Accreditation

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers and accreditation system aimed at improving the quality of care in child care centers. The National Association of Family Child Care (NAFCC) offers a similar system of accreditation for Family Child Care providers. The process involves a self-study where programs evaluate themselves against standards established for accreditation and make improvements to the program to meet the standards, an application process, a candidacy phase where programs use surveys (of families, staff and the governing body), self-evaluation tools, and other documentation to ensure the programs ability to achieve and maintain the standards for accreditation standards, and a time when the program meets the program standards. During this final phase, an on-site validation visit occurs where a trained representative of NAEYC or NAFCC visits the program for a day or two to see that the program does indeed meet the standards that it says it meets and to validate that the program’s documentation is valid and complete. A summary collection of all the data is reviewed for procedural accuracy. At this point accreditation will be awarded, deferred or denied. If your program is accredited by one of these organizations, congratulations! You know the pride in your accomplishment. If you are providing licensed child care in New Hampshire and think you are ready for this challenge, contact your local CCR&R for more information and assistance.