessie Ragan (TR): When you're running a family child care home, you are, these people are coming into your home. So then they're getting to experience your culture, how you live, how you speak. And being told that, you know, the type of things that you have in your home are not okay and that this or so and so is not okay, it doesn't make you feel like they appreciate or understand or respect, where you're coming from, where you grew up, the culture that you've got, your family, or the fact that the families that are in your program picked you. And that they have no issues with the program.

Salaine McCullough (SM): The Love Connection is presented by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, a non-profit organization that promotes affordable, quality child care through research, education, policy, and advocacy. This podcast was made possible with support from First 5 LA, and research by Keisha Nzewi, Director of Public Policy at the R&R Network.

Hello! I’m your host Salaine McCullough. And you’re listening to The Love Connection. This is the second episode of a three-part podcast - about California's system to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in child care programs. In this episode, we’ll hear from home-based child care providers about how Quality Counts California, or QCC, affects their programs, and the ways that coaching and mentoring have helped them.

Here’s Tessie Ragan. She’s a family child care provider in Rosamond, California, and a passionate advocate for FCC providers. Tessie has run her own child care program for military and civilian families the last 10 years, and serves as the chairman for family child care on the California Association for the Education of Young Children. She also works as a mentor with the National Association for Family Child Care Leadership Fellowship.

Tessie has not worked with Quality Counts. When she attempted to get involved in her local QCC program, she could not get in touch with them, and felt that as a family child care provider with an advanced degree, she was not the intended audience.

TR: I tried to contact them several times. And it was – I – it was very hard. It was very, very hard. And a lot of the time it seemed like it was not geared towards me due to the fact that I have a master's degree. And a lot of the things that they're offering are to help people who do not have advanced degrees already, which I think is awesome. But at the same time if I've already got one and you would like to continue to improve your program, because there's always room for improvement. I feel like there should have been someone that reached out to me and at least shown me that it was important that a family child care provider wanted to be a part of the program. And I felt like I was not I was not being treated that way when I kept trying to contact them.

SM: Through her professional development efforts over the years, she says one of the most frustrating things that she has encountered when working with a coach that doesn't understand family child care, is that they look down on your program because your program is out of your home.

TR: For me, and I think for a lot of other providers, we want someone that actually understands providing. A lot of the systems right now are built around what looks best at centers, and they're not taking into account the fact that we are a business but we're also running the business out of our home. And not everybody's homes are set up the same way. Not everybody can have a center set up, not everybody can have things sitting out constantly. And I think one of the most frustrating things when you're working with a coach that doesn't understand family child care, is having them look down on your program, because your program is out of your home. And sometimes you can feel that when you're speaking to someone.

So for me, I would want a coach that is experienced with working with my type of program, and helping me build my program in a developmentally appropriate way for the children that are enrolled, while also understanding that we are not all the same, and that some things may not work that may work at a center.

SM: Tessie, like Keisha in our past episode, says there’s more to high-quality childcare than teaching academics. Culture, language, and customs are incredibly important to providing children with the care they deserve.

TR: I don't – a lot of the things that I have seen that they look at, they don't really apply to how we run, how we are, and how we run our business in the many different cultures and ethnicities that are in the program. A lot of people on it, when you're running a family child care home, you are – these people are coming into your home. So then they're getting to experience your culture, how you live, how you speak. And being told that, you know, the type of things that you have in your home are not okay and that this or so and so is not okay, it doesn't make you feel like they appreciate or understand or respect where you're coming from, where you grew up, the culture that you've got, your family, or the fact that the families that are in your program picked you. And they have no issues with the program.

SM: Tessie says that understanding that, like every program, every educator is different means a step in the right direction to serve all providers with the same support.

TR: Well, for my coaching, I try and make sure that they understand that they are educators. The line gets blurred and people keep acting like we do not have the experience in education. So I want to make sure that anybody that I'm speaking with understands that they are educators, and that they all have their own teaching style. And that it is okay that they do not, they are not loud and boisterous like I am during my class, and that we need to find their teaching style and what works for them and the children in their care.

I try and work with them by finding out what things bother them in the classroom and find new things, new ways for them to work on classroom management. And, but I really try and individualize the coaching to the person that I'm speaking with. Because not all programs are going to be the same. And quality is about the provider and what they are giving to the program. So if you can't figure out your teaching style, and if you can't, if you feel uncomfortable with how everything is being run, then your program is going to suffer.

And so I try and really individualize a lot of that basically like I do with my preschool pre-k, I individualize my curriculum for them so that they get the most out of it and I do the same with coaching.

