The Love Connection

In this third and final episode of the Love Connection companion podcast, you'll hear from Brandy Hinkle, a lead teacher at a Waldorf child care center in Jamestown, California, and Nora Zarate, a family child care provider in Oceano, California. The two providers share their thoughts about the importance of trainings and continued education in child care, and the supports that would be most helpful to access these resources.

Hosted by Salaine McCullough. Engineering by Maximo Planes. Produced by Gretchen Howard. Interviews by Paola Marizán. Music by Chad Crouch. Inspired by research by Keisha Nzewi.

This series is made by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, and made possible by support from First 5 LA. You can follow the Network on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube at CARRNetwork to stay up-to-date on child care news in California. If you would like to learn more about the research that went into The Love Connection and read the full report, visit https://rrnetwork.org/policy/the-love-connection.

While love of what they do and the children they care for and their families keep many providers in the profession for decades, respect for their expertise - whether learned in a classroom, at a workshop, from a mentor, passed down through their family, or gained over years of experience - is a simple need so many in the child care workforce are missing. Among those who have been rated in QCC, none felt the process acknowledged their expertise or respected them as professionals and none use their rating to attract families to their program. Some were so discouraged by their rater’s first visit that they contemplated leaving the profession.

Despite QCC’s gaps and misalignment with parents’ and providers’ values, child care providers don’t let these barriers get in the way of providing high-quality care. They love participating in quality improvement programs. They yearn to feel connected to others in their profession, and participating in their local QCC allows them opportunities for those connections.

In this episode, you'll hear from Tessie Ragan, a family child care provider in Rosamond, California, and Preeti Sadhu, a family child care provider in San Diego, California about their experiences engaging with Quality Counts CA and other forms of peer support.

Hosted by Salaine McCullough. Engineering by Maximo Planes. Produced by Gretchen Howard. Interviews by Paola Marizán. Music by Chad Crouch. Inspired by research by Keisha Nzewi.

This series is made by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, and made possible by support from First 5 LA. You can follow the Network on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube at CARRNetwork to stay up-to-date on child care news in California. If you would like to learn more about the research that went into The Love Connection and read the full report, visit https://rrnetwork.org/policy/the-love-connection.

Who gets to decide what quality child care looks like, and how to quantify it? Over 30 years ago, in order to “assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early care and education settings,” quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) were developed across the United States to increase the likelihood that child care subsidies would support high quality care for young children. These systems were built in response to the notion that most child care in the U.S. is low quality, and “children from low income families and minority families are more likely to be in low quality care.”

In this episode, you'll hear from Keisha Nzewi, Director of Public Policy at the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, and Miren Algorri, a family child care provider about their perspectives on California's quality rating and improvement system.

Hosted by Salaine McCullough. Engineering by Maximo Planes. Produced by Gretchen Howard. Interviews by Paola Marizán. Music by Chad Crouch. Inspired by research by Keisha Nzewi.

This series is made by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, and made possible by support from First 5 LA. You can follow the Network on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube at CARRNetwork to stay up-to-date on child care news in California. If you would like to learn more about the research that went into The Love Connection and read the full report, visit https://rrnetwork.org/policy/the-love-connection.