Invisible Child: A Spotlight on Life in the Shadows
Dasani wakes up before dawn each day at a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, New York. After slipping out from under the covers, she goes to the window. On a clear day, she can see all...
Bill Hudson, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer for the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), visited the Council’s office to discuss potential partnerships and to share information about his organization with our community. NAFCC, the only national association dedicated solely to family child care, has a national accreditation program that holds a set of national standards similar to our CDA® Credential. The NAFCC accreditation is specifically designed to help family child care providers get accredited and raise the level of professionalism and service within their practice. Because both our organizations have a mission to serve the early education workforce, we would like to plan how we can work together to best benefit them.
NAFCC, a 5,000 member organization, is located in Salt Lake City, Utah, but Mr. Hudson is based off Washington D.C. since, he explained, the District is where legislation on early education is passed and where the field’s main advocates are located. When we asked about NAFCC’s current mission, he said, “We hope to expand our membership to 40,000 in five years. We’re the advocates at the federal level for family child care providers, and the more people we have, the louder the voice. We actually have somebody devoted to going to Capitol Hill and trying to influence the legislation for family child care providers. Currently, we are interested in exploring potential partnerships with the Council. We’re both very interested in family child care providers and increasing the level of success and professionalism of those providers so anything that we can do to work together benefits the field.” Two of NAFCC’s most recent advocacy efforts include the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for child care settings.
Mr. Hudson also went on to share that this is a great time to be involved in the early care and education field because of all the national conversations about children from birth to five years of age. There is a great federal and state emphasis on early education and the early educator right now.
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