Parent Aware Pathways launches with goal of increasing availability of and access to quality rated child care in St. Louis County

The Northland Foundation is rolling out a new, three-year initiative which aims to dramatically increase the number of Parent Aware quality-rated child care providers in St. Louis County.  Parent Aware Pathways will reach out to licensed child care providers – both centers and home-based – to help them achieve, enhance, and maintain Parent Aware quality ratings. The initiative’s underlying goal is to increase availability of and access to quality early care and education throughout the county, in order to improve children’s school readiness. The three-year collaboration is supported with generous funding from the Mardag Foundation.

“Our partnership with the Mardag Foundation and Child Care Aware to implement this demonstration program will not only ensure a stronger start in life for young children in St. Louis County but also, we hope, serve as a model for increasing quality rating participation statewide,” said Lynn Haglin, Vice President/KIDS PLUS Director at the Northland Foundation.

“We are very excited to see public and private dollars working together to help ensure quality programs for young children and their families,” —Wendy Walburg, Regional Coordinator, Child Care Aware Minnesota Northeast

What is Parent Aware

 

The Minnesota Department of Human Services leads Parent Aware in coordination with the Minnesota Office of Early Learning. Parent Aware is designed as an easy-to-use rating tool for Minnesota parents seeking quality child care. The ratings are based on best practices that improve kindergarten readiness. The Minnesota Department of Education also offers scholarships to help eligible families afford to enroll their children in quality-rated care providing an added incentive for child care providers to become rated.

The Northland Foundation is working closely with Child Care Aware Minnesota Northeast to have 163 rated providers in St. Louis County by 2016. The program will take a multiple-strategy approach to support early care and education providers to begin the journey to quality rating, continue on the path to rating, and maintain or advance their rating.

Outreach Efforts underway

 

The Initiative began community outreach efforts with Early Childhood Forums held in Duluth and Virginia in mid-November. In early December, the Northland Foundation will host St. Louis County licensed child care providers in Focus Groups in Eveleth and Duluth to gather input and spread the word about this new resource for child care providers and families of young children in St. Louis County.