Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Child Development Centers, Inc. aims to provide child care and early childhood education to families in Venango, Crawford and Erie counties, especially those with low income that could otherwise not afford child care. CDC serves children from infancy through sixth grade and offers supplemental services to support children’s growth and development.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Infants and Toddlers
Our infant-toddler classrooms provide individualized care and early childhood development for children beginning at six weeks of age. We recognize that social and emotional development of infants and toddlers lay the foundation that help guide a child into adulthood and that emotional competence establishes the foundation for success in all other areas of growth.
Children’s emotions in early childhood programs are related to their interactions with their primary caregivers. In our infant and toddler classrooms, a primary caregiver is assigned to each child which provides a responsive care that meets the individual needs of the children. The primary caregiver uses nurturing routines of the day (diaper changing, eating and mealtime, hellos and goodbyes, sleeping) to develop and maintain a trusting relationship with each child.
Our teachers use a formal, purchased curriculum called The Creative Curriculum to guide the children's daily learning experiences. The curriculum contains 21 early learning objectives that are subdivided into four content areas including learning about self and others, movement, the world and communicating.
It is primarily a relationship-based curriculum that contains components to promote the child's social, emotional, physical, cognitive and language development.
Early Head Start
Early Head Start is a federally funded program that serves infants, toddlers and their families. CDC offers an array of services such as nutritional meals, diapers and supplies, home visits and access to health care services.
This program at CDC's Oil City, Franklin and Cranberry centers is for infants and toddlers up to their third birthday and for expectant mothers and their families. The weekday program provides full-day, year-round child care and early childhood education, a nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack for the children, periodic home visits and access to high-quality health care services, plus services for expectant moms before and after they give birth.
Early Head Start is intended to promote early childhood development, to engage parents in their roles as teachers as well as caregivers and to help families move toward self-sufficiency. Another purpose is to provide a strong foundation of early learning that allows children to make a successful transition to preschool and kindergarten.
Grant funding covers most costs of the Early Head Start program for working, income-eligible families. To qualify for Early Head Start, a family’s income must be at or below the federal poverty level, which currently is $26,200 for a family of four.
Head Start
CDC now offers this federally funded program in 12 of its centers across Venango, Crawford and Erie counties. In addition to preparing children for kindergarten, CDC provides transportation to and from our centers.
Head Start is the federal government’s preschool program for 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children from low-income households. Head Start at CDC is a full-day, 9-month program that is intended to prepare children for a successful transition to kindergarten and elementary school.
All of the Head Start classes utilize Creative Curriculum that contains early learning objectives that are subdivided into 10 categories including sense of self, responsibility for self and others, pro-social behavior, large motor skills, small motor skills, learning and problem-solving, mathematics, representation and symbolic thinking, listening and speaking and reading and writing.
The curriculum balances student-led questions with teacher-led questions, investigations and explorations. During a Study, the classroom is transformed into a learning community which generates questions and helps children find way to explore those questions.
In addition to early childhood education, Head Start offers a number of other services that supports the children’s health, development and family well-being.
A family’s income must be at or below the federal poverty level – currently $26,200 for a family of four – for children to enroll in Head Start. The program is free to income-eligible households.
Pre-K Counts
Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts is a state-funded pre-kindergarten learning program that we offer at our Cranberry, Franklin School-Age, Hasson Heights and Willow centers. This full-day, 9-month program for 3-, 4- and 5-year-old boys and girls is intended to give them an early educational boost that will help them to make a successful transition to kindergarten and beyond and to do better in school.
Each of the Pre-K Counts classes utilize Creative Curriculum that contains early learning objectives that are subdivided into 10 categories including sense of self, responsibility for self and others, pro-social behavior, large motor skills, small motor skills, learning and problem-solving, mathematics, representation and symbolic thinking, listening and speaking and reading and writing.
The curriculum balances student-led questions with teacher-led questions, investigations and explorations. During a Study, the classroom is transformed into a learning community which generates questions and helps children find way to explore those questions.
Grant funding covers all costs of Pre-K Counts and is primarily for low-income households.
Preschool
CDC also offers a preschool program for 3-, 4- and 5-year-old boys and girls that is identical to Pre-K Counts but has no income eligibility guidelines.
This full-day, 9-month program for 3-, 4- and 5-year-old boys and girls is intended to give them an early educational boost that will help them to make a successful transition to kindergarten and beyond and to do better in school.
