The Greenville Housing Authority has partnered with Greenville First Steps to create a training and support program for in-home child care providers.
The pilot program aims to establish 10 home-based child care centers in local communities that currently lack access to affordable, high-quality care. South Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral, the Palmetto Shared Services Alliance and other community partners are also collaborating on the project.
“This program is about working together to find answers to some of the key challenges facing our community,” said Derek Lewis, executive director of Greenville First Steps. “Child care is a major barrier to people in the workforce. This is part of the solution.”
Read more about home-based child care
To kick off the program, the housing authority identified a cohort of 10 individuals interested in becoming licensed in-home child care providers. More than 45 people applied for the program’s first cohort.
Jenneh Jones, the agency’s director of Moving to Work Family Self-Sufficiency-Economic Mobility, said the housing authority is excited to have the first 10 participants screened and ready to begin this training program. The cohort will participate in 10 weeks of free orientation and training to be child care providers.
Following the training, the program participants will get their homes ready to be used as child care centers and obtain licensing from the South Carolina Department of Social Services. Greenville First Steps plans to provide up to $4,000 for the new providers to purchase materials and supplies.
The final phase of the pilot program will be the launch of the new home-based child care centers. Providers will create print and online resources to recruit clients with assistance from Greenville First Steps.
“Child care is one of our community’s biggest barriers to gainful employment,” Jones said. “What better way to overcome this barrier than to provide an opportunity for entrepreneurship and child care at the same time?”
