Child Care Providers

 

Information for Child Care Providers

Child Care Centers

Child care centers that care for six or more children must be licensed by the State of New Jersey. If you are interested in opening or expanding a child care center in Burlington County, please follow these basic steps:

  • Contact the Department of Children and Families Office of Licensing, toll-free at 1-877-667-9845 or download the Manual of Requirements for Child Care Centers which can be found at www.state.nj.us/dcf/providers/licensing/laws/CCCmanual.pdf. The manual explains in detail the regulations which govern the operation of child care center programs
  • Check with the local government zoning and planning board to learn about zoning and planning requirements in the town you wish to locate the center. You may also want to request a courtesy inspection from the Office of Licensing if you are looking at an existing facility. The inspector will be helpful in assessing the renovations necessary to meet licensing requirements.
  • Once licensed, please log in NJCCIS (New Jersey Child Care Information System) and fill out an application. This is the first step that helps notify Office of Licensing of your intentions of providing care for children. Also contact your CCR&R representative, Christine Morrison at chmorrison@bccap.org, so she can add you to our referral database, add you to our mailing and e-mail blast lists and assist you in becoming eligible to participate in the child care subsidy programs. During this process we strive to assist in areas of environment, curriculum, staff development and training. BCAP provides a wide variety of educational programs for individuals working in child care centers. Workshops and courses that enable child care center staff to obtain 8 hours of training are required by the Office of Licensing.

NJCCIS

NJCCIS has housed the NJ Workforce Registry for a couple of years, and now it houses GNJK enrollment and licensing.  All participating providers receiving subsidy payments are required to complete all Center Information by logging into NJCCIS.  This includes current hours of care, rates and possible transportation services.  Keep in mind to send all changes to your CCR&R.  All referrals are based on the information submitted into the database upon written request by the provider.  Please submit any and all updates to Chris Morrison via chmorrison@bccap.org.

All registered Family Child Care providers are now responsible for filling out their initial and renewal applications in NJCCIS.  Please find/update your information by -logging in to your account and clicking on “My Providers” under the Provider tab.  Contact Sue Fenick at 609-386-5800 x5132 or at sfenick@bccap.org with questions and issues.

Professional Development Opportunities

BCAP offers continuing professional development for all child care providers, in the form of monthly workshops and hosting workshops such as Medication Administration and ASQ-3 Screening Tool. (click here for our current training calendar)  All trainings are free of charge.

The Footprints to Professionalism series, specifically for registered Family Child Care providers, are held every spring and fall for three evenings each.  Sign up is through our bi-monthly newsletter.

Federal law changes require ALL providers to meet new health and safety standards.

All staff working in center based programs must complete training to meet the CCDBG reauthorization requirements for health and safety. The following trainings topics are required:  First Aid and CPR, Health and Safety, Child Abuse and Neglect, and Child Development. For some of the training topics, participants have a choice on training modality. The total number of training hours for Center Based Programs is ten hours plus CPR and First Aid Training (click here for our current First Aid and CPR schedule).  All home-based providers (FCC and Approved Home) must complete training to meet the CCDBG reauthorization requirements for Health and Safety.  The total number of training hours for Home Based Programs is twelve hours plus CPR and First Aid Training.  (click here for our training calendar, which contains our 10-hour Health & Safety training schedule)

Grow New Jersey Kids

Research shows that children who are in quality child care and early learning programs when they are young are better prepared for kindergarten with better reading skills, more math skills and larger vocabularies.  Grow NJ Kids (GNJK) is a state-sponsored initiative to raise the quality of child care and early learning throughout New Jersey.  Grow NJ Kids gives child care and early learning programs resources to assess and improve their programs, while providing parents with information that allows them to evaluate the quality of programs and make the best choices for their child.  For more information about the Grow NJ Kids program click here.

 

If you would like more information about participating in GNJK, please contact our staff:

 

Kathryn Simone, 609-386-5800, X5140, kasimone@bccap.org

Infant Toddler Specialist Network

The Infant Toddler Specialist Network, a quality initiative funded by the NJ Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development, assists educators of very young children in providing the very best care for infants and toddlers. The Infant Toddler Specialist Network has two predominant goals:

· To improve the quality of infant/toddler early care across the state

· To increase the availability of quality early care programs for families with infants and toddlers

Burlington County now has its own Infant Toddler Specialist that offers professional development, technical assistance and consultation to all early childhood programs serving infants and toddlers. There will be professional development workshops coming soon at the Human Services Building in Westampton and the specialist is also able to bring professional development to you at your location, as long as you are able to host a workshop. The specialist offers resources, materials, mentoring and modeling to enhance your program. Using the appropriate environmental scale (ITERS-3 or FCCERS-R), the Infant Toddler Specialist will assist you with assessing your program and see where improvements can be made. You will be encouraged to take advantage of any grants and scholarships that are available.

Contact Kathryn Simone at 609-386-5800 Extension *5140 or at kasimone@bccap.org.

