Infant/Toddler Specialists are individuals whose job it is to provide support to professionals and caregivers who provide early care and education to infants and toddlers.

States with Networks of Infant/Toddler Specialists

Alabama has created the Infant/Toddler Priority Outreach service which offers training, consultation, program assessment, screenings and stipends to child centers that want to improve the quality of care in their infant and toddler classrooms.

California  Partners for Quality (PQ) has a director, manager, professional growth coordinator, 15 regional trainer/coordinators and approximately 100 trainers who are Infant/Toddler Specialists. The PQ Infant/Toddler Specialists provide training and on-site technical assistance. The California Department of Education contracts with WestEd to administer the program. California also has two Infant/Toddler Specialists with the Child Care Healthline who provide telephone support and resources regarding health and safety issues, and three Infant/Toddler Inclusion Specialists who work for Beginning Together to support PQ trainers in facilitating inclusive practices in child care programs.

Florida has Infant/Toddler Specialists located around the state. They provide community training, technical assistance, and support to staff in child care programs serving infants and toddlers.

Indiana has 11 infant/toddler specialists, one in each of the Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) agencies. Infant/Toddler Specialists and other agency staff provide training and mentoring to infant/toddler child care providers, training for parents of infants and toddlers, and do enhanced referrals and consumer education for parents of infants and toddlers. They have secured direct funding from the State through Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) quality dollars to expand the program statewide.

Iowa has developed a regional system of infant/toddler specialists, which is coordinated by the Iowa Child Care & Early Education Network Coordinator. The regional infant/toddler specialists are housed in the community based CCR&Rs and provide technical assistance in addition to The Program for Infant/Toddler Caregivers (PITC) training.

Kansas has 23 infant/toddler specialists who are located in the 15 CCR&R agencies. They provide professional development, technical assistance, resource materials, support activities and community awareness to infant/toddler caregivers. They use a variety of infant/toddler curricula, but require that the infant/toddler specialists go through PITC training.

Kentucky has 25 contracted quality coordinators who function as infant/toddler specialists who are located throughout the state.  They share offices with the professional development counselors and are housed at the Kentucky Community Technical College System sites.  Their role is to provide technical assistance to licensed, certified and registered caregivers to improve quality services to infant and toddlers.  Their work involves implementing the STARS for KIDS NOW rating system, visiting homes and using the environmental rating scales to improve quality. 

Maine has a part-time, statewide infant/toddler position that provides technical assistance to newly established Early Head Start and infant/toddler programs, and follow-up visits to Infant/Toddler Summer Institute participants to help identify needs for advanced training.

New York uses some of its infant/toddler earmark to fund one statewide infant/toddler coordinator and 16 infant/toddler regional technical assistance centers which house 23 infant/toddler specialists. Activities of the specialists include building the capacity of the local CCR&Rs to address the unique needs of infants and toddlers in care and supporting parents with their child care choices; training of trainers; direct training and technical assistance with both parents and child care providers; and working with the regional licensing offices. The coordinator provides support, regular networking opportunities, in-service training and technical assistance to the specialists.

North Carolina has a statewide infant/toddler project manager and 25 regional infant/toddler specialists within the 18 CCR&R regions to increase the availability of quality care for families in all 100 counties. They work in collaboration with child care regulatory staff, community resource consultants and the caregivers of infants and toddlers. The North Carolina CCR&R Council oversees the administration of the Infant Toddler Enhancement Project.

North Dakota uses four Infant/Toddler Specialists and four Child Care Health Consultants/Nurses in each of the CCR&Rs. They provide training, technical assistance and consultation for centers and family child care homes. The specialists use environment rating scale assessments in child care programs.

Oklahoma has a statewide coordinator and one specialist within the CCR&R. Training and technical assistance is provided to homes and centers based on the environmental ratings scales performed by the Center for Early Childhood and Professional Development Center. A parent piece has been added which includes enhanced parent packets to families using the CCR&R referral services.

Pennsylvania is piloting an Infant/Toddler Mental Health Project within three of the six Regional Keys in the state.  Staff include a statewide Project Manager who oversees the project, three regionally based Project Coordinators who work with systems to identify and address needs, and three regionally based Infant Mental Health Specialists who provide child-specific on-site consultation to early care and education programs.  Program-level consultation is addressed through the Keystone STARS quality enhancement system, which offers technical assistance to early care and education settings to achieve specific quality standards.

