What Do Providers Need To Do Their Best? Pt. 1: Peer Support

While love of what they do and the children they care for and their families keep many providers in the profession for decades, respect for their expertise - whether learned in a classroom, at a workshop, from a mentor, passed down through their family, or gained over years of experience - is a simple need so many in the child care workforce are missing. Among those who have been rated in QCC, none felt the process acknowledged their expertise or respected them as professionals and none use their rating to attract families to their program. Some were so discouraged by their rater’s first visit that they contemplated leaving the profession.

Despite QCC’s gaps and misalignment with parents’ and providers’ values, child care providers don’t let these barriers get in the way of providing high-quality care. They love participating in quality improvement programs. They yearn to feel connected to others in their profession, and participating in their local QCC allows them opportunities for those connections.

In this episode, you'll hear from Tessie Ragan, a family child care provider in Rosamond, California, and Preeti Sadhu, a family child care provider in San Diego, California about their experiences engaging with Quality Counts CA and other forms of peer support.

Hosted by Salaine McCullough. Engineering by Maximo Planes. Produced by Gretchen Howard. Interviews by Paola Marizán. Music by Chad Crouch. Inspired by research by Keisha Nzewi.

This series is made by the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, and made possible by support from First 5 LA. You can follow the Network on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube at CARRNetwork to stay up-to-date on child care news in California. If you would like to learn more about the research that went into The Love Connection and read the full report, visit https://rrnetwork.org/policy/the-love-connection.