Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The agencies that I have chosen play an invaluable role in the field of early childhood care and education, the community, and the children and families that they service.

Bright from the Start Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning holds the dutiful task of ensuring that the needs of children and families are met through various learning facilities, organizations and programs. Its mission is to achieve academic success through high quality programs that promote and support learning from infancy, preparedness for school and school performance reform. One of the positions available with Bright from the Start is Child Care Consultant. Some of the responsibilities of a childcare consultant are that they make certain that rules and regulations are being followed, provide technical assistance to professionals and families in the field, and are approved trainers. I chose this organization because I believe that they set the bar for what high a high quality program should look like and how it should operate. One of the systems for measuring quality though Bright from the Start is Quality Rated. Local learning facilities can become rated though a system recognized by the state. If a facility receives the highest rating of a “3” then it is published as having achieved the mark of fostering the holistic needs of children and families. These ratings are publically available for families, investors, and childcare providers to view. I like the fact that if you score under a “3”, then they provide the program with fundamental materials and funds to towards meeting those needs effectively. I would like to work for an organization such as this one to share my experience and expertise in the field. I would like to assist early learning facilities in providing adequate services to families to gain self-sufficiency, decreasing the achievement gap, and dispelling inequities within learning.

The United Way Foundation is an organization that supports education, income, and health. This organization provides an array of services to children and families in need. Their mission is to stabilize communities through resources provided to families that improve their overall success in society.  I chose this organization because they serve as advocates for families that face adversities such as poverty.  As an advocate for positive social change, here is where my passion meets reality.  I understand that in order to realistically assure that children are successful I must make certain that their caregivers have the necessary tools for survival. The current position of Development Officer struck my interest. This liaison oversees strategies for acquiring gifts, donations, and grants for local communities. It is critical that programs are financially supported they are expected to maintain high quality programs.

Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private charitable organization established for children facing adversities such as social injustices. Through public policies, human services, and communities, The Annie E. Casey foundation seeks to meet the needs of children and families by way of initiatives, grants, and projects. I have a professional connection with this organization being that it found the learning facility for which I am currently employed. The community that I work in has been deemed “poverty stricken”. To break the cycle of crime, high dropout rates, and low thriving families that has plagued the community for generations, they have foundation an early learning and literacy resource center to support the socio-economic needs of parents, developmental needs of children, and the ingenuities of communities to enhance their well-beings. As the Director of Evidence Based Practiced, I envision myself having the responsibility of measuring quality through data and research and utilizing this information as a pertinent piece in providing viable corroboration of how imperative it is to applaud early childhood care and education and its vital existence in the lives of children and families both locally and globally.

 

References:

http://decal.ga.gov/Default.aspx

http://www.unitedway.org/

http://www.aecf.org/AboutUs.aspx