Child Care Initiative identifies openings for infants, toddlers

Updated 10:00 AM November 14, 2005

Child Care Initiative identifies openings for infants, toddlers

By Dave Reid
HR Communications

As part of an effort announced by President Mary Sue Coleman in April to expand and improve U-M child care offerings, the Child Care Initiative has identified 21 additional openings for infants and toddlers.

The spots include five spaces for infant care at the U-M Health System Child Care Center available to all faculty and staff. Another 16 openings for home-based infant and toddler care will be available as soon as January 2006 through the Campus Child Care Homes Network, which helps recruit and train family day care providers.

"The University has a long-standing history of providing high-quality child care and early childhood education programs to its faculty, staff and students, and we have dedicated substantial resources in this area," Coleman said in a message to the U-M community. "This is the time to develop our next steps."

Coleman called upon Associate Vice President for Human Resources Laurita Thomas to lead a collaborative effort toward more high-quality on-campus child care, new infant and toddler care programs and improved facilities.

"With the identification of these 21 openings, we are on our way toward achieving the larger goals of the initiative articulated by President Coleman," Thomas says. "Yet, the need remains greater than current capacity and the physical state of our facilities still must be considered.

"We have held visioning and informational sessions with child care center directors and teachers, parents and constituent groups since April, and have established several teams to collaborate on more detailed long-term recommendations."

The teams include a steering committee; a design group of child care center directors and a teacher review group to make recommendations on program enhancements and major aspects of facility design and renovation; and a group of experienced researchers to consider child development research and training opportunities of the initiative.

"Since new national accreditation guidelines have recently been released, our collaboration with the experts in early childhood education at the centers is an important link," says Marsha Greenburg, a licensed clinical social worker and consultant to the project. "The timing of our work coinciding with the new accreditation criteria helps us ensure all new programs and facility enhancements meet or exceed national guidelines well into the future."

All U-M child care centers are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

A number of administrative enhancements currently are in the works, including software and hardware upgrades and implementation of a severe weather policy that ensures child care centers will remain open when University offices are open and classes are being held. Recommendations for program enhancements and proposals for facility renovation are expected in 3-4 months.

A Web site has been established to provide background and ongoing details. For more information, visit http://www.umich.edu/~hraa/childcare/. Fact sheets are available in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.

To learn about early childhood education programs and availability, contact the child care centers. A listing of centers is available at: http://www.umich.edu/~hraa/worklife/umcenters.shtml.

Child Care Initiative identifies openings for infants, toddlers

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