Caregiving
Training for Child Care Providers: Supporting Families
The child care provider training program/project provides training to unlicensed providers and also offers support to families who rely on relatives, friends, and neighbors to care for their children.
Through their participation, child care providers gain the tools they need to provide quality care that promotes the qualities most important to families and that are fundamental to a healthy childhood and cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development.
Program Description
Child Care Provider Training: Supporting Families is a training project for family caregivers, friends, and neighbors.
Vision and Commitment’s Family Caregivers Project (FCP) was created in 2017 to support caregivers who are Familia, Amistad, y Vecino (FFN) caregivers. FCP recognizes FFN caregivers as key community resources as they develop their skills to create a strong foundation and nurturing home environment that supports the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive well-being of the children in their care. FCP includes a 48-hour training in Spanish, divided into five to eight learning modules, with CPR/First Aid certification, and peer-facilitated social support groups. Since its inception, nearly 750 FFN caregivers in California have graduated from this training, increasing their knowledge and skills and demonstrating improved communication among the families who entrust the care of FFNs.
Childcare promotes healthy childhood development and growth by instilling in children the moral, ethical, and cultural values that will help them develop their talents. It also has a beneficial economic impact on families and communities.
- Help people become better caregivers
- Supports the provision of quality childcare that meets the needs of families.
- Increases caregivers’ knowledge of:
- Child development
- Methods of discipline
- Effective communication
- Commitment
- Safety
- General care at each stage of childhood
- The training also enables caregivers to recognize the positive impact and importance of their role on the well-being of children, families, and the community.
One of the strengths of the childcare provider training program is its implementation by community promoters. As members of the community who know how to build trusting relationships, these promoters facilitate individualized learning and group connections among caregivers.
Who is this training for?
- For family, friends, and neighbors (FFN) caregivers.
- FFNs are people who provide child care in the home.
- Family members (FFNs) usually have a relationship with the children they care for.
It is common for these caregivers to be grandmothers, aunts, other relatives, friends, or neighbors. - FFN caregivers are not paid for the care they provide and do not have a child care license.
Caregiving for relatives, friends, and neighbors is the most common form of home-based child care in the United States. (HomeGrown)
What kind of training?
FFNs Community
Within the FFN child care provider community, you’ll find resources, ongoing training, trusted connections and mutual support, and opportunities to advocate for local and state public policies that benefit children and the child care economy.
Here you will find information about:
- How to obtain a license to care for children?
- How to organize areas to have activities?
- Learn about finances and managing my budget
- Rotation of toys and seasonal activities
Information about the pandemic and other illnesses - Learn about basic care for children with disabilities
- Learn how to address the fact that each child reaches their developmental milestones at different times.
- How to recognize delays in child development?
- How much should I charge depending on the age of the children?
- Information about available local, state, and federal grants
- Information about appropriate car seats for children of all ages, weights, and heights.
RESOURCES
- Home Grown Taking Action & Resource List for Immigrant Families & HBCC Providers & Caregivers
- Sesame Street
- First 5 California
- Home Grown
Thank you to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for their generous support of our Family, Friends, and Neighbors as Child Care Providers program. Their commitment to our mission has been instrumental in creating and strengthening this initiative, allowing us to provide essential resources to families and communities.
Thanks to your support, we’re empowering family caregivers, friends, and neighbors to foster an environment of learning, health, and well-being that will positively impact this and future generations.
We deeply appreciate your trust in our work and your dedication to child development. We are creating stronger, more prepared communities to give our children the best start in life.