Take Action to Improve Healthy Habits

Professional Development and Education Opportunities for Child Care Providers

Child care providers play a critical role in development and education. Well-Ahead Louisiana works to equip providers with resources and training to ensure children are creating healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

Technical Assistance Networks

Child care facilities have access to the Louisiana Pathways Early Learning Center Career Development System to support them in professional development and continuing education. The Bureau of Licensing requires all child care facilities to complete 15 hours of education and training each year.

Louisiana Pathways Early Learning Center Career Development System

Louisiana Pathways is the statewide early care and education registry that tracks education and experience for early learning center staff and early care and education trainers and recognizes their achievements.

In order to provide training to child care centers, you must be a Louisiana Pathways-approved trainer. Louisiana Pathways provides both the orientation and training for these individuals, and scholarships are available. Components of Louisiana Pathways include a career development section, a scholarship section, a trainer approval section and a CLASS registry section.

Louisiana Pathways Trainings

Facilities are required to earn 12 hours annually from the Department of Education by an approved Louisiana Pathways trainer, a partner of the Department of Education. Find a Pathways trainer in your area.

Louisiana Child Care Health Consultant (CCHC) Program

The Child Care Health Consultant Program services have transitioned from the Bureau of Family Health to the Louisiana Department of Education. For further information related to the provision of health and safety trainings to early childhood providers, email Earlychildhood@la.gov

Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies

The Louisiana Department of Education contracts with child care resource and referral agencies across the state to support providers and parents. The state of Louisiana’s child care licensing regulations require child care staff to obtain a minimum of 12 hours of continuing education per center.

Child care resource and referral agencies provide professional development opportunities for child care center staff and family child care home providers located in their designated region. Each agency offers monthly training calendars. Please visit your designated agency’s website to obtain full details on registering for upcoming professional development opportunities.


Child care resource and referral agencies:

  • Assist families with finding and evaluating child care providers
  • Work with providers in developing new child care facilities
  • Offer approved training that is required for providers and their staff in order to maintain a Type III Early Learning Center license or Family Child Care or In-Home provider registration and certification as a Child Care Assistance Program provider
  • Provide high-quality differentiated coaching that brings the trainer into the child care facility to help staff solve unique problems and see how general theories can be put to work in their specific environment to improve the quality of the care children receive

Providers can contact the child care resource and referral agency in their area for any of the above items, training or for any other questions regarding child care. There are six of these agencies in Louisiana, and each is assigned to service child care centers and parents in a select number of parishes.

Training for Early Childhood Professionals and Coaches

Child care resource and referral agencies employ early childhood professionals, often called coaches, that provide training at child care centers. These coaches work alongside child care staff to assist them in finding solutions to challenges and problems that arise in early learning centers.

Coaches observe, mentor and provide feedback to child care staff using research-based best practices from the CLASS tool. The feedback often comes in the form of suggestions and modeling in order to improve the quality of care, teaching and environments for children enrolled in their child care center.

Child care coaches who receive training and professional development are able to stay up-to-date on best practices in early care and education through online professional development programs and webinars.

Go NAPSACC

Go NAPSACC (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care) is an online training platform that provides education and support to child care professionals looking to improve healthy habits at their facility. Child care centers can enroll in the program or request a consultant for individual support. Early childhood professionals can also apply to become consultants in the program and receive access to an expanded bank of online resources and the opportunity to assist child care centers through out the state.


Resources

  • Penn State Better Kid Care is a Louisiana Pathways-approved Independent Trainer that offers on-demand, research-based professional development. All Better Kid Care online on-demand modules are accepted by the Louisiana Department of Education and Louisiana Pathways to meet child care professional development requirements.
  • Healthy Beverages in Early Care and Education are training materials created for the early care and education field to inform providers about why drink are important to children’s health, best practices for serving drinks in child care programs.
  • One Step at a Time: Helping Young Children Be Physically Active! Bright Futures Obesity Prevention is a training curriculum for child care providers that assists programs in ensuring young children are physically active.
  • Recommended Nutrition Standards for Infants and Young Children California’s Child Care Health Program developed training modules on the nutritional value of food and how infants and young children food should be fed.
  • Supporting Healthy Eating with Go NAPSACC and CACFP Go NAPSACC has provided this recorded webinar to assist child care providers in using Go NAPSACC’s resources to successfully implement CACFP in their child care center.
  • Supporting Physical Activity in Early Care & Education Settings Go NAPSACC has provided this webinar recording to support child care centers in increasing physical activity in their child care center.
  • National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a nationally recognized professional organization for those working in or supporting Early Care & Education.
  • Zero to Three is an organization that is focused on aligning the needs of young children, child care programs and policy with ground-breaking research.
  • Teachstone is a leader in CLASS-driven measurement and mentoring. Teachstone offers products and programs that help schools unlock the potential of great teachers, boost student outcomes and create a culture of sustained excellence.
  • Administration for Children & Families is a division of the U. S. Health & Human Services (HHS). It promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities with funding, strategic partnerships, guidance, training and technical assistance.