Why would a provider want to be accredited? Childcare is a profession like so many that the room for advancement is slim and proving who you are and what you offer is often set to the back burner of life because a lot are looking for cheaper rates. Knowing that it is important to do what you can in this profession to help yourself stand out from the rest and promote quality. One way to do that is to become accredited.
Some states are adopting the STARS systems and you receive stars based on assessment scores. A top star home means quality for those seeking quality childcare. Accreditation is one step above the STARS ratings and shows the provider has gone above and beyond the states standards for quality childcare into the national standards.
The accreditation process takes about 18 months to complete. It is a series of self-evaluations that you do yourself and make improvements and changes as necessary. You gather documentation that is required for the accreditation board and send out letters to your families to evaluate your performance in crucial areas. Once this is complete you receive a book to self evaluate yourself for the accreditation board and an appointment is made for an observer to come out and spend a portion of the day evaluating your practices and seeing your program.
The observer will sit in an out of the way location in your childcare and evaluate you in the same areas that you have already assessed yourself in. She will stay about 4 hours and then take a break while she prepares for your oral interview. The oral interview is to question anything that they did not see or observe while there earlier and to check necessary paperwork. When this is completed they will leave and you wait to find out if you have received the accreditation or not.
Many people have said, �Why put yourself through all of that�? I think in this day and time with so much negative being reported about the quality of childcare in our nation that it is essential to show quality homes for what they are and to show others that quality does exist and to set standards to measure quality. Then and only then can we show the public the marks of high quality and indicators to look for in quality standards of care towards our nations children.
The regulations vary from state to state for providers and very few states have adopted the same practices to measure quality. Accreditation standards are the same for each state meaning that every provider that has reached this level has completed and maintained the same criteria to prove themselves. There is no hidden agenda here and each person has went through the same process of being evaluated and improving their program. This is not saying that the programs are alike because each childcare program is unique as each provider is unique and diversified in their teachings. Accreditation is saying that the provider has met a higher level for the health, safety, and interactions with the child. It says the provider has worked on education in matters of quality childcare and wants their program to reflect the standards of quality.
Most states have grant programs to pay for the cost of accreditation. It doesn�t cost a lot in the way of having to buy new materials and it taught me through the process how to become more creative in my teaching of the children and to be aware of any practices that I had that might need changing. The biggest cost to me was not financially but in making necessary changes in my practices and being aware of the changes that needed to be made. Once the changes were implemented however, I realized that my program ran smoother, the children were much happier, and mostly the parents noticed the difference in the program and me. I gained so much confidence in myself and saw firsthand that the changes were essential to have a program that met national standards for quality.
To me, the accreditation process meant that I wanted to reach a new level of professionalism and to show that my program met national standards of quality for the children enrolled now and those that will be enrolled in the future. It will also enable me to advocate and mentor other providers in reaching this level for the children.
To find out more about the accreditation process for family childcare check out www.nafcc.org and they will send you information about the process. Below is a copy of the beautiful certificate the you receive also. It is something I have hung with pride in my child care knowing that I worked hard to acheive this.