South Dakota has five regional infant/toddler specialists and six infant/toddler Tribal Coordinators who are located at the early childhood enrichment offices and at the Tribal reservations. They are responsible for scheduling training and communicating with the state coordinator, serving as the local liaison for infant and toddler issues, and supporting infant/ toddler trainers in the regions. Each specialist is trained in PITC and is an infant/toddler caregiver trainer.

Tennessee has a statewide coordinator who oversees the infant/toddler PITC programs. Each of the six regions has a PITC Specialist, who provides technical assistance and cluster trainings.

Utah has a statewide coordinator who oversees the contracts of 3 infant/toddler specialists around the state. The Infant/Toddler Specialists (ITS) provide technical assistance, training and mentoring to center directors and infant/toddle caregivers. The ITS have completed PITC Certification and complete the ITERS-R for the classrooms receiving the services from the ITS.

Washington uses child care health consultants, specially trained in infant/toddler care and education, in each of the 35 local jurisdictions to support child care providers and parents of infant and toddlers. The Department of Health as developed an Infant/Toddler Nurse Consultation Handbook, which is used by the child care health consultants when working with caregivers.

West Virginia has infant/toddler specialists in each of the six CCR&R agencies who serve as a part of their training team. There is a statewide coordinator located in the Early Care and Education Department at the State. The Infant/Toddler specialists provide training and technical assistance, including the development of quality improvement plans related to environmental ratings scale observations.

Summary of States with Networks of Infant/Toddler Specialists

Alabama
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: Not Available
Start-Up Year: Not Available

California
Funding Source: CCDF, CA DOE, First Five Commission, Fee for Service, Other Grants
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Director, 1 Statewide Coordinator, 16 regional trainers/coordinators, 120 Partners for Quality Trainers (Infants/Toddler Specialists), Specialists who work on Healthline
Start-Up Year: 1986

Florida
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: Not Available
Start-Up Year: Not Available

Indiana
Funding Source: CCDF, Foundation Seed Money (2002)
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator, 11 Specialists based regionally
Start-Up Year: 2002

Iowa
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator, 5 specialists based regionally
Start-Up Year: 2001

Kansas
Funding Source: CCDF, Some foundation money
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Director, 25 specialists based in 16 regions
Start-Up Year: 1999

Kentucky
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator, 25 Quality Assurance Specialists
Start-Up Year: 2000

Maine
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Part Time Statewide Coordinator
Start-Up Year: 2003

New York
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator, 23 Specialists in 16 infant/toddler resource centers
Start-Up Year: 2003

North Carolina
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 statewide coordinator, 25 specialists- based regionally
Start-Up Year: 2004

North Dakota
Funding Source: CCDF, Bush Foundation, ECCS
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator, 4 Infant/Toddler Specialists (includes 4 Tribal), 4 Health Consultants
Start-Up Year: 1992

Ohio
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator/Director, 12 specialists based regionally
Start-Up Year: 2004

Oklahoma
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator, 1 Specialist
Start-Up Year: 2005

Pennsylvania
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Program Director, 3 Regional Project Coordinator, 3 Regional Infant Mental Health Specialists
Start-Up Year: 2006

South Dakota
Funding Source: CCDF, Bush Foundation
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Training Coordinator, 11 Specialists based regionally (includes 6 Tribal)
Start-Up Year: 1992

Tennessee
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator, 8 Specialists
Start-Up Year: 2000

Utah
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: 1 Statewide Coordinator, 3 Infant/Toddler Specialists
Start-Up Year: 2006

Washington
Funding Source: CCDF (13 funded), ECCS and MCH, King County
Coordinators and Specialists: All 34 local health jurisdictions have at least one specialist; some have more, (e.g. King County has 20+)
Start-Up Year: Late 1990's

West Virginia
Funding Source: CCDF
Coordinators and Specialists: Statewide Coordinator, 6 Specialists based regionally
Start-Up Year: 2005

KEY: CCDF=Child Care Development Fund, DOE=Department of Education, ECCS=Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems, MCH=Maternal & Child Health

Last Updated March 2007