3 New Child Dashboard Indicators
With the recent quarterly update there are 3 new dashboard indicators. These new indicators are: Domestic Violence Crisis Calls, Licensed Early Childcare Centers, and High Quality Childcare Centers. Let’s get to know these indicators a little more…
Domestic Violence Crisis Calls
The data for this indicators is provided by the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) of North Central Indiana. The Crisis Call Center is a service that they provide to help victims of domestic violence and other safety concerns to find needed resources, services, and attention. The Child Dashboard will be tracking the number of calls to their call center as a way to gauge family stability, need for emergency resources, and exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences. The YWCA is supplied the Child Dashboard with the total number of calls made to the Crisis Call Center, and the trend information will be made using the previous quarter’s data. The goal is to observe a decrease in the total number of calls compared to the previous quarter.
Licensed Early Childcare Centers
Early Learning Connection (ELC) has provided us the Child Dashboard with information tracking the number of childcare centers that are licensed through the State of Indiana. Licensed centers generally have to complete several inspections and trainings online in order to be an approved center. An inspection includes a safety check and a general nutritional review to help ensure that the centers are equipped to safely support children. The Child Dashboard will be tracking the number of childcare centers in Elkhart County that are licensed, and then comparing the current quarter to the previous quarter to observe the trend direction. The goal is to observe an increase in Licensed Early Childcare Centers compared to the previous quarter.
High Quality Childcare Centers
Early Learning Connection (ELC) has also provided us the Child Dashboard with information tracking the number of high quality childcare care centers in the State of Indiana. High quality centers are ranked and evaluated using Paths to QUALITY, a state ranking system that evaluates each participating center for 4 levels. The levels are classified as: Health and Safety (level 1), Learning Environment (level 2), Planned Curriculum (level 3), and National Accreditation (level 4). To be considered ‘High Quality’ the centers must achieve at least a 3 or 4 level on Paths to QUALITY. The Child Dashboard will be tracking the total number of childcare centers that achieve a level 3 or 4, and will be comparing each quarter to the previous one to observe a trend direction. The goal is to observe an increase in High Quality Childcare Centers compared to the previous quarter.