A handful of Florida family child care providers came together in 1991 and began looking for a way to create a networking system throughout the state.  A steering committee of ten providers was formed in 1992.  After many meetings around the state, the Florida Family Child Care Home Association, Inc., was established in June 1993 with 265 members.

Originally, the 67 counties of our state were divided into five regions and were represented by a governing board of six officers and ten regional representatives.   The state, within one year was divided into seven regions with 21 regional representatives, and a regional representative coordinator position was created as part of the Executive Board.  We were granted IRS nonprofit 501(c) 3 status in 1994, and in 1996 we were able to offer group exemption to our local associations.  Currently, we have a general membership well over 1,000 members with many of these individuals belonging to the 28 subordinate associations.

The Association's Full Board equally represents providers from all over our state.  We hold quarterly general meetings, centrally located, from which the regional representatives gain information on a state level.   The Regional Representatives then hold their own quarterly regional meetings at which they share this information.  We strongly uphold the concept that our Association belongs to its members.   Our actions are based on decisions voted on at these general meetings.

We have recognized since our beginning the need for training specifically designed to reflect the need for sensitivity of our industry, in order to preserve the unique quality of family child care.   Leadership tracts and appropriate practice for mixed-age child development workshops have been created by our members and are presented whenever possible.  We were delighted to learn about the Second Helping Advanced Curriculum for Family Child Care created by Windflower Enterprises.   The opportunity for six members to attend the Second Helping Train-the-Trainer was made available in 1994.   As the many benefits of this training began to take effect, the demand for more instructors was felt.

The Association immediately began to research funding options in order to produce more trainers.  Thanks to the generosity of the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation, we became the first official host of the Second Helping for Windflower Enterprises.   The Florida Alliance of Consulting and Training Specialists (Facts/FFCCHA, Inc.), was developed and through this branch of our associations, we are accomplishing a goal of our members.  We are promoting education and training distinctly for family child care providers and as a benefit, we are creating more Second Helping Instructors.   These instructors produce more graduates and increase the number of intentional, professional family child care providers.

Another of the primary objectives of our organization was to create a means for providers, child care agencies, and community leaders to foster an enhanced awareness of what family child care really is.   Our efforts have created a strong working relationship with our state and local agencies.   Funding from grants and initiatives has been offered to us in order that we might assist with the retention and recruitment of providers.   We have hosted a statewide conference every year, with many diverse family child care-oriented tracts offered, provided ongoing leadership training for our members, and offered full and partial scholarships for providers to attend the Second Helping Train-the-Trainer.  Our collaborative efforts with the state and local agencies have been demonstrated by our co-presenting conference workshops for NAEYC in Washington, D.C, NAFCC in Sacramento, Save the Children n Atlanta, and NACCRRA in Miami.    These sessions have been well received and have spawned many similar ventures.

In 1997, FFCCHA launched a Parent Awareness Campaign aimed at educating providers on how to educate parents regarding issues of quality child care.   More than 10,000 brochures and materials were distributed to providers, parents, and businesses at regional meeting held around the state.  While our primary intention was to educate the provider in self-marketing, we have also promoted the 'intentional' provider and the industry of family child care as a viable career choice in the child care field.

What once was thought to be the training ground for a center-based child care director career, has begun to stand on its own as a profession.   Career paths which support the other aspects of our family child care industry are starting to appear.   We are hearing more and more about family child care providers who have taken another step in their professional growth by using their talents to create innovative means of showing their love and concern for family child care.   Some have become agency coordinators and mentors, other are developing curriculum and business aids, marketing products specifically designed for family child care.  Many have kept their in-home business and have added side lines such as income tax or record keeping specialists for our industry.

FFCCHA, Inc. has achieved several of our long range goals and objectives.  We are, needless to say, very proud of our success as a young state association.  In 1996, at the NAFCC conference in Sacramento, we were truly honored when our own Public Relations, Chris Cross, was introduced as the new Region 4 Representative, and that Florida would host the 1998 NAFCC conference

Our motto is "Quality Care from Providers With Love to Share!" and this truly represents the family child care providers in Florida.  However, we recently read another slogan that might equally apply, "Enthusiasm makes ordinary people extraordinary."   And we are certainly enthusiastic!