OC Partnership for Young Children report 1999

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Barriers to Serving Spanish Speaking Children in Child Care Eiizhteen of the 31 child care providers in our survey responded to the question "What is the most significant barrier to serving Spanish speaking children in your child care center /family child care home? Ten mentioned language or other communication barriers. Respondents also were asked to select from a list of barriers they had experienced in the past year while working with Spanish speaking parents and children. In addition to communication problems, 6 respondents said that parents could not afford the center /home rates, and 5 said that parents lacked regular or reliable transportation to the center /home. Four felt that children had experienced difficulty in adapting to the child care setting. "In terms of day care, some families expressed that it's difficult right now because there are a lot of families on the waiting list for financial assistance. Without that child care subsidy, they would have no way of paying for the day care. " - Sabrina Simon of Day Care Services Association, Los Ninos Task Force Member Child Care Providers' Responses to Serving Spanish Speaking Children Survey respondents were asked in which ways they have responded to the needs of Latino children and families in their settings Many of the providers did not complete this section of the survey, perhaps because they have not had Spanish speaking children enrolled in their centers or homes. However, of those who did provide this information, the most frequent response was that they have translated written materials into Spanish (8 responses). Seven centers or homes indicated that they have worked with these families by referring them to other community services, such as health services or schools. Using interpretation services has been tried in five child care settings. Five respondents also indicated that they have provided staff training in cultural competence. Although a small percentage of the responding centers and homes currently enroll Spanish speaking children, 13 of the 31 said that they have conducted outreach to Spanish speaking parents who need child care. By far the most cited means of outreach was relying on word of mouth advertising among parents, used by 10 respondents. Other significant methods include placing fliers in public places, grocery stores and doctor's offices, and advertising in English language publications (e.g. Carolina Parents), each cited by five respondents. Opportunities for Training Many of those surveyed said that they would like to receive training in ways to work with this population, despite the fact that few currently have Latino children in their child care settings. Respondents were asked to indicate the types of training they have received to better prepare them to work with Spanish speaking families, and whether they had interest in attending such training in the future. Twenty -one responded that they would like training on how to support young children learning English in the child care setting, and 18 indicated that they were interested in learning how to work with parents of second 14