Virginia Star Quality Initiative Family Child Care Home Provider Demonstration Pilot Evaluation Report

The Virginia Star Quality Initiative (VSQI) family child care home demonstration project was a pilot quality rating and improvement program designed to provide intensive professional development services to family child care home providers. The pilot project took place between October 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011, and was funded by federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act monies awarded to the Virginia Department of Social Services. The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) piloted the family child care home provider program as an extension of the classroom‐based VSQI, currently in its fifth year of a pilot phase. Through a competitive process, VECF selected six geographically and culturally diverse regions encompassing 35 Virginia localities to participate, with a recruitment target of 75 licensed family child care providers. Regions included nine localities in the Southwest (coordinated by Smart Beginnings Appalachia), Arlington/Alexandria, six localities in Central Virginia (coordinated by Smart Beginnings Central Virginia), Fairfax, seven localities in the Greater Richmond area (coordinated by the Richmond Resource and Referral Agency, ChildSavers) and five localities in South Hampton Roads (coordinated by Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads and The Planning Council).