CARES

Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Educational Standards

Over 40 counties in California have implemented compensation programs for child care center teachers, administrators, and family child care providers based on the CARES Program Model. CARES, initially an acronymn for "Compensation and Retention Encourage Stability" was changed to its current name: "Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Educational Standards" in 2004. These programs are intended to help build and reward a skilled and stable child care workforce by providing monetary rewards to child care providers based on their education levels and continued commitment to their professional development.

Most county programs are open to licensed center staff and licensed family child care providers. Many programs base the monetary rewards for providers according to the education levels defined by the California Child Development Permit Matrix.

Permit Matrix

In many counties stipend increments are based on the Child Development Permit Matrix, the statewide professional development system for teaching and administrative staff. The Matrix system is required for certain subsidized programs that must meet more stringent funding requirements (Title 5), and can be voluntarily adopted by other programs. This system was used in the original CARES design because the creators hoped to unify the various child care sectors by adopting one set of standards. View the Child Development Permit Matrix.