Training and incentives offered to child care centers

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties is offering child care providers in Lyon and Storey free training, incentives, and events as part of an early childhood social-emotional learning and development initiative, funded in part through a federal Safe Schools, Healthy Students grant, and further supported through Healthy Communities’ “Health and Wellness Hub.”

The coalition is hosting an orientation to the Nevada Registry’s “Quality Rating Information System” from 6:15 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Dayton Valley Branch Library. The system provides support for a site self-assessment for child care centers, and also a mentor to work with child care centers on goals the centers would like to achieve. The orientation will be given by Cindy Johnson of the Office of Early Learning and Development. The event is free, and light snacks will be provided.

Healthy Communities is also helping to fund one person per child care center to attend a free training, valued at $800 per person, in Parents As Teachers. The training, scheduled June 8-10, is open to anyone with 0-3 year olds. Another session for anyone with 3-5 year olds will be from July 16-17. To sign up, contact Deborah Loesch Griffin at 775-843-2275 or trnpt@aol.com.

In addition, five child care centers will be selected to receive funding of up to $1,000 to support training in the EB Social-Emotional Learning and Development curriculum and to purchase supplies and manuals associated with the curriculum.

Recently, many child care centers and staff from various agencies participated in a series of trainings Healthy Communities Coalition offered to show how to use the Ages and Stages Questionnaire — Social Emotional (ASQ-SE) screening tool. Child care centers whose staff have not yet received training in how to administer the ASQ-SE screening tool but would like to can contact Healthy Communities to schedule another ASQ-SE training. Healthy Communities can also schedule trained screeners to come to child care centers this summer and screen children using the ASQ-SE screening tool.

All of these events, and others, are part of an early childhood social-emotional learning and development initiative with Healthy Communities Coalition.

To register for training or for more information, contact Loesch Griffin.