Young and just beginning to explore. 

Soaking up almost everything in sight. 

Since 1999,  the Institute for Child Care Excellence (ICCE), formerly known as the Fund for Child Care Excellence, has served the greater Austin area by providing a system to improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of child care. The Fund for Child Care Excellence (supported by the Michael & Susan Dell Family Foundation) helped lay the ground work for deep community collaborations targeting key needs for Austin child care and funding programs such as college scholarships for child care workers, fellowships for experienced child care staff, community wide director training, awards ceremonies, and family friendly business awards. At the heart of the organization was an emphasis on supporting child care workers which is embodied in the ultimate mission of the Institute for Child Care Excellence : "Increasing the quality and quantity of trained child care professionals entering the field in the Central Texas area." Over 700 participants have been trained prior to entering the classroom by successfully completing our 40-hour pre service training; five times the amount of training required by the state of Texas. ICCE then provided on-going support through coaching and additional training opportunities to our graduates and their child care colleagues. In 2004, we also began supporting our graduates by providing sessions that would enable their Directors and Managers to become better leaders and business managers. The impact of these programs has increased the professionalism, and increased the knowledge base of the first line of support for our youngest, most impressionable citizens. The time has now come for us to move to the next level. With funding for and quality improvement in child care shrinking and pre-service requirements stagnant, if we are to maintain and utilize the curricula that we have so carefully developed and evaluated, we must change our funding and delivery model. To that end, we have negotiated with the National Association for Child Care Professionals (NACCP) to become an integral part of their organization. The benefits to this alliance are enormous. All curricula, with emphasis on the 40-hour pre service training, will continue to benefit child care providers. The materials will be offered to a national audience including those residing in states where the pre service requirements are much higher which will significantly increase their utilization and ultimate benefit. The materials will be transferred into an on-line format making them more easily accessible. Our training will continue to be available to our local community through NACCP. When the requirements and demand for higher levels of training come to the Central Texas area, this resource will still be available. We thank all of those who have contributed through time, money, and passion to create and maintain this initiative in our area. We are proud of what we have accomplished. We sincerely hope that you will continue to support our efforts as we expand and enhance our mission and our services.

A child's very curious mind expands every day at a rate that would leave a supercomputer in the dust.  Everything they experience will set the tone for the rest of their lives.  The next generation must be prepared like no other.  Yet, our child care system isn't prepared to handle it.  We lack child care workers with adequate training.  What we do have is hope. We're the Institute for Child Care Excellence.