Photo By Staff Sgt. Magen M. Reeves | Kathy Vinsh, Tyndall Family Child Care provider, left, plays with children in her care...... read more read more
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Choosing child care can be a very serious decision to make for parents as they contemplate questions like, “Where to go? Who to trust? Will my child be happy? Will they be safe?” The stressors of military life adds to the complexity.
The recently launched Five & Thrive initiative aims to help alleviate some of the challenges Airmen and their families face by providing a centralized, easy to locate guidebook with resources on childcare and other military family concerns. The Family Child Care program, which offers care for children in a provider’s home, is one such option.
“FCC offers a more intimate setting…allowing more time for the provider to give specialized needs to each individual child,” said Mallory Gross, 325th Force Support Squadron community child care coordinator. “Also, it allows for mixed age groups so kids can learn from other kids on different levels. Many people prefer FCC because it’s the feeling of a family member watching your child.”
FCC providers are either military spouses or spouses of retired service members who are permitted a maximum of six children under their care at a time. The program allows for children two weeks to 12 years old, however, each individual provider is able to make decisions in regards to the children they bring into their care.
They can also choose to bring on those needing part time care, respite care, special needs support and children affected by deployments. Providers do their best to balance long hours, nights, weekends, and everything in between, to help Airmen and their families when in need.
“This is my life; working with kids,” said Nellis Seabrook, Tyndall FCC provider. “And now all those kids I started with have grown up. We have survived many things with Hurricane Michael and now the pandemic. All the good things, all the bad things.”
Seabrook’s journey as an FCC provider began in 1990 when she came to the United States from Panama and was unable to find work utilizing her degree in accounting. She began researching the FCC program as a way to secure an income while also being available for her own family in an in-home capacity and found it to be a rewarding experience.
“This isn’t just a job; this is a life,” Seabrook said. “I love it every single day.”
Beyond simply watching children, providers have curriculums and offer basic educational activities.
“We focus on colors, shapes, numbers, music and so much more,” said Kathy Vinsh, Tyndall FCC provider. “I do evaluations and see what a child needs help with and see what else they need to learn.”
Vetting prospective providers is taken very seriously and, in some cases, is even validated by the state. Stringent certification requirements including mandatory training, home visits, first aid and CPR training also come into play.
“The process to become a FCC provider can be quite long, but it ultimately is up to the provider on how quickly they get the paperwork and training done,” said Gross.
Community child care coordinators help guide prospective providers through the paperwork, fingerprints and background checks required. They can also assist with the development of contracts.
“When you’re first starting you have to (understand expectations and create) your own schedule, expectations and rules, called a contract,” said Vinsh. “A contract details everything a provider and a parent need to know from the beginning.”
There can be a lot of factors to take into account when caring for military children who sacrifice and contribute so the service member can accomplish the mission effectively and maintain resiliency knowing their families are being cared for. It truly does have to be a team effort between the program coordinators, the parents, the providers and the children.
“[The] parents and I work together as a group, like a family,” Vinsh said. “It’s a bond that we all have, watching these kids grow, and I know [I] contributed to that. It’s very rewarding.”
For more information about the program, to become a provider, or how to apply for FCC care for a child, call 850-283-2218 or visit https://www.tyndallfss.com/fcc.
The Five and Thrive initiative guidebook and other helpful information can be found by visiting https://www.af.mil/ and searching “Fire and Thrive.”
| Date Taken: | 03.18.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.23.2022 14:08 |
| Story ID: | 416715 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 48 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Family Child Care; providing care from the comfort of home, by SSgt Magen M. Reeves, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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