Parent Resource Center for Quality Child Care
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Attention Parents! Learn about quality child care, what it is, how it is measured and how you can help improve child care in Pennsylvania. In addition, you will find numerous reosurces, including:
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Why care about quality?
Quality child care really does make a difference in your child’s future! Your child may seem to just play or giggle all day, but she is really learning life skills. As your child’s body grows, her intellectual and emotional growth is just as dramatic. Your child is learning language and numbers, but also how to interact with others and handle life’s ups and downs. In fact, you are your child’s first teacher!
These early experiences have a big impact on your child’s future happiness & success. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that a child’s mind develops rapidly by age three, and his environment and experiences play a central role in this development.
Your child will benefit from quality child care his entire lifetime. A landmark study shows that adults at age 40 who participated in a quality preschool program have higher earnings, are more likely to hold a job, have committed fewer crimes, and are more likely to have graduated from high school.
It is vital that you choose child care that will partner with you to provide what’s best for your child. Quality child care programs provide early care and education that promote your child’s growth and development so that he is ready for school and for life. It’s time to invest in quality from the start.
Useful materials:
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What makes up a quality program?
Teachers with education and experience. The education and experience of the teacher is the most important aspect to quality care for your child. A qualified teacher knows how talk to your child and help your child learn. A qualified teacher can also help you understand how your child is growing physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.
Teachers that stay. A child bonds with his teacher the same way he bonds with his parents. When a teacher leaves, it can affect how your child relates to other adults. Because child care teachers are paid so little, turnover can be high.
Child:staff ratios. The fewer children a teacher cares for, the more time and attention a child can receive. Listed below are child:staff ratios required by Pennsylvania. Child care providers that strive for lower child:staff ratios are working to provider higher quality care for your child.
Department of Public Welfare (DPW) child:staff ratio requirements
| Age |
child:staff ratio |
| Birth- 12 months |
4:1 |
| 13-24 months |
5:1 |
| 25-36 months |
6:1 |
| 3-5 years old |
10:1 |
Developmentally-appropriate practices (DAP). Developmentally appropriate practices are activities that meet the developmental level of your child. You wouldn’t ask a two-year old to sit at a desk all day, would you? Quality child care programs have classrooms and activities that meet the needs of your child at each developmental stage.
Useful links:
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Ways to measure the quality of child care programs
With more than 9,000 registered and certified child care programs in Pennsylvania, how do you know if one is a high quality program? Fortunately there are resources available to you to help you choose a quality program that is right for you and your child.
- Keystone STARS. Keystone STARS is a quality improvement initiative for child care programs in PA. Programs can receive a STAR 1 – STAR 4 rating (STAR 4 being the highest).
- You can search for a PACCA member provider. If the provider is participating in STARS, the STAR level of the program will be listed.
- You can search for Keystone STARS programs by zip code or county at the PA Keys website
- To read the criteria for each STAR level to understand more about what each STAR means, visit the PA Keys website at http://www.pakeys.org/stars/CountTheStars.aspx.
- Accreditation. Programs with accreditations from the organizationslisted below have been found to have high quality.
- T.E.A.C.H. sponsoring center or family provider.T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® PENNSYLVANIA (Teacher Education And Compensation Helps) is a scholarship program for child care teachers and directors to attend college classes while working full-time. Child care programs that sponsor teachers in T.E.A.C.H. care about their staff and are investing time and money to help make them better teachers for your child. Programs may have a certificate posted that indicates they participate in T.E.A.C.H., but you may also want to ask if they are involved in T.E.A.C.H.
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What can I do as a parent to improve child care in Pennsylvania?
- Develop a partnership with your child's teachers. By communicating and working with your child's teachers, you can help reinforce new skills and identify potential areas of concern. The more information the teacher has about your child, the better job he/she can do.
- Stay informed. Visit our Public Policy page regularly for information on state and federal legislation that may affect child care in Pennsylvania. When necessary, you will also requests for action to write a letter or contact your representative.
- Talk to your friends, coworkers and families about quality care. Too many people still think of child care as babysitting and do not know how important quality early care and education is to a child's future. Educating those around you may be one of the most important things you can do.
- Join PACCA. If you would like to support PACCA's efforts to promote quality early care, you may join as an Affiliate member. For more information on membership, email PACCA at info@pacca.org.
If you have additional questions, please contact PACCA at info@pacca.org or by calling (717) 657-9000.
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How do I make a complaint about a child day care facility?
Contact the appropriate Department of Public Welfare Regional Child Development Office. Each regional child day care office is assigned responsibility for certain counties in Pennsylvania. Regional office staff investigate complaints about child care centers, group child care homes, and family child care homes that do not follow the regulatory requirements for operating a facility.
There are four Regional Offices of Child Development in Pennsylvania. Each regional office is responsible for child care facilities located in specific counties grouped by geographic area (see the chart below). The duties of the regional offices are:
- Provide information to parents, providers, and the general public regarding the Department of Public Welfare's requirements for operating a child care facility.
- Provide information regarding a child care facility's certification or registration history.
- Conduct orientation training for prospective child care providers.
- Receive applications from entities that want to open a child care center, group child care home, or family child care home.
- Conduct initial inspections, renewal inspections and unannounced inspections of child care centers and group child care homes to assess compliance with Department of Public Welfare child care service regulations.
- Conduct random sample inspections of family child care homes.
- Provide technical assistance to child care providers in meeting the regulations.
- Conduct complaint investigations related to regulatory noncompliance at a child care center, group child care home, or family child care home.
- Conduct complaint investigations related to illegal operation of a child care facility.
- Make the decision to issue a certificate of compliance or certificate of registration to a child
Additional Parenting Resources
Tax credits for parents. As a parent, you may be eligible for one or more of the following tax credits.
- Federal child tax credit (up to $1,000 per child)
- Federal Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses (up to $2,100)
- Federal Earned Income Tax Credit (up to $4,400)
For more information, click here (PDF) or call the Internal Revenue Service at (800) 829-1040.
Choosing Quality Child Care:
- Quality Child Care: Resources for Parents (PDF)
- Frequently-Asked Questions about Child Care
- Child Care Check List (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- For Parents - Quality Programs for Infants and Toddlers: A View from the Door (Earlychildhood.com)
- A Parent's Guide to to Choosing Safe and Healthy Child Care (2002) (National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care)
Parenting Resources:
Advocating for Children and Quality Child Care:
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