Circle Time
Support for Early Childhood Businesses and Parents
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National Nutrition Month
March was National Nutrition Month®. This year’s theme was Celebrate a World of Flavors, which challenged individuals to try foods and recipes from diverse cultures, or try new flavor combinations. While National Nutrition Month® comes once a year, incorporating nutritious and diverse foods for ourselves and our loved ones throughout the year can be challenging.
If you need ideas to diversify your place, check out the five flavorful recipes that USDA Team Nutrition provided during CACFP Week for each theme of the day. Celebrate a World of Flavors by choosing one of the recipes to try in your facility. Let us know which one you try!
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Virtual Spring Head Start Conference
April 11-14
The SC State Head Start Association (SCSHSA) and the SC Community Action Partnership (SCCAP) will host the 2022 Annual Statewide Spring Virtual Training Conference April 11 - April 14, 2022. During the event, hundreds of community action, weatherization, and Head Start employees, professionals, and community partners will attend the 2022 conference expecting to hear the latest information in their fields of service and to improve their skills. For more information, please click here https://www.scacap.org/statewide-conferences.php. Or to register, click below.
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Conferences, Trainings & Support: CCR&R
South Carolina Child Care Resource & Referral (SC CCR&R) is a team of early care professionals that supports families and child care providers. If you know someone who needs help finding child care, or if you are a child care provider interested in coaching and/or improving the quality of your center, send us a web referral.
Check us out at https://www.sc-ccrr.org.
Follow us on Facebook and SC Endeavors for upcoming conferences and trainings.
CCR&R Facebook
SC Endeavors
Director’s Forum
Leslie Hayes, The Hayes Approach - Top 10 Mistakes Managers Make
April 5th, 2022, 12:30pm
This is a Director’s Forum for Q&A, this is not a training
To register, click below or contact Linda Doherty at DOHERTY@email.sc.edu for help.
Director’s 103
April 19th, 2022, 12:30pm – 2:30pm
Director’s 101
May 18, 2022, 12:30pm – 2:30pm
Save the Date!
SC CCR&R Upstate Rising to New Levels: Aiming High, hosted by Lowcountry
May 20th, & 21st, 2022
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Child Care Licensing Staff Begin the NARA Credentialing Process
Child Care Licensing is excited to have 10 staff members begin the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) Credentialing process. NARA is a professional association that represents human care licensing fields. Earning a NARA credential means a person has learned and demonstrated the ability to correctly apply child care licensing requirements and best practices while regulating child care providers throughout South Carolina.
The rigorous process to obtain a NARA credential involves each person completing all four credentialing courses and receiving a required score on the test for each. Additionally, each person must complete and receive a required score on a comprehensive final exam that is submitted to NARA along with a supervisor recommendation and a signed Code of Ethics Pledge. The NARA credentialing process represents Child Care Licensing’s continued commitment to keeping the children in child care in South Carolina safe.
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Division Safety Tip
Baby Formula Recalls
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Important: Recall of Some Baby Formulas
Child Care Licensing is sharing important baby formula recall information with you. Abbott who makes the formula brands Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare has issued a recall to some of its powder formulas. For more information, and to determine if you or your parents have the recalled formula, click below. You may also call toll-free at 800-986-8540 for recalled formula information.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website has information about this recall, click here.
Thank you for keeping our children safe.
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Division Spotlight
Remember When: ABC Quality 30th Anniversary Celebration Continues and ARP Testimonial
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Remembering When: ABC Quality Reflections in the Past 30 Years
As ABC Quality continues to celebrate 30 years of providing quality child care services throughout 2022 in the state, current and former ABC Quality staff members reflect on their experiences working in the program.
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Kitty Casoli Coleman (pictured)
“Congratulations to South Carolina’s ABC Quality Care Program on their 30th Anniversary of providing child care services to low-income families and improving the quality of care to promote children’s healthy development and learning. It was an exciting time for me in the 90’s working with fabulous bosses, wonderful co-workers, other agencies, the federal government on
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the national and regional level, etc., to develop and implement a quality child care program and an innovative payment system for child care services in South Carolina.
To everyone currently involved in SC’s ABC Quality Child Care program, thank you and keep up the wonderful work you are doing for our state’s children and families!"
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Mark Orf (not pictured)
“When I began working with the CCDF/CCDBG in 1992, I had no experience in child care or early education. What I found was a very large group with a passion for both. The group was composed of a variety of people including child care providers, educators, and parents. For other groups it provided an opportunity for dependent families to become self-sufficient. When a program has that much support, failure is not an option. It was a lot of fun – ok, most of the time. Congratulations on 30 years of service to South Carolina!!!!"
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American Rescue Plan Testimonial
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March 11, 2022 marked one year that the federally mandated American Rescue Plan (ARP) was signed into law, which included funds to stabilize and improve the nation's child care sector. Through the South Carolina Building Blocks Grant, the Division of Early Care and Education has used these funds to support child care programs in the state. Ruth Buckmire, owner of HIS Day Care in Fountain Inn was able to fund every aspect of their program, from providing children with healthy meals, to financially supporting staff
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members through pay increases. So far, 75% of SC child care providers have applied for the SC Building Blocks grant, with efforts to add more in the future. To learn more about the grant, click below.
#SCQualityCare
#BetterTogether
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