When you run a child care program, growth does not always mean making big changes all at once.

Sometimes, growth starts with taking a closer look at your program, choosing one area to improve, and creating a realistic plan to move forward.

That is where Connecticut’s Elevate program comes in.

Elevate is the Office of Early Childhood’s quality improvement system for licensed and license-exempt family child cares, centers, and group homes. It gives child care providers tools, guidance, and resources to improve their programs over time, at their own pace.

Recently, I supported a family daycare provider with creating and submitting her Elevate Program Plan, which is an important step toward reaching Member+ status.

For this project, my role was to help my client take her ideas, goals, and program needs, and turn them into an organized plan that could be submitted through the OEC 360 Provider Portal.

The Elevate Program Plan asks providers to reflect on their program, choose a focus area, create SMART goals, identify action steps, list possible challenges, and explain what resources are needed.

Here is what I helped with:

1.Reviewing the Elevate requirements
 I reviewed the instructions so we knew what the plan needed to include and how the information had to be prepared.

2.Organizing the client’s goal
 My client had to create a SMART goal for the year. I helped her shape the goal so it was clear, realistic, and connected to what she wanted to improve in her program.

3.Breaking the goal into action steps
 We listed the specific steps needed to reach the goal, along with the challenges, resources, and progress-tracking plan.

4.Communicating and following up
 After communicating with Elevate and receiving guidance, I helped make sure the plan was complete and ready for submission.

5.Uploading and submitting through the porta
 Once everything was ready, I helped upload the required information and submit the Elevate Program Plan through the OEC 360 Provider Portal on time.

What I liked about this project is that it was not just about filling out a form.

It was about helping a provider pause, think about where her program is now, decide where she wants it to go, and put the steps in place to get there.

That is a big part of the support I provide.

I help business owners and providers organize the details, understand what is being asked, prepare the information, and move important projects forward without feeling overwhelmed.

Because when the process is clear, the next step becomes easier to take.