Child Care Aware of Missouri offers a wide range of support services and programs that can help any child care facility improve its programs and acquire the skills and resources it needs to serve children more effectively.

Accreditation
We assist centers and family child care homes in their pursuit of accreditation. Accreditation is the established benchmark of high quality among early education and after-school programs. It means a program has met evidence-based standards across several domains of programming and management.

Accreditation is a voluntary process. It involves a self assessment which addresses every aspect of your operations. Trained professionals observe or validate your program’s self assessment. Their observations, along with the program’s self evaluation, are used to make the decision to accredit the program.

Child Care Aware of Missouri has already helped almost 100 family child care homes, group homes and centers receive accreditation. Your program could be next.

Learn more about accreditation with our Frequently Asked Questions.

Our Task and Timeline Tool is your roadmap to guide you through the accreditation process.

For specific information regarding the criteria and procedures for the accreditation system you are most interested in, please click on the link.

Missouri Accreditation of Programs for Children and Youth (MOA)

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)

First Children’s Finance – Missouri

Through the First Children’s Finance program, we provide loans and loan-related technical assistance to child care businesses throughout the state of Missouri. For more information, please visit.

T.E.A.C.H. MISSOURI

A scholarship and compensation opportunity for licensed center-based and family child care and group home professionals. T.E.A.C.H. MISSOURI links education, compensation and commitment to improving the quality of early childhood care and education programs for young children.

 

Technical Assistance

Child Care Aware of Missouri works with new programs that are just starting out, as well as existing programs that need information, professional development, or other assistance. For information on licensing and regulations contact our Regional Agencies or the Department of Health and Senior Services-Section for Child Care Regulation.

Inclusion Services

We provide technical assistance for program staff who wish to learn more about caring for children with diverse needs and abilities. Click here to learn more.