The New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Family Development (DFD), provides resources and supports to address the child care needs of families and support providers and programs servicing families that need early care and education services. One of these supports is through the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System, Grow NJ Kids, in which participating programs have access to technical assistance to help improve quality in their early care programs and Family Child Care settings. In 2016, the Early Childhood Leadership Institute (ECLI) started providing professional development to Technical Assistant Specialists within the four TA Centers. ECLI also provides professional development to Quality Improvement Specialists within the Child Care and Resource and Referral Agencies, Family Engagement Specialists and Lead Trainers within Grow NJ Kids including Orientation, reflective sessions and ongoing training. ECLI also provides training for TAS Supervisors and coaching support of TAS Communities of Practice. Training content is created based upon feedback, survey data and the individual needs of the system, utilizing an implementation science framework and serving as a mechanism for building instate capacity for the coaching and mentoring of early care and education programs.
