ELEVATE:
a Quality Support System
Please take a moment to read this welcome letter from Dr. Chad Allgood, Director of the Division of Early Childhood Care and Development at the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
ELEVATE: a Quality Support System Welcome Letter from Chad
Dear Child Care Community,
Welcome to ELEVATE: a Quality Support System for Mississippi’s child care and early childhood education system! We are excited to share how this program is designed to benefit you, your child, and child care providers across our state.
What is ELEVATE?
ELEVATE is a program created to support child care centers and early education programs in Mississippi. Our goal is to help families and child care providers understand and promote high-quality early learning experiences for our youngest learners.
What Makes ELEVATE Different?
ELEVATE is more than just a program—it’s a partnership between child care providers and the Mississippi Department of Human Services’ MS Lift Network. Unlike other programs, ELEVATE offers personalized guidance and support at every step, helping child care centers provide the best care and education possible.
Why Does Quality Matter?
The first few years of a child’s life are the most important for brain development. In fact, by age five, a child’s brain is nearly fully grown! High-quality child care helps children learn, grow, and build a strong foundation for future success. Recognizing and supporting quality child care ensures that Mississippi’s children get the best start in life.
How Does ELEVATE Help Families?
ELEVATE makes it easier for parents to find and understand high-quality child care options. By participating in ELEVATE, child care programs are committed to providing excellent care and education in safe, nurturing, and engaging environments. This means parentscan feel confident that their child is receiving the best early learning experiences.
How Does ELEVATE Support Child Care Providers?
ELEVATE provides child care professionals with valuable resources, including personalized coaching, group training, on-site assistance, and ongoing professional development. This support helps providers grow and improve, ultimately benefiting the children in their care.
We are thrilled to be part of this journey with families and our child care and early childhood education partners. By working together, we can ensure Mississippi’s children receive the high-quality early education they deserve. Thank you for being a part of ELEVATE!
Preparing the littlest Mississippians to SOAR,
Dr. Chad Allgood
Director, Division of Early Childhood Care and Development
What is ELEVATE?
ELEVATE is Mississippi’s Quality Support System for child care and early childhood education. ELEVATE is designed to provide families and child care programs with the support needed to establish and recognize what early childhood education should look like for our littlest Mississippians, our children.
What makes it different?
ELEVATE was designed to ensure participating child care facilities receive personalized guidance during every stage of the Quality Support System implementation process. ELEVATE is a partnership between the state of Mississippi Department of Human Services’ MS Lift Network and child care programs statewide. This partnership is built upon the foundation of solid, consistent support from the MS Lift Network and input by child care programs.
Why is quality and recognition of quality important?
High quality child care is essential in meeting the needs of Mississippi families. In the first year of life a child’s brain doubles in size. By age five, the human brain is nearly full grown. The excellent care being provided throughout the state positively contributes to the growth and development of Mississippi’s children. Recognizing child care programs for their quality programs highlights the importance of this stage in human development and contribute to children outcomes.
How will ELEVATE help parents and families with young children?
ELEVATE provides parents and families with an accessible and easy to understand platform that clearly identifies the types of quality child care programming available. This allows families to make more informed decisions about which type of quality programming best meets their needs. Young children in participating child care programs are receiving high quality instruction in environments that have been evaluated and supported through the ELEVATE Quality Support System.
How will ELEVATE support child care and early childhood education?
ELEVATE is a holistic system designed to provide personalized support and guidance for participating child care programs. These supports include one-on-one coaching, group coaching, on-site technical assistance, and on-going professional development to ensure best practices are being implemented. All of which ELEVATE the profession of child care and early childhood education!
Who will be the one making decisions?
Child care and early childhood education programmatic decisions are made by the child care providers for themselves. Decisions regarding ELEVATE are made by the MS Lift support team using feedback and data collected through the ELEVATE process.