Like Pre-K Counts and Head Start, CDC's Preschool classes utilize Creative Curriculum that contains early learning objectives that are subdivided into 10 categories including sense of self, responsibility for self and others, pro-social behavior, large motor skills, small motor skills, learning and problem-solving, mathematics, representation and symbolic thinking, listening and speaking and reading and writing.
The curriculum balances student-led questions with teacher-led questions, investigations and explorations. During a Study, the classroom is transformed into a learning community which generates questions and helps children find way to explore those questions.
School-Age
CDC provides before school care, after school care or both to children in kindergarten through sixth grade. The school-age program offers a safe, comfortable and educational environment that blends play and learning.
CDC balances education and fun with interesting science experiments, math challenges, art creations and other fun activities. From Lego STEM Robots to puzzles to dress-up to Magna Tiles, kids can choose from a wide variety of stimulating and engaging activities during free play time. We also offer homework help, a nutritious snack and physical activities.
ELRC
ELRC helps families who are income-eligible to find affordable child care services so they can attend work or school.
For more information about ELRC, please contact Pam Sampsell at (814) 518-5226 or [email protected]
Camp Funshine
Camp Funshine is CDC's all day, 11-week summer program that is intended to provide a safe, fun and educational experience for elementary school-age children. CDC offers Camp Funshine at its Franklin School-Age, Hasson Heights and Cranberry centers.
At Camp Funshine, children engage in math, science and literacy games and activities, experience the arts, go swimming, compete in Camp Olympics, showcase their skills in a talent show and much more! We also go on numerous field trips to Two Mile Run Park, Morrison Park and other local destinations.
Enroll your child for Camp Funshine, find out about enrollment/field trip fees or learn more by calling CDC at (814) 670-0838. Financial assistance for income-eligible families may be available through the Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) at (814) 518-5226.
Outer Limits
Outer Limits is a free program for children ages 8-17 in Venango County that gives them the opportunity to participate in skill building activities.
Children may choose from a variety of extracurricular activities that community organizations or local school districts offer in Venango County. Over the past few years, Outer Limits has sponsored the following activities: piano, horseback riding, football, soccer, swimming, art, wrestling, basketball, baseball, cheerleading, and more.
Children who are eligible for Outer Limits include the following:
• Children who are being raised by a single parent, foster family or other relative
• Boys and girls whose families receive food stamps, cash assistance or SSI
• Students who are experiencing academic or social difficulties in school
• Children who have disabilities or who reside with a parent who is disabled
• Young persons who attend school at home
• Boys and girls whose families are experiencing a lack of employment
• Those whose families have exceptionally low income
• Children from families in which other disadvantages exist.
To learn more, please contact Tammy Snyder at (814) 670-0838 or email at [email protected]
Where we work
External reviews

Our Sustainable Development Goals
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Child Development Centers, Inc. aims works to promote student achievement and have every child enter kindergarten with the school district’s expectations for entry. Test scores will demonstrate that the children who attend CDC are above their peers in kindergarten in all areas of expectations. In addition, CDC looks to have all employees be engaged in the mission of “Educating Children To Succeed,” outperform the expectations of funders and customers, maintain a high quality of life within all centers and to operate profitably.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Child Development Centers, Inc. hires highly-qualified staff and continues to train staff at all levels of the organization to support their professional development. They are educated on CDC’s curriculum and best practices to execute their responsibilities accordingly.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Child Development Centers, Inc. has 400 qualified employees, 16 high-quality facilities and a strong organizational/financial structure.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Child Development Centers, Inc. has been working with families for more than 50 years in northwestern Pennsylvania and is currently serving nearly 2,000 children. CDC has also acquired several state and federal grants, including Early Head Start, Head Start and Pre-K Counts. Moving forward, CDC would like to continue serving children at a high level while being more intentional in data collection.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS, INC.
Board of directorsas of 02/25/2021
Janet Aaron
Retired
KC Miller
Franklin School District
Denise Jones
Michelle Morrison
Pennsylvania State Police
Lynda Weller
Oil City School District
Beth Dunkle
Mary Ann Graham
Rina Irwin
Child Development Centers, Inc.
Gary Collins
Elliot Ehrenreich
Greg Brown
Red Letter Hospitality
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
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Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/05/2019GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.