SM: This coaching has well worked for Tessie and her assistants. For other in-home providers, QCC’s coaching has been a successful and enriching path.

Here’s Preeti Sadhu from San Diego, California. She’s been a licensed child care provider for 6 years now and says her experience with QCC has been positive.

Preeti Sadhu (PS): It was very positive. It was very professional. It was very, you know, one on one actually. I really appreciate the service and the coach I received from the QRIS, it was wonderful. I have a mentor, like a person, so now I feel more confident if I have any questions, in terms of any quality effort, any programs, learning or anything. My coach is so wonderful that she is available right, right after my text. So she always suggests me, informs me whenever it's needed, and yes, I'm thankful I received a very, very wonderful coach, and I really like it.

SM: Preeti made changes based on that coaching and says that she’s grateful for the knowledge she now has.

PS: Yeah, so earlier, I was doing a very mild assessment for a big child. But when I participated in this program, I read, like, we have so many, so many programs, which from where I can learn and grab their child evaluation and I can do it. Like, let's say, one is Ages and Stages, program. The other is DRDP. All those programs come with so many knowledge and enhancement, which I can incorporate here in my facility, and when I started doing it for my all kids, all the families was so appreciating, because they get to know what their child actually doing in terms of social, in terms of emotional learning, their behavior learning, their development learning, cognitive skill, all those skills coming all together when we do all those evaluations. So those programs, I actually got to learn from this QRIS.

SM: Preeti’s interaction with QCC has been through coaching and training opportunities, and has been very rewarding.

Coaching and one on one support has been the biggest aspect of Quality Counts California that many of the providers that we heard from said helped them to make meaningful positive changes to their child care programs. As Preeti shared, having someone that can show you child development resources, answer your questions, and introduce you to training opportunities is extremely helpful. Tessie has found meaningful connections with other family child care providers through other organizations, and gives back to her community by serving as a mentor to new providers and assistants in the field. These connections can provide powerful learning opportunities, as well as much needed peer to peer support.

[music]

SM: Thank you for listening to The Love Connection. Hosted by me, Salaine McCullough. Engineering by Maximo Planes. Interviews by Paola Marizán. Music by Chad Crouch. Inspired by research by Keisha Nzewi.

If you would like to learn more about the research that went into The Love Connection and read the full report, visit www.rrnetwork.org. Listen to our next episode where we talk to two child care providers about the ways that the training sessions that QCC offers have impacted their programs, and the supports that they would like to receive from the program.

This series is made by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network. You can follow the Network on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube at CARRNetwork to stay up-to-date on child care news in California.

If you need help finding child care or growing your child care business, connect with your local resource and referral agency by visiting www.rrnetwork.org/findchildcare.

Brandy Hinkle (BH): When we assess children's state of development around academics, I think that there can be a discrepancy, because if we're working with a young child, we want them to be socially and emotionally resilient and ready to learn academics. And so I do think that I would love more research options or resource options in how we work with the social emotional behaviors of the young child, as opposed to whether they're meeting this milestone in letter writing or mathematics.

Salaine McCullough (SM): The Love Connection is presented by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, a non-profit organization that promotes affordable, quality child care through research, education, policy, and advocacy. This podcast was made possible with support from First 5 LA, and research by Keisha Nzewi, Director of Public Policy at the R&R Network.

Hello! I’m your host Salaine McCullough. And you’re listening to The Love Connection. This is the third episode of a three-part podcast – about California's system to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in child care programs. In this episode, we’ll hear from two more providers about what types of training and support have been helpful for improving their programs – one who works in a child care center, and another who runs a family child care home.

Here’s Brandy Hinkle. She’s a lead teacher at the Sierra Waldorf school in Jamestown, California. Her program focuses on the social and emotional wellbeing of the child.

We asked Brandy, what does quality child care mean to you?

BH: I love that question. Child care to me is always rooted in warmth, and an appreciation of the child as an individual, taking into consideration their stage of development, their family life, and their temperament. Quality child care is, for me, an obligation as an adult and as a teacher to create an environment for a child to unfold appropriately to their potential and their development.

So in my center, we focus a lot on rhythm. Children know what to expect, our rhythm is the same daily. It is a very gentle in-breath and out-breath of the day as we typically talk about it as being moments of contraction and expansion, so that the children are given many opportunities for the day to come to a quiet space and then again, an opportunity to experience that out-breath.

