The Hartford Area Child Care Collaborative

For 20 years, the Hartford Area Child Care Collaborative has been working to improve the quality of child care in the region. Created in 1987 by the Hartford Foundation, it is funded through the Foundation’s Brighter Futures Initiative and the United Way of the Capital Area.

The Collaborative convenes a network of more than 400 early childhood providers, parents, public school teachers, business leaders, policy makers, advocates, and others to discuss child care issues and develop effective solutions.

The Collaborative also provides training and technical support to early childhood programs on curriculum, licensing and leadership, as well as data and information to policymakers and stakeholders on how to achieve quality child care programs.

Through its participation on a number of statewide committees created by the Governor’s Early Childhood Cabinet and the Early Childhood Policy and Research Council, the Collaborative promotes the importance of high quality early childhood services, adequate compensation, continuous professional development, and the cultural competence of child care staff.

“As our name implies, most of our work is done in collaboration with other agencies," said Judy Goldfarb, executive director of the Collaborative. "We convene diverse groups to provide information, best practices and the latest policies and research affecting early childhood programs. Together we also assess issues in early childhood delivery and quality, collaborate to develop solutions, and incubate projects to achieve high quality child care programming."

Over two decades, the Collaborative has generated a number of innovative projects aimed at improving the quality of child care in the region, several of which are now operated statewide with public funds. Projects include:

• The first Accreditation Facilitation Project in the state, in which early childhood programs voluntarily measure themselves against a rigorous set of national standards on education, health and safety.
• Training and technical assistance on the Creative Curriculum, a research-based curriculum for children from birth through kindergarten that is widely used across the country.
• The Hartford School Readiness Coaching Project, which offers on-site assistance and support to child care programs in the Capitol Region to improve the quality of child care.
• The Connecticut Director Credential for early childhood administrators, which provides credentialing for individual professionals working in the field of early care and education who have obtained core knowledge and competencies to be an administrator.
• The Child Care Cost Model, a tool developed in partnership with the Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority and used nationally to estimate the cost of providing early childhood education.

Said Judy, "We are fulfilling the goal that the Foundation and United Way had for us 20 years ago -- helping early childhood professionals develop the knowledge and skills to enable children to be successful in school, and advocating for policies to give programs the resources they need to be effective."

To learn more about the Collaborative, visit www.haccc.info or call 860-241-0411.