Training needs and challenges of family child care providers

The quality of experiences in child care has significant, lasting impact on children's development. With the growing number of young children attending child care homes, it is imperative to provide a safe environment which nurtures their development. In efforts to offer family child care providers with useful education and resources, this descriptive study summarizes the results of a survey of 178 family child care providers on their training needs. Focus group feedback from family child care providers attending training workshops on safety, environmental arrangements, and proactive behavior management is also described. The caregivers reported that training in behavior management has the highest priority. Participants described a need for low-cost training in the evening or on weekends that is relevant to family child care settings with one caregiver serving children of varying ages. © 2002 Human Sciences Press, Inc.