Pike County Cooperative Extension - 2002 Annual Report Family and Youth Resiliency

Training of Child Care Providers

With the increasing numbers of parents in the workforce and the enormous population growth in Pike County, the need for quality child care has become crucial. Parents find it extremely difficult to be productive at work unless they feel secure that the care their child is receiving is high-quality. Research has shown that the training of childcare providers remains one of the nation’s most critical needs.

Since 1992, Penn State University Cooperative Extension has partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare to conduct trainings for child care providers. Better Kid Care (BKC) trainings help providers to better understand children and their needs, and to develop appropriate methods for working with children.

Pike County Cooperative Extension is a local resource that area providers can use to maintain their certification and to update their skills. Twelve workshops were held during the 2001-02 programming year. One hundred thirty-nine separate providers attended either the satellite downlink or direct training that were held. This equates to 30.5 hours of training. When looking at the previous year's figures, this correlates to a 62% increase of child care providers who attended extension BKC trainings.

In providing these trainings, Pike County Cooperative Extension provides 70% of the training hours that take place within the county and trains 75% of the people trained within the county. Five of the most popular trainings and the trainings which were the highest attended were: Secrets to Preventing Problem Behaviors; Nutrition in Every Theme; The Ups and Downs of Outdoor Play; Toddlers: Terrible or Terrific?; and Childcare for Mixed Age Groups.

Identifying Developmental Disabilities in Children

One area that childcare providers identified a need to become more familiar with was in identifying developmental disabilities in young children and how to approach and work with these children’s families.

Zita Kurtzman-Yennie leads Better Kid Care
participants in an activity.

To bring childcare providers up-to-date in this area, a workshop was arranged and given by the Director of the Pike County Center for Developmental Disabilities, Zita Kurtzman-Yennie.

Of those providers who attended, 70% indicated they will use a lot of the information provided, while 20% will use some of the information. The most important things they learned as a result of participating in this training were: "How to approach and speak to a parent of a child who I suspect has a developmental delay and what my limits are when I do speak to them."

Neighbor / Relative Child Care

This past year, Pike County Cooperative Extension offered a new mentoring program to neighbors or relatives. A Neighbor / Relative Coordinator was hired and visited grandparents, cousins, aunts, neighbors, and friends who cared for other people’s children. While making the visits the coordinator discussed safety issues, fun activities and dealing with behavioral problems. The care providers also had a chance to borrow one of six theme kits which allowed the children in their care to explore new and different ideas without having the expense of purchasing new materials. The kit themes included Insects, Caterpillars and Butterflies, Under the Sea, Dinosaurs, Musical Instruments, and Children from Many Lands.