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							Dear Child Care Provider,

          On Long Island, there are more than 5000 infants and toddlers in licensed and registered child care
programs. Caring for infants and toddlers is an awesome responsibility. Those working with infants and toddlers need
to have access to information and support in order to expand their skills.

          With this in mind, we are happy to announce that The Long Island Infant Toddler Resource Center is now
offering an additional component of service specific to Family Child Care Providers.

And so we bring you, The Long Island Infant Toddler Mentoring Project for Family Child Care.

The Long Island Infant Toddler Mentoring Project is designed so that infant toddler caregivers working in family
based programs will receive intensive one-to-one, on-site support from the Infant Toddler Specialist, Dianne Galante.

          Working with Dianne, the caregivers will use the Harms Clifford Family Child Care Environmental Rating
Scale (FCCERS-R) to focus on program strengths as well as those areas that need attention. The FCCERS- R gives
caregivers the opportunity to identify where improvements can occur. Together, the caregivers and Dianne will
determine the best course of action for working toward best practices in a non-threatening, supportive relationship.

Due to the intensive nature of the Mentoring Project and the limited funding available, this project can only be made
available to four registered / licensed programs within Suffolk County. For this reason, we ask that only those
programs committed to this type of work apply. Priority will be given to registered / licensed programs that currently
provide care to infants and toddlers, in addition to:
           Have an excellent compliance history with NYS OCFS
           Participate in the Child and Adult Food Care Program ( CACFP)
           Are willing to commit to the project’s responsibilities

Programs will receive a package of professional resources, materials and equipment that will enhance their program.
There is also limited funding to support professional development of providers for pursuing an Infant Toddler CDA,
National Association of Family Child Care Accreditation (NAFCC) or other college level coursework.

Please contact:

                            Dianne Galante
                            Infant Toddler Specialist
                            Long Island Infant Toddler Resource Center
                            Child Care Council of Suffolk, Inc.
                             www.childcaresuffolk.org
                             631-462-0303
                             dgalante@childcaresuffolk.org