The Consortium's aim is to promote improved child care resources, accessibility and quality throughout the county. Our ongoing goals are:

• Continue to build relationships with child care providers across the county.
• Serve as a resource for child care organizations and for those interested in improving the quality, availability, and accessibility of care in Montgomery County.
• Foster communication between organizations and individuals involved in the care and education of young children. This includes parents, providers, school districts, government, business, and communities.
• Promote quality child care and positive parenting practices to help ensure that Montgomery County’s children have the skills they need to succeed in school.

To meet these goals, we are engaged in the following projects:

• Fostering collaboration between child care providers and school districts.
• Working with Norristown-area child care providers to share information about school readiness with families through a pamphlet created in conjunction with the Montgomery County Penn State Cooperative Extension and NASD.
• Joining the Montgomery County Penn State Cooperative Extension and the NASD in producing a short video for families about school readiness.
• Assisting a select group of child care centers in identifying improvements needed in their preschool classrooms. This work is being done through administration of the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS).