SAN DIEGO, Feb. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Child Care industry continues to suffer a major blow as providers and parents struggle to adapt to constantly changing health and safety guidelines due to the latest COVID variant.
Family Child Care homes - which make up a large portion of the industry - have been the silent voices of this paralyzed sector. These micro-businesses have had little resources to help boost their programs, although they have been primarily responsible for stepping up and supporting essential workers through the pandemic.
Meanwhile, larger Child Care Centers continue to grapple with staff recruitment and retention, staggered enrollments, and closures, causing further chaos in an already under-supported and under-funded industry.
In an effort to empower early childhood educators, TOOTRiS, an on-demand Child Care platform, has partnered with the National Child Care Association (NCCA), which promotes the success of licensed providers in quality early care and education through professional development, advocacy and community engagement.
The partnership will give Child Care providers across the U.S. access to free software tools and full program automation, including payments, which will help relieve them of administrative burdens so they can focus more of their time improving the quality of their programs and boosting enrollments.
"Historically, there has been little if any investment made in providers. Most resources are directed towards helping low-income families subsidize the cost of Child Care, which as helpful as it may be for a segment of the population, it does not solve the Child Care supply issue," said TOOTRiS CEO Alessandra Lezama. "We need to invest in our Early Childhood Education workforce to stimulate the profession and help increase the quality and overall supply of Child Care programs in our country."
NCCA member providers will have the opportunity to create free profiles on the TOOTRiS platform, giving their programs more visibility. TOOTRiS - which connects providers, parents and employers in real time - also partners with businesses to offer employer-sponsored Child Care, which helps providers ensure they have full enrollments, maximizing their financial success.
Under the partnership, TOOTRiS will leverage NCCA's accreditations to help raise Child Care industry standards. The NCCA's parent organization, The National Early Childhood Program Accreditation, is one of the top accreditation organizations in the US.
"This has been one of the most unprecedented times in the history of Child Care. Our partnership with TOOTRiS will bring much-needed resources and a more unified voice to the industry," said Cindy Lehnhoff, NCCA Director. "TOOTRiS is very innovative and can really help the industry as it goes through a lot of change and transition. TOOTRiS offers a lot of hope and people need hope right now."
The partnership is also expected to stimulate the Child Care sector by boosting the number of licensed providers, ensuring all children have access to quality and affordable Child Care.
"The pandemic will continue to take people out of the industry. Couple that with early childhood education being one of the lowest-paid careers, and you have a crisis," Lehnhoff said. "We can change that by leveraging the TOOTRiS platform and marketing to those who are passionate about starting their own Child Care programs. The time is now."
Visit tootris.com for more information.
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