Partnering with Alabama’s Family Child Care Providers to strengthen service quality, support family involvement, and promote early learning environments that enhance children’s growth and development through resources, training, professional development, and guidance for family child care professionals.
Activities of FCCP designed for this purpose include the following:
• Individualized, in-home training is provided by experienced mentors who understand the needs of family child care providers.
• Distribution of equipment grants to assist providers in meeting accreditation standards.
Support with professional certification or accreditation procedures, including financial assistance to help providers achieve quality standards.
• Coordination of connections between providers and other child care-related agencies and organizations, including professional development opportunities that promote learning, recognition, and advancement in implementing best practices.
• Partners with Family Child Care Providers to deliver comprehensive Early Head Start services that promote high-quality early learning, family engagement, and child development in a nurturing home-based environment
• Mentor-led group training meetings designed to address additional educational needs, support provider collaboration, and encourage professional growth.
The FCCP program provides services to licensed family home child care providers throughout Alabama. FCCP focuses on supporting providers who may have limited access to training and professional development opportunities due to their work schedules and locations. Many family child care providers work long hours and operate independently. A significant portion also resides in rural areas, which can make travel and participation in training events more difficult.
These factors can make it challenging for providers to attend training courses offered through local or regional agencies or community colleges. Travel distance, scheduling, and related expenses (such as transportation, substitute care, or course fees) may limit participation. FCCP was developed to make professional development more convenient and accessible for family child care providers.