IN THIS ISSUE:
Profiles in Leadership
Lilian Katz: Reflections
Current Early Care
and Education Initiatives
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Profiles in Leadership
Periodically in this e-newsletter we will profile Gateways’ leaders to acquaint
you with their work and to illustrate through their experiences the range of
career options available in early care and education.
In this issue of Inside Gateways, we profile two long-time early care
and education professionals in the Bureau of Child Care and Development at the
Illinois Department of Human Services.
Holly Knicker
 Successful college preparation, experience,
and effective supervision matter. These are among the lessons Holly
Knicker has learned over the course of her professional career in early care
and education. Holly is currently the Child Care Quality Manager for the Bureau
of Child Care and Development at the Illinois Department of Human Services
(IDHS). In that role, Holly manages the federal funds that support child care
quality in Illinois. She and her staff provide oversight of IDHS-funded
activities conducted by the Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies
(CCR&Rs), as well as additional services related to quality. When she
accepted her position at IDHS in 1999, Holly knew firsthand how a CCR&R can
influence child care quality at the community level through its work with
parents, child care providers, and employers. Holly was the director of the
CCR&R agency in McHenry County for 9 years before coming to IDHS.
Holly graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1981 with
a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in day care
administration. Her degree has helped her secure every professional position
she has held, including her current position at IDHS. After working in a child
care center as a teacher of 2-year-olds, Holly accepted a director position at
a full-time child care program in the St. Louis area. When Holly’s family later
moved back to northern Illinois, she accepted a second director position at a
full-time child care program in McHenry County.
During a family leave to care for their third child at home, Holly contacted a
local community college to see if they had openings for a part-time instructor.
She taught early care and education courses at McHenry County Community College
for the next 8 years. During that time, her supervisor at the college
recommended Holly for the director position of the newly developed McHenry
County CCR&R. As the director and initially the only employee, Holly
learned all the programmatic and fiscal aspects of a CCR&R agency. With
leadership from Holly and her supervisors, the McHenry County CCR&R grew
over the next 9 years. That experience helped prepare her for the Child Care
Quality Manager position when it became available at IDHS in 1999.
The opportunities at IDHS enabled Holly to move into a position that provided
professional challenges and allowed for input on statewide child care program
development, policies, and procedures. Holly experienced a learning curve when
she made the shift from being the director of a state-contracted CCR&R
program to working in the agency that did the contracting, IDHS. Holly had to
learn how to work within a large state government agency, how processes take
place, and how decisions get made within the infrastructure of IDHS.
Over the years, Holly has been fortunate to work with many staff and supervisors
who are dedicated to improving the lives of children and families. Some
management skills stand out as being particularly effective, including those of
her current supervisor at IDHS. Holly has found that the most effective
supervisors communicate clearly, take time to explain the “hows” and “whys” of
areas of responsibility, grant autonomy in those areas where a staff member has
strengths, and work with staff in those areas where support is needed. Holly
tries to emulate these same qualities for the staff she supervises at IDHS.
Anne Wharff
Teacher, education coordinator, director, licensing representative, day care
coordinator, school age specialist, child care subsidy specialist, professional
development coordinator—over her professional career of nearly 35
years, Anne Wharff has held a wide variety of positions in the early care and
education field. How did Anne’s career path evolve? What helps her maintain her
focus, her calm, and her good humor after so many years?
Anne Wharff is currently the Professional Development Coordinator in the Bureau
of Child Care and Development at the Illinois Department of Human Services. In
that capacity, Anne oversees and provides leadership to the early care and
education professional development initiatives of various statewide groups
(e.g., INCCRRA, CCR&Rs, Gateways to Opportunity).
Anne received a bachelor’s degree in child development from Iowa State
University in 1974. As part of her undergraduate education, Anne completed a
practicum experience in Peoria at a preschool center where children had special
needs. This eye-opening experience ultimately led her to accept a position upon
graduation in a child care center in Peoria run by the Salvation Army. Anne
worked as a teacher and as the Education Coordinator at that center from 1974
until 1977, when she became the center’s director. In 1980, Anne took a
position as a licensing representative for DCFS in the Peoria region, and after
8 years she became the Regional Day Care Coordinator for DCFS, monitoring DCFS
site-administered contracts and region-administered child care programs. As
Regional Day Care Coordinator, Anne was invited to serve on numerous United Way
committees to support quality improvements in community-based child care
programs in the region. Through that work, Anne gained experience in helping
diverse groups come together to support high-quality child care programs.
In 1991, Anne was invited to apply for the School-Age Coordinator position
within the Office of Child Development in Springfield to administer the
school-age grants that were part of the federal Dependent Care Grant. That
position taught Anne a great deal about school-age child care services around
the state. In 1992, Anne became the manager of the Dependent Care Grant, which
was expanded to include quality improvement activities for the Child Care
Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies.
Under the purview of the newly formed
Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), Anne’s position evolved
to include policy and technical assistance in the child care subsidy program in
1997. Anne was interested in the statewide trends in the child care assistance
program, but she missed using her child development expertise. In 2002, Anne
took the opportunity to move from child care subsidy work to her current
position as Professional Development Coordinator within IDHS. Since that time,
Anne has helped to grow and monitor a variety of statewide programs that
address child care quality, particularly those involving professional
development. A central aspect of Anne’s position is to ensure that the major
statewide early care and education sectors (e.g., IDHS, ISBE, and Head Start)
are at the professional development table and collaborating on a common goal of
improved care and education for young children and their families.
Working in early care and education for over three decades can be draining, and Anne concedes there are challenges working in state government. Focusing on both the big picture in the early care and education landscape and the smallest picture of the child—as well as taking time to pursue personal interests and to travel—helps Anne remain upbeat about her work and hopeful for the future.
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