Enhancing Quality in Family Day Care

This peer learning project will explore partners’ examples of inspiring and effective policies and implementation in family day care (FDC) governance and management systems, workforce professionalisation and development, and recruitment and retention, to strengthen the provision of accessible, affordable, high-quality FDC
This aim will be achieved through 3 LTTA (Learning, Teaching, Training Activities) and the development and dissemination of a final report and documentation detailing the learning arising.
Project objectives:
1. Identify and explore effective approaches to developing competent multi-level systems in FDC governance and quality management, enabling professionalisation and workforce development, and generating FDC recruitment and retention strategies, to strengthen FDC
2. Share the learning with target groups and stakeholders responsible for multi-level policymaking and VET infrastructures, to influence policy objectives and actions
3. Increase the capacity of partner organisations to advocate for effective policies and practices that enable high-quality FDC systems and services
4. Explore further partnerships opportunities and ways to engage family day carers in EU cooperation and learning activities Learning Outcomes/Results
•Project partners and target groups will demonstrate improved knowledge of effective policy options and instruments for FDC systems development, workforce professionalisation and development, and recruitment and retention due to participating in the LTTAs
•Target groups and stakeholders will engage with their learning achieved through LTTA and final project output dissemination
•Project partners will demonstrate an increased capacity to articulate and advocate for policies and implementation that strengthen the provision of accessible, affordable, high-quality FDC
•Project partners will be more open and committed to transnational EU cooperation and exchange and would consider engaging in a further EU project that includes family day carers.
This project links with the Erasmus + Programme priorities as in the partner countries socially and economically disadvantaged families, and children with special needs, are great users of FDC, in the Irish case, more than centre-based services. Yet there remain challenges in all 3 partner countries to supporting the workforce in FDC to meet the rights and needs of vulnerable children and families and progress inclusion and understand diversity. The workforce can lack the competence in inclusive pedagogy due to non-participation in relevant CPD.
Family day carers, largely female, have poor pay and conditions: Professionalisation is crucial.
While countries like Denmark have plans and management systems in place to pursue inclusive practice, and support access for a diverse population of children and families, strategies and guidelines from municipalities remain inadequate to accommodate children and families from non-standard backgrounds - exclusion is widespread.