Quality rating system offered for preschools

The program will help parents compare what child-care centers have to offer.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN-- Georgeann Houck says she would like to have Bear Hugs Child Care & amp; Nursery School participate in a voluntary state quality rating system for child-care facilities.
Beginning Nov. 30, the center will be able to do just that.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which licenses child-care centers, is expanding its pilot "Step Up To Quality" rating system to include all 88 counties in the state on that date.
"The goal of this program is to promote school readiness by improving the quality of early care and education for all children while providing parents with an easy-to-use tool to assist them in selecting early-childhood programs," said Barbara Riley, ODJFS director.
"I think it's very important for the education of children," said Houck, administrator for Bear Hugs Child Care & amp; Nursery School on Poland Avenue in Struthers. Her facility has 55 preschool children enrolled.
"We get them from 3 to 5 years of age," she said, noting that is a very important learning period for children.
The quality of that early education is important, she said, pointing out that research has shown that a positive educational impact at that early age carries with the child for life.
Another location
Nancy Jacubec, administrator of Applewood Academy LLC of Poland, said she would also be interested in taking part in the quality-rating program.
It's a good idea for parents who are looking at child-care facilities for their children, she said.
Applewood has 40 preschool and 12 school-age children enrolled.
The program is designed to recognize early-care and education programs that go beyond state minimum licensing standards, Riley said.
Job and Family Services launched the pilot program in nine counties (Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties were not included) in spring 2005 and had more than 400 centers sign up.
The process involves the state agency's doing a special inspection of each facility, rating its quality based on a number of factors and offering technical assistance for improving that quality.
Higher-quality facilities can get a one-, two- or three-star rating based on lower staff-to-child ratios, administrators and teachers with higher qualifications and more training in specialized early-childhood development and learning and teachers who are familiar with Ohio's Early Learning Content standards.
Of the 400 centers that signed up for the initial nine-county area, 141 achieved a rating of at least one star.
The state had planned to expand the voluntary program statewide sometime next year but moved up the date to Nov. 30 because of the demand, said Jon Allen, an ODJFS spokesman.
The response was "overwhelmingly positive" from both the centers and parents, and other communities soon found out about it and began asking when their counties would be included, Allen said.
Participation reward
Centers that agree to participate can apply to the state for grants ranging from $3,000 to $36,000 to help improve their physical plant, improve curricula and programming and provide training for staff, he said.
Such improvements would help the centers achieve higher ratings from the state, he said.
Step Up To Quality encourages centers to extend the quality of their care, gives them a vehicle to show parents what they have to offer and gives parents the opportunity to do an online search to compare centers in their area, Allen said.
It's an expensive proposition for the state.
Gov. Bob Taft signed an executive order in May allocating $15 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding to allow the effort to expand statewide. That money will be spread over three years, Allen said.
In addition, the state will tap $13 million a year in federal money designated to improve child care to complete the financing, he said.
Ohio has 4,100 licensed child-care centers and expects at least half of them to sign up for the program.
To find out more about Step Up To Quality, visit the Department of Job and Family Services Web site at www.jfs.ohio.gov/cdc/stepUpQuality.stm.