So for instance, that in-breath might be that painting activity where we're doing something quietly together. And the out-breath would be off to play again, you know, offering opportunities in a rhythmic fashion through the day that meets the child's developmental needs.

Quality care, for me also as adults that have a steadfast uprightness to their being, that they can model through example to the young child, because as we know, in working with young children, that they learn through imitation, and they're very keenly aware of who the adults are in their, in their life. So having providers that are aware of themselves as teachers and what their responsibility is, and that they have an integrity of presence in front of the young child. And a safe environment cultivating a sphere that's appropriate for their developmental needs, so that the things that they come in contact with meet them where they are, but aren't going to put them in any kind of danger. But allow for them to fall into a deep therapeutic type play that feeds their development and their growth.

So um, quality care is multifaceted, of course, being able to cultivate empathy, and compassion and kindness in your space, and provide a place where we can meet the child with what they are presenting in any given moment, so that there is consistent care and a consistent way that we meet the young child so that they always feel held in a way that they can understand and they know to be good and true.

SM: See, Brandy’s child care center is a Waldorf program that offers a play-based curriculum. This can be a challenge to evaluate using the QRIS model, but Brandy takes only away from the system what she believes would be a benefit to the children. She has found the trainings that QCC offers to be especially helpful in her development as a child care provider.

BH: Certainly, there are many options over the years that I could speak to, but I would really love to speak to the ones, the offerings that they had this last year on areas around equality and diversity and resiliency, and trauma based resources. I think that some of these topics are, while they've always been relevant to us as early childhood providers, it's really on the forefront of what's happening in our country right now. And when you think about, how do I work with implicit bias in an early childhood facility? How does that actually manifest in a rural area where we have little to no diversity? And how can I educate myself in a way that allows for an openness to looking at my model differently?

Because we, you know, we're all, we're all products of our upbringing. And when you think about diversity and resiliency in a primarily white county, it is very hard to pull out of ourselves those resources. And so to make that available, so that that conversation can actually begin among those of us who are working at the very threshold of social integration with our children is a pretty powerful place to be.

SM: Brandy shared her challenges with QCC valuing academic teaching over the types of education that her program focuses on.

BH: I think one of the areas, and this might just be relevant to myself, is that I do feel at times at odds with some of the quantifying surveys for child development. And where I feel conflicted with this, with this particular program, is that we're, for instance, I'm not an academic based program. So we don't introduce academics to the children in this through exercises, or workbooks or books for that matter, or on paper. It's brought more as a felt sense, like through baking and gardening and storytelling.

And so when we assess children's state of development around academics, I think that there can be a discrepancy, because if we're working with a young child, we want them to be socially and emotionally resilient and ready to learn academics. And so I do think that I would love more research options or resource options in how we work with the social emotional behaviors of the young child, as opposed to whether they're meeting this milestone in letter writing or mathematics.

Because I feel more and more of our children are coming to our programs with emotional manifestations of, of social emotional developmental needs. Whether it's trauma in the household, or a speech impediment or a processing issue, or they're mildly on the spectrum, more and more children are coming from present behavioral manifestations of a red flag that's happening in their, in their well being.

And so I would, while I think it's valuable to understand where children are at on those, in those areas, like if they can recognize a letter or if they can recognize patterns, and all of that jazz, what I'm really interested in is how we meet these children when they aren't able to be in the space with other children because they can't, they can't regulate themselves or because they're having such a hard time with what's being asked of them. So resources for how we are with the young child in a social setting, as we're cultivating this readiness so that when they come into grade school and they're ready to start, they can sit at a desk, they can, they're not in a state of fight or flight, they can actually be present.

SM: Brandy’s program has not been rated by QCC, which has paused on rating child care programs during the pandemic. The part of QCC that Brandy has engaged with and appreciates the most is the sense of community that comes with meeting and working with other providers.

BH: And what I have found is that in my county, it's very valuable to have this exchange and network with other providers who may be in a different, have a different program model than myself, but we're all working with the same intention of how to be with a young child and the Quality Counts program has provided networking opportunities as well as really valuable resources.

SM: Here’s Nora, a family child care provider who has participated in Quality Counts California training sessions. And just a heads up, Nora prefers to speak in Spanish.

Nora Zarate (NZ): Pues hasta el momento, eh. La verdad, no, eh nos han apoyado, eh? Con lo más que. Que. Que se ha podido. En cuanto. Me imagino que en cuanto a los fondos o los recursos que ellos tienen. Aunque sí, sí nos gustaría que nos apoyaran un poquito más. Este por ejemplo, en la educación de nosotros como proveedoras creo que, que es algo muy importante, si nos han dado entrenamientos verdad entrenamientos de, de 2 horas y así, pero creo que es importante que nos pudieran apoyar en una aducación más alta, por ejemplo un apoyo para las clases universitarias en cuanto al desarrollo infantil.

