Child Care Research Team
The Child Care Research Team (CCRT) at Yvonne and Schuyler Moore Child Development Research Center is a multidisciplinary team that utilizes tools from the fields of statistics, data science, education, public policy research and child psychology.
South Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Network
The South Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Network promotes school readiness and provides supports for children, families, and childcare providers through training, educational outreach, and research. Our staff engages with childcare providers throughout the state, including center- and family-based providers. They are also connected with several different state organizations and advisory boards exploring various kinds of supports to improve the infrastructure and quality of services that are broadly available to all children in South Carolina.
Our network of 15 quality/highly-trained coaches work with child-care providers throughout the state to provide training, on-site coaching and mentoring to improve and expand upon services provided to children and families. It also educates parents and other community members about quality child-care — what to look for in a good provider, how to find a good provider, and why it matters. Additionally, we are actively working with the South Carolina Department of Social Services and federal partners to explore state administrative data on child care services to document the effectiveness of services that are provided to children and families in our state, and to identify and contribute new knowledge and information to the field regarding appropriate supports for young children.
South Carolina Child Care Inclusion Collaborative
The South Carolina Child Care Inclusion Collaborative (SCIC) is funded through $700,000 annually in grant monies from the SC Department of Social Services Division of Early Care and Education. Through this program, Inclusion specialists work with child care providers to help them gain confidence and competence in meeting the needs of children with developmental delays or disabilities. Specialists visit child care centers throughout the state and provide specialized training to teachers, work side-by-side with them in the classroom to model best practices, and provide feedback based on observation. Through active collaboration with partnering agencies and organizations, we help child care providers stay connected with resources and opportunities to increase the quality of care and education provided to children and families in South Carolina. The SCIC also works in conjunction with the SC-CCRRN to provide parent education regarding how to identify quality child and individualized child care referral.
In addition, the SCIC staff is engaged in collaboration with multiple entities and organizations throughout the state related to early childhood care and education and early intervention/early childhood special education to promote inclusion and support system-building efforts to allow South Carolina’s children and families to thrive.
South Carolina Partnerships for Inclusion (SCPI)
In 2016, the CDRC was awarded a five-year contract funded through $143, 000 annually from the SC Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services. Through this project, we work with school districts throughout South Carolina to increase inclusive opportunities and school readiness skills for preschool children (ages 3-5) with Individualized Education Programs. Participating districts are provided technical assistance to develop cross-sector leadership teams to assess their current strengths and needs related to preschool inclusion and develop a five-year strategic plan outlining their goals and plans of action. Follow-up technical assistance is provided by SCPI staff to assist districts in the implementation of their plans.