Child Care Consultant Focusing on Helping Child Care Programs with Wisconsin’s YoungStar Program

Sept. 1, 2010 - PRLog -- Many in the child care industry in Wisconsin have been bracing for a new quality system to be created over the past few years.  Child Care Consultant, Mamadou Guisse, owner of Milwaukee’s Guisse Child Care Consulting, LLC, has been ahead of the curve in preparing for these new standards.  In January 2010, Governor Jim Doyle announced details on a new five-star quality rating and improvement system for child care in Wisconsin.

“I have been preparing for a new child care rating system to be in place for years, and was excited when Governer Doyle announced the new YoungStar program.” states Guisse, “This program will indeed  raise the bar on our child care in Wisconsin.”

YoungStar is Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) new five-star quality rating and improvement system for child care in Wisconsin. The DCF believes that children who participate in quality early childhood programs get a strong start in education and development, which leads to future success.  YoungStar will improve child care throughout the state, make it easier for parents to choose the best child care for their kids, and link child care provider quality to payments from the Wisconsin Shares program.

Guisse is in a unique position to be one of only a handful of people in Wisconsin to be certified to assist these child care providers in increasing their star ratings that will ultimately determine how much the state pays them per child.  Starting in August 2010, all child care providers in the state will be met with on on-site inspection and report card.  This inspection will provide them with a star rating of one through five.  Starting in July 2011, these child care providers will be paid a rate, per child, based on their star rating.

This star rating should then provide incentive for the providers, with less than a five star rating, to improve their facilities and programs in order to recieve higher compensation.  But how would a child care provider in Wisconsin improve its YoungStar rating?  That is where consultants like Mr. Guisse can help.  Mr. Guisse has over 15 years experience in this industry and has a Masters Degree from Dakar University in English as a foreign language, the Wisconsin Professional Credential for Child Care Administrators from UW-Milwaukee and is a member of The Registry which is Wisconsin’s recognition system for early childhood education.  In addition, he is trained and has experience in conducting technical assistance by using Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R), Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS) as well as the Infant-Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-R).  Mr. Guisse is also qualified to teach Introduction to the Child Care Profession, Fundamentals of Infant & toddlers, Skills & Strategies of the Child Care Teacher, Module One (Certified Child Care Provider), Module Two (Licensed Family Child Care, and Fundamentals of Family Child Care.

A child care consultant, such as Mr. Guisse, can help an established child care provider determine what types of improvements should be made to their curriculums and facilities to warrant a higher YoungStar rating, thus putting them in a position to earn more revenue.
Guisse is also a recent graduate of The Multicultural Entrepreneurial Institute, Incorporated (MEI) and Social Development Commission’s (SDC) Small Business Entrepreneurial Program for entrepreneurs and emerging enterprises in Milwaukee County. The initiative was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and it is the largest award provided by SDC under the Act.

Please watch the informative video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfMFx1MHU_M



About YoungStar

YoungStar sets a five-star rating system for child care providers based on education, learning environment, business practices and the health and well being of children. Through this rating system the state will address several key issues in Wisconsin's child care system. It will:
Improve the overall quality of child care
Create a clear, understandable tool for parents to choose quality child care
Create incentives for providers to improve services, particularly for low-income children
Establish a connection between child care quality and the rate of Wisconsin Shares payments
Help prevent fraud in the Wisconsin Shares system

YoungStar will identify high quality child care programs and recognizes that certain key accreditations indicate the highest levels of quality. Accreditation is a formal recognition that a child care program has met a specific set of criteria linked to high quality programming. In assessing quality, the accreditations currently recognized all require on-site observations, quality improvement planning and establish higher education levels for teachers and program directors. All of these qualities are also important in YoungStar.

About Guisse Child Care Consulting, LLC
Owned and operated by Mamadou Guisse, Guisse Child Care Consulting, LLC focuses on assisting Family and Group Care Providers.  Mr. Guisse works to help child care providers by assisting them start or expand their current business.  Services that Guisse  provides is consulting to help these providers with their star rating for the YoungStar program, assist with policy writing, child attendance reports, business plans, quality improvement, technical assistance and tax preparation.  Earlier in 2010, Guisse opened a new location in Milwaukee, WI at 1812 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. that has a training facility, computer lab, and conference room.  This new location will enable Mr. Guisse to hold a variety of training classes for continuing education workshops for child care providers.