The Greenville Housing Authority and Greenville First Steps have graduated their first cohort of child care providers from a new training program. The program aims to establish 10 home-based child care centers in local communities that lack access to affordable, high-quality care.

Program Details

The pilot program was launched earlier this year in collaboration with the South Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral, the Palmetto Shared Service Alliance, and other community partners. The five graduates – Janella Bray, Cynthia Harrison, Lillie Allen, Evette Butler, and Shamaine Benson – completed 10 weeks of free orientation and training to become child care providers.

According to Jenneh Jones, director of The Greenville Housing Authority’s Moving to Work Family Self-Sufficiency Economic Mobility Program, this is a great opportunity for people who want to spark their entrepreneurial spirit. The graduates will now focus on preparing their homes for use as child care centers and obtaining licensing from the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

Greenville First Steps plans to provide the providers with up to $4,000 to purchase materials and supplies. Derek Lewis, executive director of Greenville First Steps, believes that home-based childcare can help create more opportunities across the board and that this program has a lot of potential to make a positive impact on the community.

South Carolina has roughly 221,690 children under the age of five with a potential need for child care, but only 206,520 licensed or registered child care spots available, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Original reporting: Greenville Journal — read the source article.