Accreditation

West Central Child Care Connection may be 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 a few of the ExceleRate approved Accreditation options available to you- please contact Deana by calling our office 217-222-2550 or email at dbrink@wcccc.com if you have any questions.

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 visit www.naeyc.org or call 1-800-424-2460.

NAC – National Accreditation Commission

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 visit www.naccp.org or call 1-800-537-1118.

NAFCC – National Association for Family Child Care Accreditation

What is NAFCC Accreditation? It is an accreditation system that has been designed to help licensed 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:

  • 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.
  • Observation Visit- After all quality improvements have been made, NAFCC will arrange for an on-site observation visit.

For more information about NAFCC visit www.nafcc.org or call (801) 886-2322.