West Central Child Care Connection is able to reimburse a portion of your cost for accreditation or credential through funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services. Our agency staff is available to assist you in obtaining accreditation. Listed below are the Accreditation options availible to you- please contact Karen or Sharon at karen@wcccc.com or sharon@wcccc.com if you have any questions.

NAFCC National Association for Family Child Care Accreditation

What is NAFCC Accreditation? An accreditation system that has been designed to help family child care providers set and reach quality improvement goals and to help parents and policymakers identify high quality care in a home setting.
NAFCC Eligibility

• Offer care to children in your home
• Primary caregiver (children are not left with a substitute more than 20% of the time)
• 21 years of age or older
• High school diploma or equivalent
• 18 months experience as a family child care provider
• 90 hours of documented training
  

The Accreditation Process:

1. Self-Study Process- NAFCC will send a self-study packet (includes provider self-study workbook and standards guidebook). This packet should be used for assessment of the program in order to make quality improvements where needed.
2. Observation Visit- After all quality improvements have been made, NAFCC will arrange for an on-site observation visit.
   
   For more information about NAFCC (515) 282-8192 or visit www.nafcc.org

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NAEYC National Association for the Education of Young Children

The purpose of the National Academy of Early Childhood (division of NAEYC) is to improve the quality of care and education provided for young children in all types of preschools, kindergartens, child care centers and school-age child care programs.

NAEYC Eligibility

• Serve a minimum of 10 children within the age group birth to five in part or full day group programs and/or school-age children served before and/or after school with at least two adults present.
• In operation at least 1 year prior to accreditation.
• Licensed by appropriate state/local licensing agency. If license-exempt, demonstrate compliance with its own state standards for early childhood programs.
• Include the entire program that comes under the eligibility criteria in the self-study and validation process.
  

The Accreditation Process:

1. Self-Study Process- The program personnel and parents conduct a self-study to determine how well the program meets the criteria and make needed improvements.
2. Validation Visit- Trained validators make an on-site visit to verify the accuracy of the program description.
3. Accreditation Decision- A three-person commission considers the validated program description and makes a final accreditation decision.
   For more information about NAEYC 1-800-424-2460, ext. 360 or visit www.naeyc.org

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NAA The National After School Association(NAA)

Accreditation is a way to recognize quality in school-age care programs. NAA Accreditation means that a program has demonstrated substantial compliance with the NAA standards by:

• An application which documents the program's self- study.
• An on-site visit by NAA Endorsers who rate the program on the NAA Standards.
• Annual reports to the NAA office between endorsement visits.
  

Accreditation Process

1. Request the NAA Standards of Quality for School- Age programs· Review the standards and focus on targeted improvements.
2. Purchase the Self-Study and Accreditation Kit · Use the program observation tool and take action on the targeted areas for improvement.
3. Apply for NAA Accreditation · Submit Self-Study Summary · Program Review by NAA Endorsers · Commission Decision
   
   For more information about NAA 1-617-298-5012 or visit www.naaweb.org

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NECPA The National Early Childhood Program Accreditation

NECPA is an Automated Accreditation Indicator System. The NECPA has been carefully crafted to create broad public understanding of the benefits of high quality early childhood care and education.

The NECPA Process There are four main parts to the accreditation process:

1. Demographic information sheet which provides the needed background on the program to be accredited.
2. Comprehensive self-evaluative document which is completed by the Director/Owner of the program.
3. On-site visit to verify the self-evaluation.
4. Scoring of the indicators and production of the program's profile and council review.
   For more information about NECPA 1-800-505-9878 or www.necpa.net

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NAC

The National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education Programs (NAC) is a national accreditation program that was developed for early care and educational programs that is used to promote professionalism and quality in child care. The process includes a self-study component, a validation visit and a review by the NAC commission for the final accreditation decision.

For more information about NAC 1-800-537-1118 or visit www.naccp.org

 

• NAFCC
• NAEYC
• NAA
• NECPA
• NAC