12/5/08

Human resource development graduate student Frank Eckles and the Child and Youth Care Certification Board (CYCCB) were recently awarded the 2008 National Staff Development and Training Association (NSDTA) Quality Award.

Eckles, who serves as the board’s president, is involved in local and national efforts to raise public awareness of the low standards of care in the Texas and national child care systems.

“Over the next five years, CYCCB will be working with practitioners, state regulatory agencies and the public to use the certification program as a basis for expanding the child care workforce and raising standards of competence,” Eckles said. “This is expected to create safer programs and better developmental support for the millions of children, youth and families in the United States.”

CYCCB, whose national office is located in College Station, was nominated by Dale Curry, associate professor of human development and family studies at Kent State University, for its seven-year effort to increase the standards of care for children and youth by developing and implementing a national child and youth care worker certification program. The award was presented to CYCCB at the NSDTA National Conference in Atlanta, Ga.