The Professional Development System is also part of Kentucky's Early Childhood Initiative. The Division has put in place the "Kentucky Childhood Professional Development Framework" which addresses the needs for education, training and credentialing of early care professionals in Kentucky and represents a culmination of months of planning and input from multiple stakeholders across the state. The Framework identifies individual core competencies, credentials, scholarships, grants, awards and training criteria to early care and education professionals. Additionally, targeted quality set-asides under CCDF are being utilized to promote and improve the quality of infant/toddler training opportunities, enhance professional development activities, improve education in child care programs, improve staff and child interactions, increase parental involvement, and facilitate regulatory compliance to all child care programs. As of June 30, 2025, there were 2,826 active Director's Credentials, 721 Trainer's Credentials, and 438 active Commonwealth Child Care Credentials. During fiscal year 2025, 95,944 childcare provider/staff received early care and education training.
Collaborative Efforts continue between the Division of Child Care and key stakeholders in order to ensure that outcomes will focus on continuing quality improvements in early learning environments. These efforts include partnerships with Head Start, the Department of Education, the Department for Public Health Division of Maternal and Child Health, Kentucky Out-of-School Alliance, Governor's Office of Early Childhood, and other government and quasi-government agencies that share the common goal of increasing professionalism in Early Care and Education, promoting quality care, and supporting early learning guidelines.
Annual Training Requirements: Licensed Child Care Type I and II directors and staff are required to complete nine hours of cabinet-approved early care and education training within the first year of employment (after completing a six-hour state-mandates orientation to the childcare profession), including one and one-half hours of pediatric abusive head trauma training; and 15 hours of cabinet-approved early care and education training annually, including one and one half hours of pediatric head trauma training completed once every five years.
Certified Family Child Care Home providers are required to complete nine hours of cabinet-approved early care and education training annually, including one and one-half hours of pediatric abusive head trauma training completed once every five years.
The base budget includes Tobacco Settlement Funds in the amount of $9,500,000 in each fiscal year for the Child Care program for the Kentucky ALL STARS program quality rating system, a federal requirement. These funds provide monetary incentives and rewards to childcare providers and are used as match for the federal funds received from the Child Care Development Grant.
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