Child Care as Infrastructure

07/01/2008

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Planners are taking notice! In their article in Planning (June 2007), the journal of the American Planning Association, Mildred Warner and Kristen and George Haddow provide a wide range of examples to demonstrate how child care is starting to be considered a vital part of community infrastructure by city planners in the U.S. They give an example from the aftermath of Katrina...

"When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, Chevron executives moved quickly to restart the Pascagoula refinery and get gas flowing again. They also took stock of other types of infrastructure, including an often-overlooked one, child care.

"'After the hurricane, I understood how little I know about how interconnected everything was, how everything could disappear overnight,' says Steve Renfroe, a member of Chevron's leadership team. 'A disaster of the magnitude of Katrina has the power to stop the economy, but how do you restart it? We used portable electric generators to generate the fuel we needed to restart the refineries. Child care is like that generator. It enables parents to go back to work — a key factor in getting the rest of the economy back up and running.'"

Hawaii Conference for Multi-Site Operators

Leaders in non profit and for profit organizations providing early childhood services in multiple locations are invited to Growing with Integrity: Working Forum on Managing Performance in Multi-Site Early Childhood Organizations taking place in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii on October 22 - 24, 2008. This World Forum Foundation event will present field-tested strategies on...

Sustaining Quality in Multi-Site Organizations
Developing and Sustaining the Early Childhood Workforce
Maintaining Organizational Culture in Changing Times
Consistently Meeting Customer Needs and Expectations

We encourage you to help in the planning of this event, to offer your services as a presenter, as well as to learn more about this Working Forum and register for it.

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