Our mission

Programs for Parents is a non-profit organization that works to ensure that children get the best possible start in life. It does so by supporting children, families and child care providers in Essex County through advocacy and action, providing education and referrals, sharing best practices and helping families access available financial resources.

What we do

Programs for Parents (PFP) is a Child Care Resource and Referral agency that serves Essex County. While Essex is its primary hub, PFP provides services in six other northern counties as well through local partnerships. The agency is well known across the state as one that is innovative and visionary in its efforts to design, implement and sustain programs that support families, children, and the child care community. 2019 is a milestone year, as the agency is celebrating its 35th anniversary. There are six priorities that PFP will strategically focus on over the few years.
1) Enhance the agency's marketing and branding approach, utilizing social media and other platforms.
* PFP does a satisfactory job marketing through social media, google ads and website postings. The agency could benefit from having a systematic approach to the marketing that we do, creating a consistent brand look and measuring its effectiveness.
2) Engage and partner with the business sector to champion and support the greater early education/child care community.
* Early education is everybody's business. However, New Jersey lags behind other states where the business sector is championing the R.O.I. and the business benefits to ensuring high quality child care is available to the community and the business sector.
3) Educate and increase the number of early education professionals in the workforce.
* The early education workforce is stressed more now than ever before. Governor Murphy has allocated additional funds to support preschool expansion in a number of school districts across the state. In doing so, there aren't enough trained and skilled individuals to fill those positions. PfP is positioned to address this dilemma. Currently over 200 individuals receive nationally credentialed training through the agency.
4) Ensure that staff are highly qualified to serve by ensuring expert professional development that support best practices
* The agency seeks to position itself for greatness through a continuous quality improvement framework. There are limited funds to support on-going professional development, implement best practices, and engage high quality activities that support staff growth and development.
5) Establish a nationally recognized model for family engagement.
* PFP seeks to memorialize its role in establishing best practices that support family engagement in New Jersey and nationally.
6) Lead the New Jersey effort in developing a Shared Services statewide system for child care providers.
* PFP initiated the first shared services alliance in the state. National recognition and private support continues to support this project. PFP is strategically focused on growing this project, to serve as a clearinghouse or hub for additional counties and identifying sustainable funding.