Program trains child care workers

The quality of child care in Spokane should not suffer because of lack of access to quality training, according to nonprofit Blue Prints for Learning.

Blue Prints offers a yearlong training program through the Child Care Training Institute that prepares participants to be assessed by the Council for Professional Recognition for the nationally recognized Child Development Associate credential. To qualify for the training, applicants must be at least 18, have a high school diploma or GED and work in a child care program.

“Creating a system of quality child care is challenging because it’s undervalued and under funded, not just in Spokane but the country,” said Anita Morgan, director of Blue Prints for Learning.

One factor that makes it difficult to achieve a high quality program is a high turnover rate of staff due to low wages, few benefits, and difficult working conditions, Morgan said.

“We provide a niche of training that often becomes a first step toward formal education about child development and how children learn best,” said instructor Patty Shastany.

Blue Prints asks that applicants be employed in child care during the yearlong program because instructors visit students at their work site to provide feedback and help students set individual goals.

“What sets the program apart is that it’s integrated, comprehensive, and it helps students put learning about child development into action in their child care settings,” Morgan said.

The program offers 120 hours of classroom training and the on-site support. Some of the competencies areas focused on include interactions between teacher and child, classroom environment, curriculum, and relations with families. The training is broken into modules that address multiple aspects of child growth such as physical, emotional and intellectual development.

The program also allows students to specialize in one of three areas: infants and toddlers, pre-school or family child care.

“The program has exposed me to new ideas, especially about teaching children with different learning styles,” said student Tammy Steeber.

Steeber has been in child care for seven years. She said the owner of the child care center where she works, the North Division Children’s Learning Center, completed the program, and is trying to send more employees through the credentialing process.

“Because they gain skills and more realistic expectations of children, people with the CDA are more likely to remain in the child care field,” Shastany said.

The credential training program started in 1998 with Morgan and Lynne Sanders at the Spokane Regional Health District. They created the model to improve the quality of early childhood programs by giving child care providers education and support, Morgan said. In 2003 the program changed homes to Blue Prints for Learning at the Community Building on West Main Avenue.

The program costs $600 – one-third of the normal fee – thanks to a grant. Blue Prints is a subgrantee of United Way of Spokane County which is a grantee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With this grant funding, the number of yearly classes has expanded to accommodate waiting lists and reach more child care professionals in the community.