Minority Training For Career Ladder in Child Care

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One America - Minority Training For Career Ladder in Child Care

Program:

Minority Training For Career Ladder in Child Care, Lawrence, MA

Contact(s):

Marlies Zanmuto, Deputy Executive Director for Education and Program Development: (978) 687-1157

Purpose:

To provide bilingual child care training and create a resource of early childhood providers who reflect the multicultural community

Community Day Care, a private, nonprofit provider of direct service programs, has been managing family day care programs in Lawrence, Mass., for 20 years. (Lawrence is an immigrant city founded 150 years ago as a planned community for people who worked in the mills. Today, almost 70% of the city's inhabitants come from Latino backgrounds.) Community Day Care created Minority Training For Career Ladder in Child Care to provide bilingual training and employment opportunities in child care to Latina women in the community. The program began in response to a need for child care providers whose language and cultural background reflected the changing demographics in the city.

Program Operations

The Minority Training For Career Ladder in Child Care program provides hands-on training for women in early childhood programs. The dual goals of the program, presented in collaboration with a local community college, are to present child care as a positive career goal and to provide necessary bilingual training, field placement and career support. Participants in the program complete their continuing education components at Salem State College, with an eye towards receiving a teaching certificate. Students receive training in child development, care of children and program administration and are matched with a mentor who acts as a resource and provides a mentoring experience. Participants also receive training in infant/toddler development, parenting issues, health and safety in child care, curriculum planning, learning and the environment and behavior management. All courses are taught in Spanish, in order for participants in the program to fully comprehend the material and develop confidence in their abilities.

Outcomes and Significant Accomplishments

Up to 25 people are trained yearly as assistant teachers and family child care providers, enabling them to gain employment in child care programs. Participants in the program may also continue their training and achieve higher levels of education. The program coordinator of Minority Training for Career Ladder in Child Care recently attended a training program in Florida for Spanish-speaking child care professionals from across the country. The first two years of the program were funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

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