Washington

For trainings in this category to count towards Washington’s training requirements, attendees must go to the link below and complete the Continuing Education Proposal.

https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/ContinuingEducationProposalGuide.pdf

What is MERIT?

MERIT is the early childhood registry for professional development in Washington. MERIT is a service provided by the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. MERIT provides resources to professional development training opportunities and licensing tools in one centralized website in order to support early childhood educators in Washington. MERIT keeps track of education, trainings, qualifications, background checks, and assist with finding training opportunities. Washington MERIT offers a wide variety of childcare training courses. Each course listed on the MERIT system has been approved or is offered by an approved trainer or organization.

Washington Childcare Training Tools

While there are many great tools available to childcare professionals, here’s one that we’ve found to be very useful.

The ‘Find Training’ tab in MERIT allows users to search for trainings using specific filters. Users can look through the training calendar filtering by training delivery method, course title, state approved trainer, associated organization, and so much more.

How many training hours are needed?

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services Minimum Preservice Qualifications and Annual Ongoing Training Hours for Center Teaching Roles in 2011, early childhood professionals in Washington are required to complete a minimum of ten (10) clock hours of professional development annually.