In partnership with First 5 Riverside: Riverside County Children & Families Commission, Early Care and Education (ECE) implements Quality Start Riverside County, the Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) effort for Riverside County.

QRIS is a statewide approach to developing and supporting quality in early childhood program settings, classrooms, and family child care homes. The QRIS uses a tiered-matrix to identify the hallmarks of quality based upon assessment and program features focusing on three core elements of program quality:

1. Child Development and School-Readiness
   • Child Observation, Desired Results Developmental Profiles (DRDP)
   • Alignment with California Foundations & Frameworks
   • Developmental/Health Screenings, Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3 & ASQ-SE2)
2. Teachers and Teaching
   • Staffing Qualifications: Education, Experience, and Child Development Permit Levels
   • Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)
3. Program and Environment
   • Ratios and Group Size (for centers only)
   • Program Environment Rating Scales (ERS)
   • Director Qualifications (for centers only)

Programs participating in Quality Start Riverside County receive support to maintain and improve the quality of their programs. Some of the benefits of participating in Quality Start Riverside County are:

• Quality improvement support, resources, training, and coaching services
• Eligible as a provider for Riverside Hybrid Alternative Payment (RHAP) program.
• Some providers qualify for incentivized reimbursements for children enrolled in RHAP, as well as for children served through ECE’s Alternative Payment Program and CalWORKs Stages 2 and 3.

Quality Start Riverside County helps early learning programs in the county provide the highest quality early care and education, so children in these programs get the quality start they deserve.

For more information, you may call ECE at (951) 826-6699 or visit the Quality Start Riverside County.