2009-07-10 06:19:31 -
According to a report by Policy Analysis for California Education, just one in seven California parents succeed in finding an opening for their young child at a preschool or child care center, and that access is shrinking in major counties, including Orange County. As such, many child care services are offered through small home-based enterprises. For Vietnamese-speaking parents who may want their child care provider to also speak Vietnamese, finding trained providers is getting a little bit easier thanks to the efforts of Santa Ana College. On Thursday, July 16, at 6:00 p.m., Santa Ana College (SAC) graduates the 2009 class of 35 trained child care providers in its child care training program tailor-made for Vietnamese-speaking providers. The graduation ceremony is scheduled for the courtyard of Santa Ana College’s Centennial Child Development Center located at 2900 W. Edinger Ave. in Santa Ana. Dr. Erlinda J. Martinez,
Santa Ana College president, and Trustee Larry Labrado, vice president of the Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees, are slated to speak. Vietnamese interpretation will be available.
The cohort of soon-to-be child care providers has just completed a twelve-week training program offered bilingually in English and Vietnamese. The program prepared participants to meet California's childcare licensing requirements while incorporating traditional Vietnamese songs, games, stories, and cultural celebrations. In the 80 hours of training, topics covered included small business operation, including the development of a business plan, and instruction about child development and age-appropriate activities. In addition, participants were acquainted with the administrative requirements set by the state. To meet current legal requirements, all participants completed 15 hours of health training in pediatric CPR, pediatric first aid, infectious diseases, and prevention of childhood injuries.
“There are a lot of unlicensed child care providers in the community,” said My Le Pham, an instructor with the SAC child care provider training program. “Thanks to this program, we have been able to educate people about state licensing requirements and help participants understand age-appropriate activities and behaviors. Our students have been very motivated to learn as much as possible and, despite working full-time, have been with us for our twice weekly sessions. It’s wonderful!”
After completing the program and becoming licensed, graduates of the program can be added to the roster of providers of Children's Home Society, the resource and referral agency for Orange County. Some may choose to become home-based child care providers while others may pursue further education in child development or simply be better parents.
Among Thursday’s graduates is 59-year-old Thanh Nhan Huynh of Santa Ana. Huynh appreciated the classes being offered in Vietnamese for those who did not know English. “This program gave us a chance for an education that we wouldn’t have otherwise had,” said Huynh. “I really enjoyed learning child development and how children act and behave and finding out about the forms and information I will need to open a family child care.” Huynh continued, “The students in the program wanted to learn to benefit their children and grandchildren. If they were in Vietnam, they wouldn’t go to school to learn about child care and rearing.”
The classes were offered free; students paid a $40 material charge for the required first aid/CPR class. Funding for the program was provided by a Housing and Urban Development Grant (HUD) through the Hispanic Serving Institutions Assisting Communities Program (HSIAC). This was the second HSIAC grant received by SAC. The first grant helped create the Santa Ana College Microenterprise Center for Child Care Providers to serve Spanish-speaking residents. The program succeeded in increasing the number of home-based childcare providers among low- and moderate-income Hispanic residents. In nine years, more than 750 students have completed the program.
Training is set to start again on September 29 for Vietnamese-speaking and on September 22 for Spanish-speaking child care providers. Interested community residents may add their names to the waiting lists for both programs. For more information, please contact the Centennial Education Center Child Development Center at (714) 241-5739 after September 1.
About Rancho Santiago Community College District
The mission of the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) is to respond to the educational needs of an ever-changing community and to provide programs and services that reflect academic excellence. Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College are public community colleges of RSCCD, which serve the residents of Anaheim Hills, East Garden Grove, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Villa Park. Both colleges provide education for academic transfer and careers, courses for personal and professional development, customized training for business and industry, and programs to train nurses, firefighters and law enforcement personnel.
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