Child Care Connection

Child Care Connection is the newest part of Bear River Head Start. Child Care Connection is a mixed model program, which means we act as a center based program as well as a home based program.

The grant was originally funded in January of 2000. The purpose for Child Care Connection was to provide Head Start services to children in full day full year child care, children that would normally not have had the opportunity to be involved in preschool experiences. The focus of Child Care Connection is attachment. The staff works to promote parent and child attachment as well as provider and child attachment. We promote attachment through a variety of ways such as Home Visits, Site Visits, Socializations, Provider trainings, child goals and family goals.

Serves children 3-5 whose parents work full time or are in training full time.

Program Model :	Combination
Children Served :	50 Total
Service Area:	2 Counties (Cache County and Box Elder)

Program Goal: Provide high quality childcare setting for children age 3-5 through direct childcare and home visits. Promote parent/child growth and development through positive parent/child interactions and quality childcare from a secondary caregiver. Monitor childcare settings to ensure and enhance quality and childcare licensing standards and assist providers by providing training sessions and use of a DAP Lending Library.

Interesting Program Features:

• Weekly visits to childcare sites to ensure quality standards and offer technical assistance, support, and sharing of ideas.
• Consistently high attendance at group socializations.
• Childcare Providers Implement Head Start Performance Standards in their childcare centers
• Training opportunities for Child Care Connection Providers and community providers that increase quality and provide a support network.
• Lending Library for providers and staff, and delivery of supplies directly to chilcare providers if requested.

ABOUT CHILD CARE CONNECTION

Our program started in 1999, and only served 25 children in Cache County . We have now expanded to 50 children and serve Cache and Box Elder County. There are seven total staff that directly work under the Child Care Connection grant. They are

Child Care Connection Coordinator -  Oversees the Child Care Connection program and insures that the performance standards are being met.

Case Managers - work directly with the families in the home. They also coordinate all of the Socializations planned by the Parent Committee and facilitate Parent Committee meetings.

Child Development Specialist - It is Child Development Specialist's job to make sure your children are learning the most they possibly can. The Child Development Specialist supervises the Site Visitors, she also watches over the curriculum brought to your children to ensure they are learning.

Site Visitors - They are the people that go into your child care’s once a week and work directly with your children and your child care provider.

Providers- We have over fourteen child care providers all around in Cache and Box Elder Counties . We work hard to find the kind of provider that really loves the children they care for, works hard with them (they never just baby-sit), and the type that knows a lot about what they do. They are all great!

Health Specialist – Tracks the Child Care Connections medical and health information.