Atlanta is a sprawling metropolitan area, covering at least 4 key counties; Cobb, Fulton, Dekalb and Gwinnett. Employees of ABC companies in these communities experience some of the longest commute times in the country. The dependent care infrastructure mostly consists of for-profit child care center chains, providing care for infants through school- age. The public school districts are run county-wide making them difficult to partner with because of county politics and bureaucracy. In order to address key concerns of working parents in Atlanta, the ABC members focused on developing a network of 70 family child care and 40 center providers who were willing to meet the demands of these working families. In addition, they also focused on providing specialty care during the 1996 Olympics, and convinced a few schools to participate in the Bridge project, and began working with after-school programs on achieving national standards. In 1999-2000 the ABC will focus on working intensely with at least two school districts and local foundations to change the way the schools provide out-of-school time care and increase parent involvement.

Funding Companies

Aetna
AT&T
BP Amoco
Chevron
Deloitte & Touche
Eastman Kodak Company
General Electric
Hewlett-Packard Company
IBM Corporation
Lotus Development Corporation
Lucent Technologies

Projects

Early Childhood
Child Care Center Director's Support Group
Child Care Program Expansion
NAEYC Facilitated Accreditation for Child Care Centers
Accreditation/Credential for Family Child Care Providers
On-Site Training Program for Child Care Center
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Scholarship Project
Activity Kits for Family Child Care Providers
CORE Basic Competency Curriculum for Family Child Care Providers
Advanced CORE Curriculum Training for Family Child Care Providers
Family Child Care Child Care Clusters
Mentoring for Family Child Care Providers
Health & Safety Training for Family Child Care Providers
One-Day Infant/Toddler Training for Family Child Care Providers
Scholarships for Family Child Care Providers

School-Age
The Bridge Project
First Steps: An Introduction to National Quality Standards
Global Games
Grants Fund
Summer Camp
Summer of Service
Theme-based Activities

Backup
Backup Health & Safety Training
Backup Emergency Care
Mildly Ill Conference

Elder Care
Senior Center Quality Enhancement Initiative
Adult Day Care Expansion
Elder Care Fair
Escorted Transportation
Home Care Worker Recruitment/Training
SeniorNet Computer Learning Center