Types of Child Care and Safety Oversight

If you’re searching for child care in South Carolina you’ll come across five types of providers. How they are overseen by licensing professionals varies according to state law. Learn about each provider type and steps the state can take to help ensure child safety.

Evaluating Quality by ABC Quality Standards

Now that you know more about the types of providers, learn about the different quality indicators a program may have. The more positive quality indicators, the higher quality care. Here are the quality standards ABCQuality reviewers look for when evaluating programs seeking to become ABC Quality rated.

program administration & structure

• Maintain Child Care Licensing’s adult-to-child ratio regulations in all classrooms.
• Provide direct supervision of children indoors and outdoors at all times.
• Availability of parent handbook with program policies and procedures for parents.
• Inclusion policies that adhere to ADA Guidelines and include nondiscrimination and confidentiality statements.
• Utilize staff and parent program evaluations to inform written plans for continuous quality improvement.

Staff Education & Professional Development

• Completion of 15-hour South Carolina Health and Safety Pre-ServiceCurrent Pediatric First Aid and Infant/Child CPR Certification.
• Staff with diplomas, certificates and degrees in early childhood education or related fields.
• Provide annual training in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, child development and social-emotional development.
• Staff with work experience in an early childhood education setting

Child Well-being

• Children receive healthy and well-balanced meals that meet nutritional requirements by following the USDA’s Child Adult Care Food Program meal pattern.
• Daily schedule reflects frequency and amount of time provided for active outdoor play.
• Collaboration with parents to plan developmentally appropriate strategies to support children with challenging behaviors.
• Refer children in need of social-emotional services in response to parents’ or caregivers’ concerns or requests.
• Policies in place that limit or eliminate suspension and expulsion of children.

Family Communication, Engagement and Cultural Competency

• Collect information about the child and family which includes family preferences regarding routine care and special accommodations.
• Communicate with families in multiple ways including a plan for daily communication between families and teachers. Examples are bulletin boards, newsletters, a website, email, or an open house.
• Multiple methods of support and engagement of families based on cultural needs and interests.
• Policies and practices in place to support needs of dual language learners in the classroom.
• Family and teacher conferences to discuss the child’s developmental progress, classroom and home experiences.

Intentional Teaching Practices

• Support emotional development of children through warm, trusting relationships with familiar, responsive teachers.
• Offer a variety of personal and meaningful interactions and literacy activities throughout the day to support language and literacy development.
• Guide children’s social skills while respecting each child’s development, culture, and abilities.
• Structured and organized to support individualized care for each child in group care.
• Provide hands-on experiences that support all areas of development which builds on children’s interests and encourage curiosity, exploration, and problem solving.
• Use space, materials and furnishings as resources for creating a safe, interesting, developmentally appropriate place for all children in both indoor and outdoor environments.