Elizabeth Hoffmann and Hannah Matthews, CLASP

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Charting Progress for Babies Perspectives on
Supporting Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
Families in Early Care

• Elizabeth Hoffmann and Hannah Matthews, CLASP
• Lanier DeGrella, North Carolina
• Eileen Wasow, CentroNìa, Maryland

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Presentation overview

• Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care
• The Importance of Focusing on Cultural and
  Linguistic Diversity
• Recommendations for Policy and Programs

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Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care
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Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care
Project goals

• Connect child development to state policy
• Drawing on child development, practice, and
  policy research to make the case
• Frame what policies states can use
• Licensing
• Subsidy
• Quality enhancement
• Provide resources to state leaders
• Online information and tools
• State examples
• Targeted technical assistance

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Babies and toddlers in child care need
Nurturing, responsive providers and caregivers
they can trust to care for them as they grow and
learn.
Parents, providers, and caregivers supported by
and linked to community resources.
Healthy and safe environments in which to explore
and learn.
Their families to have access to quality options
for their care.
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Many babies and toddlers are low-income
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Risk factors for babies and toddlers

• Research finds that these factors put babies and
  toddlers at risk for impaired development

Source National Center on Children in Poverty
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Many babies are in care

• 5.8 million babies and toddlers regularly in
  non-parental care.
• Average 25 hrs/week.
• 39 percent in full time care.
• BUT, 90 percent of centers rated less than good
  in large study.
• Infant/toddler care is more expensive than care
  for children of other ages.

Source U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood
Program, National Household Education Survey 2001.
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Babies are in diverse care settings and there are
differences in participation
Source The Urban Institute, Caring for Children
of Color The Child Care Patterns of White, Black
and Hispanic Children Under 5, 2006.
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Babies in immigrant families are less likely to
access formal care
Source Urban Institute, 2002 National Survey of
Americas Families.
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The Importance of Focusing on Cultural and
Linguistic Diversity
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Babies and toddlers are racially, ethnically, and
linguistically diverse

• Nearly half of babies and toddlers in the US are
  children of color.
• One in four babies and toddlers lives in an
  immigrant family.
• One in seven babies and toddlers has at least one
  LEP parent.
• Nearly one in three babies and toddlers in
  immigrant families lives in a linguistically
  isolated household.

Calculated from Census 2000 by Donald J.
Hernandez, et al., Center for Social and
Demographic Analysis, University at Albany, State
University of New York, from http//mumford.albany
.edu/children/data_list_open.htm
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Children of color are an emerging majority
Source Donald Hernandez, Center for Social
Demographic Analysis, from Population Projections
Program, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau,
Issued January 13, 2000.
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The earliest years are important

• Overrepresentation of minority babies in poverty
  and at-risk.
• Babies and toddlers in immigrant families face
  advantage and disadvantages.
• Childrens cultural identities and language
  skills are developing during the infant and
  toddler years.
• Cultural and linguistic continuity between home
  and child care is essential for healthy
  development.

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Whats needed to reach diverse families?

• New partners
• Collaborate with community organizations,
  including immigrant-serving organizations, for
  outreach and education.
• Use cultural mediators and trusted messengers.
• A culturally and linguistically diverse
  workforce
• All providers and caregivers need a set of skills
  to work effectively across cultures.

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Whats needed to provide high-quality services to
diverse families?

• Communication with families
• Moving beyond translation and interpretation.
• Meaningful parental engagement by speakers of
  languages other than English.
• High-quality comprehensive services and family
  supports.
• Attention to the needs of culturally and
  linguistically diverse families infused
  throughout all policies, standards, and content.
• Programs tailored to the needs of diverse
  families.

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Recommendations for Policy and Programs
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What can states do to support providers and
caregivers?

• Provide training and technical assistance to
  infant/toddler caregivers to increase cultural
  competence.
• Create professional development ladders for
  infant/toddler caregivers
• Include community-based training in multiple
  languages and financial supports.
• Expand peer to peer training and networks.
• Recognize credentials and degrees from other
  countries.
• Improve language access to licensing and
  professional development systems.

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What can programs do?

• Employ cultural mediators.
• Increase the pool of qualified, bilingual and
  culturally competent early care and education
  staff.
• Create a language access plan to ensure that
  parents with limited English proficiency can
  communicate with providers and that written
  materials are competently translated.

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What can programs do?

• Create relationships and partnerships with local
  organizations serving immigrant families.
• Review enrollment requirements and forms to
  simplify and encourage immigrant families to
  apply.
• Advocate on behalf of immigrant families with
  state subsidy agencies, Head Start programs,
  early intervention programs and other state and
  local early childhood programs.

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Additional resources from CLASP
Challenges of Change Learning from the Child
Care and Early Education Experiences of Immigrant
Families
Starting Off Right Promoting Child Development
from Birth in State Early Care and Education
Initiatives
Building on the Promise State Initiatives to
Expand Access to Early Head Start for Young
Children and Their Families
Available on our website www.childcareandearlyed.
clasp.org
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For more information

• Elizabeth Hoffmann
• Policy Analyst, Child Care and Early Education at
  CLASP
• [phone]
• ehoffmann_at_clasp.org

Hannah Matthews Senior Policy Analyst, Child Care
and Early Education at CLASP (202)
906-8006 hmatthews_at_clasp.org
Lanier DeGrella Statewide Infant Toddler Project
Manager, Child Care Services Association (919)
967-3272 lanierd_at_childcareservices.org
Eileen Wasow Chief Academic Officer,
CentroNìa [phone], ext.160
ewasow_at_centronia.org
CLASP reports are available on our website
http//childcareandearlyed.clasp.org/
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Percent Change in Population of Children of
Immigrants, Under Age 6, 1990-2000