Care and support

More about Young in Herts

Who we are - the Young in Herts partnership
The Young in Herts partnership is Hertfordshire’s early years development & childcare partnership. Some of the partners include:

• Hertfordshire County Council
• National Childminding Association (NCMA)
• Pre-school Learning Alliance (PsLA)
• NHS

Young in Herts is a partnership that represents a wide range of organisations and interests in early years education and childcare working together to improve services for children and their families in Hertfordshire.

These organisations include a number of county council departments, schools, district & borough councils, the Health Authority and Health Trusts, The Learning & Skills Council, Job Centre Plus, voluntary organisations such as the Pre School Learning Alliance, National Childminding Association, day nurseries, out of school childcare, independent schools, employers and parents.

The county council leads Young in Herts through its Children Schools and Families department. Young in Herts has a chair, and as well as regular county meetings, there are a number of sub groups that deal with particular topics such as early years education, childcare, training and quality. The chair and many representatives work in a voluntary capacity.

As Hertfordshire is such a large and varied county, Young in Herts has established 10 local district partnerships based on the district and borough council areas. District partnerships identify and work to meet their own local priorities within the County Plan.

In order to support the delivery of the plan, Young in Herts has:

developed and expanded early education and childcare provision

introduced a quality assurance scheme called Herts Quality Standards

developed a funded training and qualifications programme

assisted in the recruitment of staff

established a Children’s Information Service

attracted additional funding to meet the needs of children in Hertfordshire

developed initiatives to cater for children with particular needs

established six Children's Centres, with a further 42 due to be designated by 2008