There is a problem facing employers in New York State, an ill-prepared workforce.
Did you know that the majority of New York’s 4th graders are not proficient in reading or math?
Did you know that employers report that high school graduates don’t have the skills necessary for a 21st-century workforce?
These are serious problems, but we have the solution; high-quality early care and education.
Child Care Council of Orange County Inc. is a CCR&R, a child care resource and referral agency. Our focus is on Quality child care.
Quality child care is vital for young children, families, and communities.
Quality prepares young children for success in school, job training, employment, and community life.
What is Quality?
Quality is defined as valuable early learning experiences which help children to thrive. These experiences are the events, activities, environments, and relationships that have a positive impact on a young child’s cognitive (intellectual), physical, social, and emotional (self-control) development.
Components of a high-quality program include:
- A developmentally appropriate curriculum which means play-based and learning through hands-on experiences and not children wrote learning of their ABCs and 123s
- Highly skilled staff with adequate professional development opportunities
- A safe and healthy environment
- Small group size and high adult to child ratios
- Warm, responsive interactions between staff and children; and
- Good parent teacher communication (family engagement)
So as a business person why should you care about children receiving quality child care?
Why should government and businesses invest in early care and education?
Employers need a productive workforce. Parents lose less time from work and are less stressed because they know their children are being well taken care of in regulated child care and education programs.
Employers report that potential hires lack the skills they are looking for. Achievement gaps between high and low income children start before kindergarten and these children most likely will never catch up. The foundation of many skills needed for 21st century jobs is established in the early years.
Did you know that early care and education professionals generally spend most of their earnings locally? Investments in early care and education have an immediate economic effect as monies are spent on facilities, supplies, and personnel.
Short term – it allows nearly 70 percent of our local workforce to go to work each day. Their productivity on the job keeps our businesses running and enables residents to buy homes and pay taxes.
Quality child care decreases employee absences.
Quality child care reduces turnover.
Quality child care boosts productivity.
Long term – it increases school readiness and lays the foundation for school success in school and in life.
Winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Economics and based at the University of Chicago, Dr. James Heckman shows how early learning produces later learning and heralds a 10 percent return on investments in high quality early care and education. There are many economists who back up Heckman’s research.
In NY, an estimated 4000 child care providers earn a total of $4.7 billion and serve 750,000 parents, who themselves earn over $30 billion annually. This industry is bigger than hotels and lodging, air transportation, and public transportation, and is almost as big as the banking industry.
Please join us to advocate for quality child care and education and for a better future for our children and our economy!
Child Care Council of Orange County Inc. is a private nonprofit agency founded in 1971. Our funds come from the Office of Children and Family Services, Orange County Dept. of Social Services, and NYS Dept. of Health, training fees, membership dues and fundraising.
Our services include:
- providing parents with free referrals to regulated child care programs
- and providing technical assistance and training for child care providers
The Council provides a centralized source for information on regulated child care. We assess and develop child care resources and collaborate with agencies county-wide on the needs of families and children.
Linda Martini, Executive Director, Child Care Council of Orange County Inc.