Indiana

Classes are accepted by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Office of Early Childhood to meet the requirements of annual clock hours of In-Service Training.

What childcare training resources exist in Indiana?

The Indiana Department of Family and Social Services Administration Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning (OECOSL) oversees all services, programs, and facilities pertaining to early childhood and out of school learning. OECOSL is also the home to all of Indiana childcare professional development and training needs. While there are many great tools available to childcare professionals from the OECOSL, here’s two that we’ve found to be very useful.

The Indiana Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning Pathways strives to help early childhood practitioners plan professional development training, education, and career development goals in order to be well-prepared to educate the needs of infants, children, youth, and families in Indiana. This career pathways recognizes and records the hours of formal education, formal training, and the credentials of early childhood educators, school age and youth workers. The career pathway encourages the early childhood workforce to develop new skill, strategies, and techniques to provide higher quality education in their childcare facility.

Paths to Quality is Indiana’s statewide quality rating system for early care and education programs. This free resource is often used to help families make more informed decisions when choosing a childcare provider but can also be used to help early care and education providers improve the quality of their programs. As an early care professional, Paths to Quality provides incentives to help advance to the next level of quality and also coaching to provide motivation throughout the process.

How many hours of annual in-service training are required in Indiana?

According to the Indiana Association for Child Care Resource & Referral and the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration: The ABC’s of a Child Care Business revised 2010, staff members must complete twelve (12) hours of in-service training annually.