Our Programs
Programs
Early Learning Resource Center Region 1
NWIR has been operating Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) Region 1, consisting of Erie, Crawford, Mercer and Venango counties since 2018. The ELRC provides a single point-of-contact for families, early childhood education professionals and communities to get information and access services that support high-quality child care and early learning programs. Services the ELRC offers include Pennsylvania’s Child Care Works (CCW) program and Keystone STARS quality rating system.
Last year, we helped almost 4,700 children and their families enroll or maintain their placement in the CCW program, which provides subsidized child care for working families. In addition, we also provided quality coaching for 235 ECE providers, helping them move up in the STARS system. Our quality coaches helped 20 providers improve their STARS level in the past year, improving the quality of child care offered in our region.
Early Learning Resource Center Region 2
In 2024, NWIR successfully obtained the contract to operate Early Learning Resource Center Region 2, consisting of Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, and Warren counties. The ELRC provides a single point-of-contact for families, early childhood education professionals and communities to get information and access services that support high-quality child care and early learning programs. Services the ELRC offers include Pennsylvania’s Child Care Works (CCW) program and Keystone STARS quality rating system.
NWIR and our ELRC Region 2 leadership and staff look forward to assisting families and childcare providers throughout the nine counties over the next five years.
ECE Learning Alliance
The ECE Learning Alliance is a network of early childhood education providers in Erie, Crawford, Mercer and Venango counties who work together to share information, resources, workload and costs with our 91 member organizations. In the past year, Learning Alliance members were able to access a Health & Safety Consultant and several professional development events, such as Inspiring Wellness Every Day, Hidden in Plain Sight, and Step Up to Quality Supervision. In addition, members were given the opportunity to pilot Cognitive ToyBox software, which enables ECE teachers to gather assessment data more quickly and accurately, improving learning outcomes for children. Learning Alliance members also have access to a variety of resources via the Alliance website, such as a Director’s Toolbox and a guide for new ECE professionals.
Infant Toddler Contracted Slots
The Infant Toddler Contracted Slots pilot program is a new alternative to the traditional voucher system. With this pilot, funding for awarded slots stay with the ECE provider when a child leaves the program, with the provider having the responsibility to fill the slot with another CCW eligible child. The primary goals of this pilot program are to: 1) establish and study a new fiscal model that supports high-quality care, 2) provide fiscal stability for high-quality providers serving CCW eligible families, 3) encourage providers to serve infants and toddlers to meet market demand, 4) establish a continuum of care for ages 0-K in high-quality settings and 5) strengthen the link between high-quality childcare and high-quality pre-K programs. In ELRC Region 1, we currently have 108 total slots available at five different ECE providers.
Rapid Response Team
Rapid Response Teams (RRT) support a grassroots and collaborative approach that has emerged in several Pennsylvania communities to provide a cross-sector team deployed to ECE programs when the program is struggling with the challenging behavior of a child who is at immediate risk of expulsion. The goals of RRT’s are to: 1) respond within 48 business hours to any ECE program, 2) facilitate the development of a case-based collaborative plan of action, 3) provide short-term support to the ECE workforce and families, and 4) provide efficient warm handoffs to additional community supports, as necessary. Our collaborators in ELRC Region 1 are Zion Education Center, Inc. and the Barber National Institute.
Partnerships
Wonderschool
NWIR partners with Wonderschool to help families find high-quality child care, while strengthening the business, coaching, communication and marketing tools available to ECE providers. These tools enable providers to use data and insights to make sound business decisions and gain access to coaching, which can help increase program quality and capacity.
NWIR received a $300,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to continue offering Wonderschool to members of the ECE Learning Alliance! This grant introduces a new avenue for individuals wishing to open a licensed child care home. The Wonderschool RISE Academy provides all system supports to assist individuals in navigating the steps to open a new licensed program.
IdentoGo
In October 2020, NWIR identified a gap in fingerprinting services available to ECE professionals which was preventing them from gaining and maintaining employment due to long appointment wait times and lengthy travel distances. To help alleviate this need, NWIR partnered with IdentoGO by Idemia to offer fingerprinting services to the ECE community, along with other professions and volunteers in need, such as school and medical personnel, human services workers, youth sports coaches, etc. This past year, we provided services for over 8,000 individuals in our community, including over 850 ECE professionals! For more information about Identogo fingerprinting services, please visit www.identogo.com. NWIR staff are unable to answer questions regarding fingerprinting services.
Exciting News: NWIR Named New PDO for Pennsylvania’s Northwest Region
We are thrilled to share exciting news for the early childhood education community across Northwest Pennsylvania!
The Northwest Institute of Research, Inc. (NWIR), in partnership with Mercyhurst University and other trusted higher education institutions, has been named the new Professional Development Organization (PDO) for the Northwest Region of Pennsylvania. We are also pleased to continue collaborating with our longtime partners at the PASSHE PDO to support and strengthen the early childhood education (ECE) workforce.
Sesame Street in Communities, in Partnership with WQLN
NWIR, through ELRC Region 1, has partnered with WQLN, Northwest Tri-County IU5 and CPB to offer Sesame Street in Communities to our region. These virtual trainings, offered at no cost to participants, enable parents and children to learn how to build resilience, strengthen their reading and math skills and becoming a more welcoming community. WQLN provided PBS for Kids learning software for newly licensed family child care homes.
Subsidiaries
JAM Team Foundation
The JAM Team Foundation was strengthened in 2023 through our strategic planning process with Strategy Solutions. During this process, the JAM Team revised our mission statement to better reflect our long-term goals for the community. Our new mission statement is “to support a vibrant community and productive workforce by providing access to holistic early learning environments.”
In addition to the new Miracle Micro-Centers, described in the strategic planning section, we have also established our Miracle Spaces initiative. Miracle Spaces grants will help ECE providers establish or renovate STEAM-based indoor and outdoor play spaces. These new play spaces will strengthen the provider’s curriculum and provide increased learning opportunities for the children attending the program.
NWIR 50 Year Anniversary
Northwest Institute of Research 50 Year Anniversary
2025 marks a golden year for the Northwest Institute of Research, Inc. as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary! Throughout this milestone year, we are excited to host several community events that honor our achievements and the enduring legacy of our late founder, Dr. Joyce A. Miller, culminating in a special 50th Anniversary Gala in November. While we reflect on our past, 2025 also represents a year of growth and progress. We are thrilled to announce that NWIR will be providing Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) services to Region 1 for the next five years. Additionally, we are proud to expand our impact by serving ELRC Region 2, which includes Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, and Warren Counties, for the next five years. Our newly opened hub in DuBois, PA is already making strides, and we look forward to engaging with the families and providers we serve in this region. In celebration of our 50th Anniversary, we are also excited to complete our PANO Standards for Excellence ® accreditation, ensuring that our policies and procedures uphold the highest standards in governance, management, and legal compliance. Through the JAM Team Foundation, we continue to advance the Miracle Spaces program, which creates inclusive and STEAM-based play spaces for early learning providers throughout ELRC Regions 1 and 2. This initiative has been further supported by a generous $35,000 Helping Today grant from the Erie Community Foundation. Additionally, we are making significant progress on the Miracle Micro-Centers project, which blends the best features of childcare centers and in-home care. Stay tuned for more updates on this innovative project in 2025! We look forward to all that this exciting year holds for our community and the future of NWIR.