JOB/ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY:

NATIONAL & FEDERAL LEVEL  

In review of several organizations for this week’s Blog Assignment, I researched and have come across several that I have found to be of interest.  Their work has provided millions with support and educational resources that has benefited children, families and communities. The first organization is the Administration for Children & Families (ACF). The organization is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Its vision is geared towards children, youth, families, individuals and communities who are resilient, safe, healthy, and economically secure.  Their mission is to foster the health and well-being by providing federal leadership, partnership and resources for the compassionate and effective delivery of human services.  As a large agency, they are responsible for federal stewardship of a set of programs that provide essential services and support for millions of Americans (Administration for Children & Families, 2016).

 The second organization that appealed to me is the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC). Within my professional career, I am employed as a family child care program director.  My program encourages our FCC providers to obtain their credential as a NAFCC provider.  The organization is the only professional association dedicated solely to promoting high-quality early childhood experiences for children in the unique environment of family child care programs. Currently, there are approximately one million in-home family child care providers operating nationwide. The program is a 501(c3) non-profit association. The organization also seeks to accomplish important goals that are necessary to continue to become an elite organization. One of their goals is to ensure that family child care is the early childhood workforce.  And training and professional development offered to our providers has to make sense for the family child care environment, and be made accessible to work-life of family child care providers (NAFCC, 2016).   

The third organization that appealed to me is the International Child Resource Institute (ICRI) which is located in California. This is an organization that I was not aware of until now. I stumbled across their site as I was seeking to learn more about federal and national organizations. Their mission is “to envision a world in which all children and families are able to fulfill their greatest potential” (ICRI, 2016).  As I searched their site, I noticed that they offer a community of practice that is geared towards Early Childhood Care and Education, Children’s Rights, Maternal and Child Health, Empowerment of Women and Girls, and Grassroots Community Development. Their work is centered on the well-being of children on a national and international level. Their organization was birthed out of California but has expanded. 

 In addition to the various programs the ICRI focuses on, they have developed an advocacy program titled, I-CAN. Their motto is “if I-CAN, you can”.  Their motive is to assist any stakeholder involved in the lives of children (including parents) to become skilled advocates. I-CAN supports advocates through any array of services to ensure that advocacy for children will become year round and will lead to potentially stunning future results for children and families all over the world (ICRI, 2016).  

In review of employment, none of the organizations listed had any official job openings available. However, I did review ICRI’s team member’s positions they currently hold. One that was of interest is that of the Family Daycare Support Network Director.  This position provides nutrition education and financial support to family daycare providers within various communities. Since I already have some background knowledge in the family child care capacity, branching out into the educational resource and training capacity in the nutrition area would be an asset.   The position also requires knowledge of financial services in which skills in the administration area is needed.  This would fit into my undergrad degree in Business Administration as well as my degree in M.S. in Early Childhood Studies with the specialization in Administration, Management and Leadership. Branching out in this capacity would be a great experience and professional development experience and booster (ICRI, 2016).  

References:

Administration  for Children & Families. (2016) Retrieved from,

          http://www.acf.hhs.gov/

National Association for Family Child Care. (2016). Retrieved from

http://www.nafcc.org

International Child Resource Institute. (2016). Retrieved from,

          http://www.icrichild.org

 

 

 

 

EXPLORING ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY:

LOCAL AND STATE LEVELS  

This week's assignment required that we search for organizations, agencies and/or a community of practice that is of interest.  In doing so, I came across several that I would be interested in learning more about. The Association for Early Learning Leaders (AELL) was the initial organization that I found. The organization is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that has been serving directors, owners, and administrators of early care and education programs. AELL is committed to excellence in the field of Early Care and Education by promoting leadership development and enhancing program quality. Their goal is to strengthen the knowledge, skills and abilities of directors, owners, emerging leaders and other learning professionals to ensure quality programs for young children. In addition, their primary purpose as an organization and community of practice is "networking and collaboration" among its members and other professionals and national early childhood organizations. This is an organization that has a lot to offer and one that I would seriously become part of. Learning about groups and organizations that help further develop my passion and personal profession is a great step towards building my knowledge in the field. Membership cost is average and would be worthwhile to further pursue (AELL, 2016).

The next organization that really appealed to me is, the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundation for Early Learning (CSEFEL). The organization is part of my State’s local programs in Tennessee and part of Vanderbilt University. CSEFEL is a national resource center for disseminating research and evidence –based practices to early childhood programs across the country. CSEFEL is focused on promoting the social emotional development and school readiness of young children from birth to age 5. As a means to support their goal, the program has developed a conceptual model of evidence-based practices for promoting young children’s social emotional competence and preventing and addressing challenging behavior. The program has training materials, chat sites, resources offered to families, teachers, professionals, educators and individuals that are interested in working with young children. In consideration of this organization, training in this area would offer job opportunities as a Behavior Support Specialist that can train and educate others in working with children with challenging behaviors.  

As an international interest, I chose the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). This is an organization that I became familiar with during one of my courses here at Walden. This organization offers a wealth of knowledge and support on issues and trends that are prevalent in international countries. Their work experience is comparable to some of our community of practice and/or organizations here in the States. ACEI is a global community of educators and advocates who unite knowledge, experience, and perspectives in order to exchange information, explore innovation, and advocate for children.  The ACEI offers a variety of programs and sponsorships all for the purpose of children and education. One target of interests is that they are also affiliated with GPCWD which is Globall Partnership on Children with Disabilities. Their mission supports inclusiveness of all children with disabilities (ACEI, 2016). 

References:

http://www.earlylearningleaders.org

http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/about.html

http://www.acei.org/