Increasing Availability, Quality and Accessibility

To increase the availability of high-quality child care in North Carolina, The Duke Endowment provided $7 million from 1999–2009 to create model child care centers that offer top-quality care along with training and support for other centers.

Challenge

High Demand for Quality Child Care

Compared to most other states, North Carolina has a higher percentage of working mothers with young children. As a result, more than 250,000 children spend at least part of the day in some sort of child care. This makes high-quality child care essential. The early years of life are pivotal for mental and physical development and have lifelong repercussions on health and well-being. Providing high-quality, affordable and accessible child care is also critical for North Carolina's economic development.

As of November 2008, there were 5,060 state regulated child care centers in North Carolina, serving nearly 250,000 children. Yet, just over 1,200 of these (25 percent) held a five-star license from the State (the highest ranking available in North Carolina's one- to five-star rating system). Far fewer are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the "gold standard" for quality care.

The demand for affordable, quality child care in the state is great. More than 92,000 children qualified for subsidies from the state's subsidized child care program, with a waiting list of nearly 29,000 more.

Response

In 1999, The Duke Endowment's Child Care and Rural Church program areas began to explore the feasibility of supporting targeted children's homes and Methodist churches in an effort to create high-quality, model child care centers that would not only offer services, but also provide training and technical support to other centers. These model centers would be expected to maintain the highest levels of licensure and/or accreditation and quality and help surrounding centers improve their programs and work toward top-tier licensure and/or accreditation.

Model Centers Offer Services and Training, Technical Assistance

During this 10-year initatiive, which concludes in 2009, three children's homes (one operated by the Methodist Church) created model centers. To best serve communities with the most need, many of the model centers focus on children with special needs, those at risk for developmental delays, and those from low-income families.

In addition, the Haywood County District of the United Methodist Church worked with Haywood County Community College to expand its existing child care program into a new Regional Center for the Advancement of Children on the college campus. The center opened in August 2008.

Outreach services provided by the model centers include:

• technical assistance regarding licensure and star ratings
• assistance with program assessment tools
• training on how to improve center quality
• advice and guidance on the process of opening a center in the community
• training for serving children with special needs
• workshops for teachers

Participating Sites in North Carolina

• Thompson Child & Family Focus, Charlotte
• Methodist Home for Children, Raleigh
• Barium Springs Home for Children, Barium Springs
• Haywood County District of the United Methodist Church/Haywood Community College, Clyde

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Vice President
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