Family Engagement

The Family Engagement Specialist coordinates and facilitates Books, Balls and Blocks events to promote family engagement and education, and provides support to families, helping them thrive and therefore reducing the risk of child abuse and neglect. Families are supported and encouraged to attend parent cafes, focus groups and other activities to inform, educate and solicit feedback and input. Through these activities, caregivers can learn about and assess their child’s development. The Family Engagement Specialist works closely with early childhood systems and key partners and serves as a resource to the CCR&R regarding community events and activities.

Contact Susan Lass at 609-386-5800 ext: 5148

or at slass@bccap.org

 

Family Child Care Registration

The process to become a registered Family Child Care provider in Burlington County is temporarily on hold, as the trainings and home inspections are not being conducted at this time. Please check back at a later date for more information.

BCAP administers Family Child Care (FCC) Registration for residents of Burlington County. Our early childhood professionals perform home inspections and provide technical assistance at the provider’s home.  Registered Family Child Care providers can accept state subsidy payments, are included in BCAP’s referral database, and have access to 12 hours of training per year specific to family child care (state regulations require 20 hours over the three years of registration, in order to renew).

Interested individuals must complete the following:

  • Attend a 2-hour Orientation
  • Application
  • Criminal Conviction Disclosure(s)
  • Provider Health Examination Form
  • Two References
  • Child Abuse Record Information (CARI) Form
  • Attend an 10-hour Pre-Service Training
  • Become CPR/First Aid Certified
  • Pay a $25.00 registration fee, at the time of home inspection (click here for the home inspection checklist)

Orientations are held the first Thursday of every month, 6:30-8:30pm at the Human Services Building (795 Woodlane Road) in Westampton.

For more information about becoming a Family Child Care Provider please contact our Quality & Education Coordinator, Sue Fenick, at 609-336-5800 X5132 or at sfenick@bccap.org.

To view the State’s website on becoming a provider, follow this link:  http://www.childcarenj.gov/Providers/How-to-Become-a-Provider

E-Child Care (ECC)

Below is important information regarding E-Child Care for centers, family child care providers, and family friend and neighbor providers:

BCAP is hosting E-Child Care Open House every 2nd Wednesday of the month from 9:00 am- 4:00 pm. For more information please contact our Consumer Education Resource Specialist, Christine Morrison at chmorrison@bccap.org or call 609-386-5800, x5144.

Child and Adult Care Food Program

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a USDA program which makes reimbursements to FCC providers for nutritious meals/snacks served to children in care.  The requirements include a Family Child Care provider Certificate of Registration, children in care, and trainings/monitorings for compliance.  Contact Maria Romero of The Children’s Home Society of NJ (Ocean County) at 732-557-9633 x170 or at mromero@chsofnj.org.

Director’s Meetings

Here in Burlington County, all child care center-based programs are encouraged to participate in our monthly Directors Meetings. This is a wonderful opportunity for child care professionals to learn new initiatives, receive program updates and also to dialogue and network with colleagues. Meeting notices are e-mailed with agendas.
Click here to view the latest notice.

Family Child Care Provider’s Professional Learning Community (PLC)

The Family Child Care Providers Professional Learning Community is focused with a mission of meeting regularly and sharing expertise to collaborate for the social, emotional, and academic growth of each child, through quality and purposeful educational experiences in and out of the Family Child Care home. Our goal is to enhance our effectiveness as professionals and develop a powerful approach and strategy for change and improvement.

Please contact Michelle Burress for more information at: familychildcarePLC@gmail.com.

 

Suspension and Expulsion

Closure Dates

Child Care Providers that participate in the subsidy program are eligible for 22 closure dates per fiscal year. It is the provider’s responsibility to request closure dates within the 13 day back swipe period as they are not entered automatically. Please contact Chris Morrison at chmorrison@bccap.org for further guidance with this process.

E-blasts

BCAP communicates regularly with the providers in our community by e-mail to ensure that important information about new initiatives, health and safety and professional development opportunities is shared in a timely manner. In order to receive the latest updates, please make sure that we have your most recent and reliable e-mail address. Update your information by calling (609) 386-5800 Ext 5144 or email Chris Morrison at chmorrison@bccap.org.

NJ Parent Link

The homepage for NJ Parent Link provides information for the parents of NJ. NJ Parent Link is a portal for Federal, State, and Community resources.
Click here to visit the website.

Virtua Mobile Services Program

Thanks to the Virtua Mobile Services Program, at least 40 children have received Dental Screening while under care at their Child Care Center!   This is a fantastic program that provides health screenings to children between 6 weeks to 5 years.   While visiting the child friendly office on wheels, the children are provided a basic dental screening and a goody bag of dental essentials.   We are very excited to partner with Virtua in order to offer general health support for the children in our community.   We look forward to the upcoming Developmental Screening and Mobil Flu Clinics.   Hope to see you there!!

Contact Virtua to arrange a visit for one of the following services:

  • Dental Screening
  • Developmental Screening
  • Flu Clinic
  • Lead Screening
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