Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC)

WestEd’s national Program for Infant Toddler Care (PITC) seeks to: increase the availability and quality of child care for all children under age 3; disseminate information to increase responsive, relationship-based infant toddler care; and influence policies and practices to ensure the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families are the foundation for all curriculum and program development.

PITC is a comprehensive, multimedia training program, with opportunities designed for trainers of infant/toddler caregivers, infant/toddler care teachers, home visitors, and program directors. The primary content of PITC is organized in four modules that cover social-emotional development, quality in group care, cognitive and language development, and cultural and family issues.

PITC was developed in California and continues to serve as one of the largest trainer networks for California infant toddler caregivers. WestEd conducts Trainer Institutes to provide continuing education on specific topics each year for PITC trainers who provide training and technical assistance to local communities throughout California. The purpose of the Institutes is to ensure that the trainers continue to present information that is consistent and up to date with current research and PITC policies and practices.

In addition to the Institutes, PITC provides additional focused training events. The Academy for Program Directors provides guidance on the interrelationship of foundations, child assessment, the curriculum framework, and the program guidelines. Through the Partners for Quality initiative, on-site and online training is provided to groups of infant/toddler care teachers, administrators, and family child care providers. PITC Home Visiting Institutes are designed for home visitors and their supervisors, to integrate best practices in home visiting with the latest advances in child development. The purpose of these focused events is to strengthen and expand the impact of PITC on the quality of care for infants and toddlers throughout California. The PITC provides training on the infant/toddler foundations by integrating the content of the foundations into all training activities for trainers, program directors, teachers and assistant teachers.

In addition to the array of training opportunities, the California Department of Education and WestEd collaborate on PITC Demonstration Programs at selected California community college child care programs. The demonstration sites receive training and technical assistance from WestEd to implement Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) philosophies and practices. The project is funded by the California Department of Education. Interested community members are welcome to visit the centers.

For more information, see http://www.pitc.org/pub/pitc_docs/home.csp

Updated February 2016