 | Press ReleaseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 10, 2006
Contact: Kimberley Johnson, Child Care Programs Director Telephone: 707.421.7229 Email: ccc@childnet.org
Announcing Provider Appreciation Day Friday, May 12, 2006
Fairfield, CA – Child care organizations nationwide have joined together to declare Friday, May 12, 2006, to be Provider Appreciation Day.
Locally, at their meeting on May 2, the Solano County Board of Supervisors approved a proclamation honoring the day. In addition, the Solano County Child Care Planning Council, Solano Napa Association for the Education of Young Children, Solano Family and Children’s Services, the Children’s Network, and the Solano County Family Child Care Association have joined together to co-sponsor a celebration breakfast on May 13, 2006, to recognize the participants of the local CARES (Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Educational Standards) program.
The CARES program is a project of the Child Care Planning Council, administered by the Children’s Network and made possible by grants from First 5 Solano, First 5 California and the California Department of Education. CARES provides stipends ranging from $800 to $2,000 to members of the workforce as an incentive to increase their education and to remain in the field of child care. While over 600 providers (more than 25 percent of the licensed workforce) have participated in the program over the last four years, 137 have participated in the program every year during that time period. By continuing their education, some of these providers have progressed from the level of Teacher to the level of Site Supervisors, and some have earned college degrees. These 137 providers will be recognized at the May 13th event.
In Solano County, over 50,000 children ages 0 to 13 need some form of child care services. It is estimated that Solano’s licensed child care industry alone directly employs more than 2,500 people. The local child care partners ask child care organizations, public officials and parents to honor their child care providers for their hard work and dedication to our children. By calling attention to the importance of high quality child care services for all children and families, the collaboration hopes to improve the quality and availability of such services.
We are encouraging parents with children in child care to take this day to show their child care provider how much they appreciate them. It takes a special person to work in this field and these individuals are often unrecognized and under-appreciated. |