As parents focus on career development, babies and older siblings are cared for in the safe, nurturing environment of Genesis Shelter’s highly regarded Child Development Center (CDC).  The Genesis Child Development Center serves up to 77 children at a time and has childcare licensure from the state. This model early learning facility features separate classrooms for infants, toddlers ages 2-3, and preschoolers ages 4-5 and a team of experienced, compassionate teachers.  Guided by standards established by the State of Georgia’s Rules and Regulations for Day Care Centers and the National Association for Education of Young Children, the Child Development Center participates in the statewide Better Brains for Babies: Maximizing Georgia’s Brain Power program. 

Enrichment activities for children of all ages include visual arts, music, creative movement and physical fitness.  A reading readiness program is used with the four- and five-year olds.  Two staff members are trained in the Learning RX PACE Training which provides cognitive skills training that improve the brain’s ability to process information.  This training does for mental abilities what exercise does for the body.  An early learning program of this caliber is very rare at a homeless shelter and all services are free of charge, allowing residents to focus on strengthening their abilities to provide for their families.

Genesis Shelter considers it essential to use a high-quality program for homeless children at risk academically, socially, developmentally, and emotionally.  Strong preschool programs with accountability systems have produced evidence that they improve children's school success, later socioeconomic success, and social responsibility. 

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• Genesis increased the number of children in the Child Development Center from 36 to 81 when the shelter relocated in February, 2004.   The shelter also at that time secured state child care licensure. 
• At the time of the move, Genesis made 20 slots in the Child Development Center accessible to residents in the neighborhood on a sliding fee scale.  
• One third of the employees in the Child Development Center have been at Genesis for seven years or more.
• Genesis Shelter does not charge residents for services rendered by the Child Development Center. In addition, when families leave the shelter and enter the AfterCare Program, these children can remain in the Child Development Center for 3 to 6 months. 
• The program participants of the Genesis Shelter Pre-School Development Program are siblings of homeless newborn babies who reside with their families at Genesis Shelter or participate in the AfterCare program.  In addition, children in other Child Development Center classrooms progress into the pre-school program. 
• Genesis Shelter uses a curriculum that develops cognitive and language skills in a social and emotional climate that promotes at-risk children’s understanding of themselves as individuals and in relation to others. 
• The Child Development Center staff maintains partnerships with community organizations, and these partnerships provide a mutually beneficial relationship to the shelter through collaboration and through increasing the awareness of the shelter’s activities to many diverse populations.  The families develop relationships with community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, government agencies, and hospital social workers that serve homeless people across all lines of ethnicity, gender, age, race, religion and sexuality.  The result is these sources of referral continue after the family leaves the shelter.  
• The shelter runs an innovative Child Development Center that uses the highly acclaimed Better Brains for Babies program to off-set the challenges incurred by these at-risk children.
• Parents who participate in the AfterCare Program and bring their children to the Child Development Center and area residents who enroll their children in the Child Development Center will be required to arrange their own transportation to the Center.
• At the Child Development Center babies receive proper nutrition, much-needed physical contact and sensory stimulation and they are nurtured in a clean and healthy environment. 
• Volunteers assist in the Child Development Center individually and in groups.  Volunteers work directly with the children providing tutoring, mentoring, play activities, arts and crafts, and field trips.  In addition, volunteers help us maintain the facility by providing support with repairs, maintenance and decorative arts.   

 
Success Factors