Infant/Toddler Quality Initiative
The infant and toddler specialist assists educators of very young children in providing the very best care for infants and toddlers. The infant and toddler specialist has two predominant goals:
- To improve the quality of infant/toddler early care across the state
- To increase the availability of quality early care programs for families with infants and toddlers
The infant and toddler specialist is for early care providers interested in establishing, improving and expanding services to infants and toddlers. These services include:
- Professional Development: Topics are delivered by specialized trainers to present best practice standards in infant and toddler brain development.
Education enables providers to work toward the NJ Infant/Toddler Credential. - Technical Assistance & Consultation: The Infant/Toddler Specialists serve as mentors to new and experienced early educators. Services provided include: telephone and on-site support, site observations, assessments, and development of a plan of action.
- Resources & Materials: Programs for Parents has a resource library where early care providers can access education in the form of DVDs, videos, equipment and other essential learning materials.
- Community Partnerships: Community and statewide organizations are stakeholders committed to improving the quality of life and early education for young children. These groups include Child Care Aware of New Jersey (CCANJ), the Coalition of Infant/Toddler Educators (CITE), NJ Workforce Registry, the NJ Association of Infant Mental Health( NJAIMH), NJ Early Intervention System (NJEIS), health care organizations, higher education, government, business, local school districts, parents and others.
Question
Why is the infant and toddler specialist important?
Answer
In New Jersey, at least 50 percent of mothers with children under the age of three are employed outside of the home, and an estimated 12 percent of infants and toddlers attend a regulated child care program. Recent studies such as the Raising the Bar in Infant Care: Helping Teachers Improve Their Qualifications to Work with Infants and Toddlers released by the NJ Infant and Toddler Child Care Initiative of the NJ DHS, Office of Early Care and Education led to a concern with the qualifications of the infant toddler workforce. The “Raising the Bar” study revealed that the state’s infant and toddler child care providers are not prepared to provide high-quality experiences for very young children, our most vulnerable and impressionable population in care. The study found that New Jersey’s infant/toddler providers have inadequate education and limited experience. They also have lower qualifications than their peers working with older children. Forty percent of family child care providers and 50 percent of center staff caring for these children have no formal education beyond high school.
For more information contact Denece Vereen-Young at dyoung@programsforparents.org