(Translation: They haven’t supported us as much as they could have, when it comes to funding and resources. We’d like them to support us a bit more. For example, our education as providers is very important. They give us 2 hour trainings, but I think it’s important that they support us with higher education, such as support for university classes about child development.)

SM: Nora shared that she would like to see Quality Counts offer more funding and resources to child care providers, especially when it comes to education. While she appreciates the 2 hour trainings that QCC offers, she would like to see them support higher education, such as paying for college courses on child development.

NZ: Yo en lo personal eh. Sigo, sigo mi educación este porque quiero llegar hasta ser un site supervisor. Un supervisor de sitio. Entonces, este, ahorita pues es muy caro todas esas clases verdad? Y por la situación que estamos pasando, pues económicamente es un poco difícil. Entonces creo que si nos hace falta apoyo en esa. En esa parte de apoyarnos a educarnos mejor para de esa manera brindar un mejor servicio a nuestra comunidad, a nuestros, a los niños de nuestra comunidad.

(Translation: I have personally continued my education because I want to become a site supervisor. So right now all of these classes are very expensive. And for the situation we’re in, it’s a bit difficult financially. So I believe that we are missing support in the area of supporting us with a better education so that we can offer better services to our community, and the children of our community.)

SM: Nora’s goal is to become a site supervisor, so she has been continuing her education in her personal time – which is very expensive. She believes that providers need more support in being able to advance their education, which she feels is important so that she can provide the highest quality care to the children in her community.

NZ: Entonces creo que sería algo muy beneficioso para todos este que nos pudieran apoyar un poquito más en cuanto a la educación he de nosotros como proveedores de cuidado infantil. También, por ejemplo, como un poquito más de apoyo en los entrenamientos que nos pide licencia también. Porque algunos pues cuestan dinero, otros es un poco difícil encontrar ahorita en donde podemos tomar las clases por Zoom o por internet o cómo podemos hacerle este. Entonces ahí siento que si podrían apoyarnos más.

(Translation: I believe that it would be very helpful for everyone if they could support us a little bit more with regards to education, and for us as child care providers too, for example, a bit more support in the trainings that licensing asks for as well. Because some cost money, others are a little bit difficult to find right now where we can access them. Taking classes on Zoom or online or however we can. So I feel like if they could support us more.)

SM: When it comes to improving quality in child care, the support that Nora would find most helpful from Quality Counts and from the state is funding education and making the trainings that are required for licensed providers more accessible. These required trainings can cost money, and at times are hard to find locally, so Nora would like QCC to support providers more in that area.

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Throughout this series, we’ve heard from child care providers across California that have had a range of experiences with the Quality Counts CA program. Many of the providers we heard from had positive experiences, especially when it comes to the relationships that came out of the program, with coaches and with other child care providers. The trainings that QCC offers have also had a positive impact on many child care programs, helping to open some providers up to new perspectives or areas for learning and improvement.

We also heard that some home based programs felt like their programs and their cultures were not respected in the restrictive evaluation metrics that QCC has used to rate child care programs. These quantitative measures of quality can miss the mark for programs that emphasize relationship building, social emotional well being, and making sure that the children in their program feel loved and respected.

Child care providers work extremely hard to care for the children in their community, pulling long hours and often spending their free time on furthering their education and skills to keep improving their program. Yet child care is still one of the most underpaid professions in our country. When we think about improving quality in child care, rather than simply asking for higher education degrees and passing assessments and evaluations, we need to offer financial and material support for providers. This is why we fight for higher wages for child care providers and more public funding for child care programs, to work toward a future where every child has access to quality care in an environment where they feel loved and respected.

Thank you for listening to The Love Connection. Hosted by me, Salaine McCullough. Engineering by Maximo Planes. Interviews by Paola Marizán. Music by Chad Crouch. Inspired by research by Keisha Nzewi.

If you would like to learn more about the research that went into The Love Connection and read the full report, visit www.rrnetwork.org. Listen to our next episode where we talk to child care providers about their first-hand experiences with QCC.

This series is made by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network. You can follow the Network on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube at CARRNetwork to stay up-to-date on child care news in California.

If you need help finding child care or growing your child care business, connect with your local resource and referral agency by visiting www.rrnetwork.org/findchildcare.