Mono County STAR Program

The acronym STAR stands for “Support Training and Retention.” The goal of the STAR Program for early care and education professionals is to increase the quality of child care throughout Mono County by building a skilled and stable child care workforce. The STAR program works directly with family child care providers, center based providers and the Family Friend and Neighbor (FFN) informal/exempt providers, who provide much of the available child care in Mono County.

The STAR Program rewards the pursuit of early child development training among child care professionals; promotes retention of committed, qualified early child care teachers and providers; and encourages advancement on the Child Development Training Consortium’s Child Development Permit Matrix. The STAR Program addresses the need to provide training and supports to caregivers along the entire continuum of care by supporting the quality of care for all children regardless of the care giving setting.

A major emphasis of STAR is to assist the providers in conducting the Harms-Clifford Environmental Rating Scale in their child care programs. STAR Program participants each complete a self-assessment on the environment and quality of their care.

Eligibility

• Stipends are awarded to individuals both for attained education and for continuing education and professional growth.
• STAR is open to home-based, licensed and exempt family child care providers, family child care assistants, and center-based staff in public and private child care programs.
• Participants must work with children ages birth to five years old.
• Work with or directly supervise someone who works with a majority of children at least 15 hours per week.
• Work in a child care program in Mono County for at least nine months within the year ending June 30, 2010.

This Project also assists with:

• Obtaining a Child Care License
• Obtaining a Child Development Permit
• Environmental Rating Scale Assessment Tools
• Quality Improvement Plan

For more information, please contact: