June 10, 2005

Purdue, IU create institute to improve quality of infant and toddler care

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue and Indiana universities are working together to establish a network for professionals who work with infants and toddlers, thanks to a $275,000 grant from the Indiana Child Care Fund.

The new resource, the Infant-Toddler Specialists of Indiana, will include state leaders representing the following areas: child care, early intervention, family support, health care, staff training, regulation, colleges and universities, business partnerships, and child-care resource and referral.

"The need for child care and special services for the birth to 3-year-old age group has expanded in recent years due to changes in the work force and new research, yet there's very little advanced training in Indiana in that area," said James Elicker, associate professor in child development and family studies at Purdue. "This network will allow us to bring people together from around the state to assess what's available now and develop new professional development tools."

Elicker cites his recent research on low-income child care in Indiana that found infants and toddlers aren't talked to or stimulated as much as older children in child-care settings.

"A lot of research shows this age group benefits from high-quality care and early intervention, yet many programs for toddlers are low quality," Elicker said. "We hope to lay the groundwork to create an annual infant-toddler professional development institute so we can continue to fill this void in the child-care and family support fields."

The six-month project will culminate with a professional training institute from Sept. 20-22 at Indiana University.

Elicker also will be co-teaching an interactive television course in three locations during the fall semester with Mary McMullen, the project co-director and an associate professor at Indiana University's School of Education.

For more information about the Infant-Toddler Specialists of Indiana, contact Elicker at (765) 494-2938 or his research assistant Kyong-Ah Kwon at (765) 494-2966.

Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu

Sources: James Elicker, (765) 494-2938, elickerj@purdue.edu

Kyong-Ah Kwon, (765) 494-2966, kkwon@purdue.edu

Mary McMullen, Indiana University, mmcmulle@indiana.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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