We strive to connect parents with high quality child care, and to connect child care providers with as many resources as possible. These quality initiatives give our providers and parents more access to information on high quality child care and education.
Childcare Expansion Initiative
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has an initiative to build the supply of high-quality childcare across Texas! This initiative is referred to as the Childcare – Employer Partnership Initiative.
The initiative provides support to childcare businesses creating new capacity in partnership with local business to provide childcare for their employees.
Applications for businesses entering into employer partnerships are open until November 30, 2023. More information about child care-employer partnerships can be found on the TWC website and on the Childcare-Employer Partnership Guide found here.
Should you have additional questions, please feel free to contact April Slatter 806-350-1725
College Scholarships for Child Development Courses
Funding is available for SPRING 2024 scholarships for child development majors at Amarillo College. AC offers evening and online classes. Additionally, the child development classes you take can go towards the annual Child Care Regulation and Texas Rising Star (TRS) training hour requirements.
Eligible applicants MUST currently be employed at a Child Care Program (Home or Center-Based) who has an active CCS Provider Agreement with Workforce Solutions Panhandle.
If you are unsure of your eligibility, please contact April Slatter at 806-350-1725.
Texas Rising Star Program
Effective October 3, 2022, all CCS child care and early learning programs must participate in the Texas Rising Star program. In order to be a CCS provider, child care and early learning programs must:
- meet the Entry- Level designation point threshold; and
- attain at least a Two-Star certification level within 24 months
Across Texas, parents and families enroll their children in childcare programs, including center-based and home-based programs. Numerous research studies have shown that at-risk children who attend higher-quality childcare programs are more prepared for school entry than children who do not attend quality childcare programs.
Those providers that voluntarily achieve TRS provider certification, offering quality care that exceeds the State’s Minimum Child Care Licensing Standards for director and staff qualifications, caregiver-child interactions, age-appropriate curricula and activities, nutrition and indoor/outdoor activities, and parent involvement and education, are in a better position to contribute to the early development of children. As providers progress through the levels of TRS provider certification, they contribute progressively more to the development of the children they serve on a daily basis.
Learn more about the Texas Rising Star Program
Pre-K Partnerships
In November 2021, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) approved $26 million for the expansion of prekindergarten (pre-k) partnerships.
A pre-k partnership is a collaboration between a school district or charter school and one or more quality-rated* child care programs to provide high-quality care and education to eligible three- and four-year-old children.
*Child care programs must meet at least one of the five quality criteria in Texas Education Code §29.153(g) to be considered for a formal pre-k partnership.
Learn more about Pre-K Partnerships
National Early Childhood Program Accreditation
The National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA) supports the profession of early care and education by encouraging the availability of high-quality child care programs.
NECPA was established in 1991 to encourage quality and recognize excellence and promote reliable measures of quality in the early childhood field both nationally and abroad.
National Association for the Education of Young Children
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research.
NAEYC advances a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession and support all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children. The association comprises nearly 60,000 individual members of the early childhood community and more than 50 Affiliates, all committed to delivering on the promise of high-quality early learning. They work to achieve a collective vision: that all young children thrive and learn in a society dedicated to ensuring they reach their full potential.
Texas School Ready
Texas School Ready is a comprehensive preschool teacher training program combining a research-based, state-adopted curriculum with ongoing professional development and progress monitoring tools. The goal of this program is to help children be better prepared for school.
Learn more about Texas School Ready
Licensing Information for Child Care Providers
Chapter 42 of the Texas Human Resources Code requires the Health and Human Services Commission to regulate child care and child-placing activities in Texas and to create and enforce minimum standards.
