1. FAMILY, FRIEND, AND NEIGHBOR CARE: THE NURTURING HOMES APPROACH Louise E. Davis, Ph.D., Kelly Carmody, Lydia Bethay, Chad Allgood, Laura Dickson, Lori Elmore-Staton, Ph.D., & Julie Parker Ph.D.

2. WHY CHOOSE FAMILY HOME PROVIDERS? Financially feasible:  Typically cost less than typical child care.  May have a closer proximity to home and work for parents.  Average cost of child care in MS is $4,863 year. (Boston Globe, 2014)  Median household income in MS is $39,738. (Kids Count, 2014) Less intimidating environment:  Family home provider may be close family friend or relative.  Child may be more familiar with other children receiving services.

3. PROBLEM In some states, particularly MS, there is no mandatory registry system for family child care providers.  Children are less likely to be receiving quality child care. Family home provider may not be adequately educated on developmental needs of the children. MS exceeds federal poverty guidelines compared to the national average.  Low-income families are more likely to choose family home care.

4. MS DEMOGRAPHICS Population of children under 5 in MS: 201,453. (Kids Count, 2014) 32% of children under 5 in MS are living in poverty. (Kids Count, 2014) Roughly 36% of children are in a family based care setting. (Kids Count, 2014)

5. AN EXAMPLE OF POVERTY IN MS

6. WHAT IS FAMILY, FRIEND, & NEIGHBOR CARE? A program designed to provide educational technical assistance and support to family-home providers This program offers  Technical assistance  Educational materials  Safety trainings  Business Administration Scale  Child Development Associate Credential (CDA)  Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)

7. WHAT WE DO… Pre-assessment:  Use Family Child Care Environmental Rating Scale-Revised Edition (FCCERS-R; Harms, Cryer, & Clifford, 2007 )  Previously the Family Day Care Environment Rating Scale (FDCERS)  Business Administration Scale (BAS; Talan & Bloom, 2009 ) Based on pre-assessment, technical assistants will target areas of improvement. Technical assistance encompasses:  Educational resources  CPR training and certification  CDA  QRIS Post assessment administered to note the effectiveness of the program.

8. METHODS Paired sample t-tests were conducted to compare scores from pretest and posttest across the overall scale and each individual subscales using the FDCERS and FCCERS-R. FDCERS: n=909 (years 1-9) FCCERS: n=537 (years 10-15)

9. RESULTS OF OUR PROGRAM FDCERS YEAR 1-9 COMBINED SCORES n=909

10. RESULTS OF OUR PROGRAM FCCERS YEAR 10-15 COMBINED SCORES n=537

11. FFN QUALITY RATING AND IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM 406 in-home providers enrolled in QRIS: 1 star: 288 2 star: 40 3 star: 31 4 star: 7 5 star: 9 Enrolled, not rated: 31

12. SUCCESS STORIES “I am teaching these kids and watching them develop in every way. I also feel parents are more comfortable knowing that they are leaving their children with someone that is certified.” –Regina Hinton “With all the childcare skills and safety I have studied, I’m glad it was useful in saving someone’s life.” –Latonya Pruitt Coquita Ducksworth and Latonya Pruitt (Photo source: WLOX News)

13. IDEAS FOR REPLICATION We are grant funded. Experienced early childhood professionals.  Trained with assessment tools. Needs assessment for your area:  Who uses family home care?  Amount of children in family home care setting.  Demographic of children in family home care.

14. RECRUITING PARTICIPANTS Word of mouth.  Providers will tell other family care providers. MSU Extension Service  Display and distribute flyers. USDA Food Program List  http://www.fns.usda.gov/cacfp/family-day-care-homes  This site provides a list of family home providers, and we will contact to see who is keeping children full-time.

15. REFERENCES  Boston Globe. (2014). Map: The average cost for child care by state. Retrieved from https://www.bostonglobe.com/2014/07/02/map-the-average-cost-for-child-care- state/LN65rSHXKNjr4eypyxT0WM/story.html  Harms, T., Cryer, D., & Clifford, R. (2007). Family child care environment rating scale-revised. New York: Teachers College Press.  Harms, T. & Clifford, R. (1989). Family day care rating scale. New York: Teacher College Press  Kids Count. (2014). Demographics income. Retrieved from http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data#MS/2/0/char/0  Talan, T. N. & Bloom, P. J. (2009). Business administration scale for family child care. New York: Teachers College Press.