Every day, Community Action Program of Lancaster County's child care center provides daycare to 80 preschool children from low-income families.

And the care and education those children receive at the nonprofit center on South Queen Street is becoming the best among the county's child care centers licensed by the state Department of Public Welfare.

Wednesday, CAP's child care center celebrated its recent certification as a "STARS 3" facility.

"There are a lot of for-profit child care centers in Lancaster County that don't offer this level of care," said Allison Troutman, director of CAP's center. "We've worked really hard to get to where we are."

The Keystone STARS program is an initiative of the state Office of Child Development and Early Learning.

It is designed to improve and support early learning programs in Pennsylvania, according to the STARS Web site.

STARS stands for "standards, training/professional development, assistance, resources and support."

It's a voluntary program in which child care providers commit themselves to a four-tiered level of performance standards.

"Each level builds on the previous level and utilizes research-based best practices to promote quality early learning environments and positive child outcomes," Troutman said.

To earn a STARS 3 certification from the state, CAP's child care center's 20 employees had to undergo 18 hours of specialized training within the past year. Plus 75 percent of the staff must have associate's or bachelor's degrees in early childhood development.

CAP's center was a STARS 2 facility before the recent upgrade. That required 50 percent of the staff to have advanced degrees and all to have undergone 12 hours of annual training.

Also, an official from the Office of Child Development and Early Learning recently spent two days at CAP's child care center observing teachers and their facilities as part of the certification process.

There are 147 licensed child care centers in Lancaster County that follow the STARS program, according to the Office of Child Development and Early Learning.

Of those, 18 are considered STARS 4 facilities and 20 are rated at STARS 3. The rest are either STARS 1 or 2.

According to Troutman, having more highly educated employees working in child-care centers helps children become better prepared for school. It also helps in identifying developmental deficiencies early.

"When one of our teachers sees a child that might be developing a little slow in some areas, then we can get that child special help to get them caught up," said Casey Buchta, the center's assistant director.

Nearly 98 percent of the children who attend CAP's child care center pay for daycare with assistance from Child Care Information Services — a subsidy program that helps low-income families pay for child care.

"Without our program, a lot of our parents would have to give up their jobs and stay at home to take care of their kids," Troutman said.

CAP's child care center is working to earn its STARS 4 rating by summer, Troutman said.

That requires more training for the employees, who must have a higher rate of advanced education.

E-mail: preilly@lnpnews.com