The Cutting Edge

By Freddie Hamilton

I have long believed that information and knowledge leads to empowerment. The more information we have, the greater our ability to make informed decisions about our own lives and to help those that we love. When we have good reliable information we can plan accordingly. There are many changes afoot in the reshaping and delivery of child care services in New York City. We expect that over the next two to three years the landscape will look completely different for the child care community. But in the end the quality and image of child care will be directly reflective of how much we, in the child care community, participate in shaping this new reality. As Sweet Honey in the Rock sings so eloquently,” We are the ones that we’ve been waiting for”.

ChildCareBusinessConnections.com/blog will try to serve as a connector of the dots and the bridger of the gaps in information for the child care community. We will provide information and present a relevant forum for stakeholders to share information and concerns.
More importantly, we will support and encourage you to see your child care program as the business that it is. No matter how noble our intentions, if we don’t watch the bottom line to maximize our income and reduce our expenditures; if we don’t develop the business, marketing and management skills necessary to run a successful business; if we don’t understand financing and money management; if we don’t understand the regulations, policies and the politics; if we don’t know how to access funding and resources, then we won’t be there to help the children and families that we love.

Changes afoot for Child Care Service Delivery

From time to time we check out the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) website to see what’s on the horizon. The most recent look was pretty startling. The Rethinking Child Care initiative is in full swing with promises of a full roll out by September 2009. Although many questions are answered on the ACS site, many more are not. The important thing to remember is that this is a work in progress. As with any new endeavor, rules and policies may be evolving for quite some time. In addition there may be differing interpretations of how things should be implemented. Both center based and private centers should pay close attention to this initiative because it will change the face of child care as we currently know it. One key here is automation. I believe that the child care system, in terms of referrals, enrollment, attendance, payment and other processes will be fully automated; similar to the way that the child welfare system is automated. Those who have programs that are ready to go from day one will have a competitive advantage in plugging into the new system. In future blogs we will discuss some of the other things that programs can do to be prepared for the changes that are coming. Of course every change brings opportunity to those who are alert to the possibilities.

Personal Development

There is an old but true saying that if you want to keep getting the same results…. Keep on doing what you are doing! For most of us becoming motivated to get better at what we do is always a challenge. However, time and energy invested in self improvement is recognized as one of the main ingredients of a life well lived and pays off in many ways. For instance, we know that spiritual growth has both tangible and intangible benefits. The tangible benefits are usually observable by others from our positive attitude and by how we treat our neighbors and loved ones. The intangible benefit may come from the peace and confidence that we experience when we believe that our lives are guided by a higher power. Similarly, formal education or training is only the beginning of a lifetime of learning. When we invest time and effort in expanding our knowledge about our work or about the world in general, we benefit by becoming more open to new ideas and new people. Often it propels us to better living and economic conditions. Continuous learning is particularly important for those of us who are role models for children. Sometimes we may even learn a new and better way of doing something or a new approach to an old problem. Each week in this blog we will try to address the issue of personal growth and development. Hopefully through your responses and comments we can create a forum for sharing new knowledge about personal development.


Thanks for Logging on,
Freddie