St. Paul licensed
family child care providers are being encouraged to participate in the
Parent Aware rating process. Parent Aware is a pilot project
taking place in several areas of Minnesota including Planning Districts
areas 6 and 7 in the City of St. Paul. These areas include the
neighborhoods of Frogtown and North End. Providers living in or
near these areas are strongly urged to attend an orientation for the
Parent Aware Program and to pursue becoming a quality rated family
child care. The rating tool is designed to recognize providers for the
quality of their program, to support their efforts to increase that
quality, and to standardize criteria to identify eligible programs for
children with scholarships.
The Parent Aware
program includes a 2-year scholarship program with 100 children
currently eligible to be placed in rated child care homes in the above
areas of St. Paul. Scholarships are awarded to the child and will
be up to $180 each week to pay for care in an approved (rated) child
care. Only providers who have received the rating of 3 stars or
above will be eligible for these scholarships.
Another program
throughout the City of St. Paul provides allowances to help providers
improve their program. The Allowance Program provides less cash
assistance but can help providers with a lower rating to increase their
rating to be eligible to receive children with scholarships in the
future. The program anticipates adding 300 children in this area
by September 2008.
For more information
about the Parent Aware process, contact Valerie Peterson @
651-290-9704; valeriep@mnchildcare.org.
If you would like to connect your families to the
Scholarship or Allowance Programs, contact Patti Kester at
651-641-6604; pkester@resourcesforchildcare.org.
Designed by child
care providers, early learning professionals and parents, Minnesota's
voluntary Parent Aware Rating Tool is intended to support our state's
children by creating a rating system which identifies, recognizes and
celebrates quality in early education. The Minnesota Early Learning
Foundation has provided funding to begin a three-year pilot program of
the Parent Aware Rating Tool.
Where will the pilot program take place?
The pilot phase of the Parent Aware Rating Tool
will include five areas of Blue Earth and Nicollet counties, the City
of St. Paul, and areas of both North Minneapolis and Wayzata.
When will the pilot program begin?
Applications will be available July of 2007.
How will the pilot program work?
Child Care programs will receive ratings using a
point system recognizing features in the following areas:
w Learning environment and curriculum
w Adult/child interaction
w Staff/provider education
w Tracking child progress
w Children's health and safety
w Family partnerships
Why should my program participate?
Eighty-seven percent of parents surveyed say they
would find a quality rating system helpful and would in fact use it.
Families in your area may be awarded scholarship dollars which
can only be used with quality rated programs.
The QRS is a national trend which is gaining
momentum in Minnesota. By participating you are letting parents
and families in your community know that you are fully committed to
preparing their children for school and their children are receiving
the best care available. For more information visit www.parentawareratings.org
or to register for an upcoming orientation session for Parent
Aware-Minnesota's Quality Rating System, please contact Valerie Peterson,
651-290-9704x107 or valeriep@mnchildcare.org.
