The National Association for Family Child Care recently awarded the country’s top honor for high-quality family child care programs to Patricia Frederick, operator of Ms. Pat’s Daycare in Russellville.

According to the NAFCC, its accreditation is a rigorous quality improvement system that uses a set of more than 300 standards to recognize high-quality childcare programs operating in the residence of the childcare professional. 

In Alabama, almost 11 percent of licensed family child care programs have achieved this recognition – considerably higher than the 2 percent nationwide average.

“I chose to become reaccredited because I wanted to improve the quality of care for my children. Making a difference in their lives means the world to me,” Frederick said. “I have been a childcare provider for over 21 years. 

“I enjoy spending one-on-one time with the children,” she added. “It’s an amazing job to have and such a joy to see their smiley faces every day.”

To earn NAFCC accreditation, Frederick went through an extensive self-study, training and quality improvement process with the support of her mentor, Mamie Thomas from the Family Child Care Partnerships-Accreditation Facilitation Project at Auburn University. 

FCCP-AFP is a statewide quality enhancement, accreditation facilitation program funded through a contract with the Alabama State Department of Human Resources. FCCP-AFP delivers mentoring, training, technical assistance and financial support to licensed family childcare providers in Alabama seeking to attain national accreditation. 

“NAFCC accreditation is recognition of a family childcare provider’s commitment to quality caregiving and to continuous quality improvement,” said Caroline Martin, managing director of FCCP-AFP at Auburn. “A provider who attains NAFCC accreditation has reached a high level of professional practice in family childcare, giving parents and families the assurance that the program is nationally recognized as such.”