Program areas at Connections for Children
Subsidy programs - Connections for Children administers subsidy programs to assist low-income families in our communities, including those moving from welfare to work, to achieve financial independence. Partial or full payment towards child care enables parents to work, attend school or receive job training with the assurance that their Children, up to age 12, are in the child care arrangement that best suits their family needs. Parents may choose care in licensed centers, family child care homes, or with relatives, friends, or neighbors. Our program specialists work with each family to certify eligibility and make arrangements to pay childcare providers for their services. 1446 families (2,120 Children) received assistance with child care costs.
Quality start - this program provides training and coaching services to assist child care providers with the skills to build expertise in best practices for child care. It provides one to one mentoring and technical assistance to child care professionals and early childhood educators. Professional development coaches worked with 140 teachers and administrative staff across 108 center-based programs and family childcare homes to provide 473 customized coaching hours.
Santa monica program - Connections for Children provides a variety of services to residents of santa monica under a contract with the city's human services division. Staff worked with 124 families to help them select child care programs in santa monica that meet their needs. The program provided financial assistance for 84 santa monica Children from 71 low-income families to attend child care programs within the city. Weekly early learning play groups were conducted for a total of 292 Children and 183 adults, including parents, other relatives, and caregivers.
Other child care programs consists of: (a) emergency child care bridge program provided enhanced referrals and child care subsidies to 77 families to support 103 Children in the foster care system. (b) Connections for Children hosted the first annual trauma-informed conference for 27 child care providers (c) preventive health and safety programs facilitated 6 trainings, for a total of 42 hours - 48 participants attended. C) resource and referral program helped 5,905 parents/caregivers receive child care information and referrals. D) Connections for Children facilitated 60 early care and education professional development trainings for a total of 120 hours - 531 participants attended.