Our services

Network members are provided with support and resources to help earn their Associate's Degree or Infant Toddler Credentials (Levels 2, 3, and 4) at Malcolm X College, where ACPN started developing the cohort in 2019. Educational tutoring with ACPN is available for those who may need it.

ACPN will work with cohorts of childcare programs to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early care and education in their settings.  These state systems can be designed for all types of early childhood programs—childcare centers, family childcare homes, Head Start programs, and school-based programs.

ACPN has developed a family childcare collaboration with Spencer Technology School for head start services. Presently, we have 25 children enrolled in head start half-day services from family childcare. These children now can receive head start services that are critical to helping the families identify challenges they may be facing. With the help from Spencer School, the children that we serve will be able to achieve greater school success because of the alignment of services from home to school. Research reveals that Head Start programs provide educational, economic, and law enforcement benefits to our society. We are hopeful that the Head Start experience at Spencer will positively impact the children that are hard to reach from family childcare homes in pre-reading, vocabulary, and parent involvement. 

This project is a partnership with Rush University Medical Center. Project ECHO is committed to addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations by equipping communities with the proper knowledge, at the right place, at the right time. RUSH's Early Childhood ECHO seeks to support, mentor, and empower first-line providers to identify not only problems but evidence-based solutions for the most common behavioral health and developmental concerns in young children.

Learn more about Project ECHO: https://echo.unm.edu/

● Train providers to use the Creative Curriculum in their programs and

● Help providers to assess children’s growth using the Teaching Strategies Gold tool in their learning spaces.

This is a partnership with Rush University Medical Center. The Young Child Wellness Council (YCWC) will be tasked with helping tailor culturally and developmentally appropriate approaches for program goals & processes, marketing, and data reporting & interpretation. The YCWC will ensure compatibility with the needs and perspectives of key stakeholders before beginning major program activities. If concerns arise, we will convene the board to identify the problems and develop joint solutions.

The developmental screening is a brief check that provides a picture of a child's communication, motor, cognitive, personal-social (adaptive or self-help), and social-emotional skills. The screening can determine whether a child's development is appropriate for their age. If a child's developments are on track, a developmental screening can help identify the child's areas of strength. The cohort provides training and technical assistance to conduct the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. 

After providing the training and technical assistance, 20 childcare providers provide developmental screening at least once but usually twice per year, or as indicated by their parents to the children in their care. Each of them attends 2-hour professional development training each month to learn the process. Each provider receives 2 hours more of one-on-one coaching when the screening is done. The Coach is available to assist the provider with the screening and the tools to perform the screening.

Two, 16 weeks of professional development sessions: 

January Cohort - 10 Participants 

May Cohort - 10 Participants 

Child Development Associate (CDA), is the first credentialing process for early childhood professionals. 

The investment is to encourage: 

• Higher educational pursuits in the early childhood field.
• Produce better learning outcomes for young children.
• Participate in developing a Continuous Quality Improvement Plan (CQIP) for making either a short or long-term plan in meeting educational goals. 

In addition to participating in the CDA program, the cohort members are: 

• Engaged in English Academic Enrichment Support, which is being offered to the cohort members to prepare them for taking the college English placement testing. 
• Completing FAFSA and scholarship information to prepare for higher education in the Fall 2022 with focus in early childhood education. 
• Set in the path of pursuing the Illinois ExceleRate Silver Rating. 
• The May Cohort is currently being organized with participants who also have a strong interest in pursuing higher education. 

Twelve (12) participants are currently in the professional development stage of preparing for the NAFCC Accreditation, which is the only national professional association dedicated solely to promoting high-quality early care and education in home-based settings. The professional development is presented as virtual facilitation, one-on-one coaching, mock observations, and independent assignments.

The accreditation investment is to encourage the following: 

• Produce better learning outcomes for young children.
• Increase marketing potential for each in-home provider.
• Encourage higher educational pursuits in the early childhood field.
• Acquire Illinois ExceleRate Silver Rating.