LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Saturday, Aug. 20, the Lake County Child Care Planning Council will launch the official Quality Rating Improvement System.

The Quality Rating and Improvement System, or QRIS, is a framework that utilizes tools and resources to access and then improve the quality of early learning programs, while also disseminating information about the level of quality to consumers.

A QRIS is based on a set of standards that describe the requirements center- and home-based programs must meet to qualify for a QRIS rating, the higher the quality the higher the rating.

A QRIS can assist early learning educators/providers with increased training, support and compensation; provide families information on the type of learning and care their young children receive; and inform policymakers and the public about the effectiveness of programs.

Currently 25 states have a statewide QRIS.

Center based and family child care homes that participate and climb the tiers of the rating matrix will be compensated generously from the QRIS Block Grant that was awarded in the amount of $166,000 a year for 3 years and the First5Impact grant that provides over $800,000 over the period of five years.

Sites can earn up to $5,000 for reaching Tier 5. Any site who participates will also be given a coach to help them reach and meet their goals. 

Burns Valley State Preschool and The Learning House were the first of two sites to participate last year.

Along with that group, currently Woodland Community College's Lake County Campus (formally Yuba Community College) Child Development program, Darcie’s Little Rascals and the Hillcrest House are working on their six-month growth plans to reach their tiers.

Sites that join and sign up will receive a $100 sign up incentive.

“The goal here is to increase the quality in early learning and child development,” said Lake County Child Care Planning Council Coordinator, Colleen Campbell. “Not only here in Lake County but throughout the US as well. These grants create incentives for sites and individuals to help raise the bar in early care and education.” 

In 2020 the Lake County Child Care Planning Council must meet a minimum of 38 sites in the QRIS to stay within their goals originally created when the grant was written.

The Lake County Child Care Planning Council has been very successful over the past few years with grant incentive and stipend programs.

This past July the council successfully completed a five-year Steps to Quality program where participants were rewarded with stipends of up to $2,100 for completing a series of hours in child development, and California Department of Education set standards.

Over the course of five years a total of $172,000 was given out.

Anyone who is interested in QRIS is encouraged to attend the forum on Aug. 20.

Session times are 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.

The forum will be held in the Kesey Room at the Lake County Office of Education, located at 1152 S. Main St. in Lakeport.

If you are a family child care home provider, private or public preschool employee, any employee or other person involved in the early child education field you are highly encouraged to attend. Do not miss this great opportunity.