Established in 2002 with funding from the New York State Office of Children and Families Services (NYSOCFS), seven Regional Infant Toddler Technical Assistance Centers across New York State, located within host Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) centers and staffed by Infant and Toddler Specialists, are a valuable resource for parents and child care providers.
By 2016, 21 centers spanned across 7 regions. Centers provide:
- Training and technical assistance to the child care provider community;
- Information on best practices for families and providers;
- Support to the CCR&Rs within the region;
- Support to the NYSOCFS regional office staff; and
- Assistance to the community in expanding comprehensive service delivery for infants, toddlers and their families.
The project reaches out to communities, child care providers, and families to promote safe, nurturing environments for the youngest New Yorkers. It emphasizes the high-quality early care that’s essential to a child’s long-term social, emotional, and intellectual development. That, in turn, has a positive ripple effect on schools, businesses, and communities across New York State.
National experts have identified 10 research-based components that are essential to high quality child care. Using these 10 components as a guide, The NYS Infant and Toddler Resource Network is helping child care programs improve the quality of care for our babies, toddlers and their families. Programs often start with tangible changes to the environment and the structure of the program and then advance towards changing practices that promote relationship based care between children, caregivers and families.
The Infant-Toddler Resource Centers:
- Increase knowledge or practitioners, parents and policy makers;
- Build skills of infant-toddler workforce and parents;
- Change practice across spectrum of settings caring for babies and toddlers;
- Promote improvement in public policies; and
- Promote better outcomes for babies and toddlers, especially those most at-risk.
Learn more about the New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network: here.
