Standards for Child and Youth Development (CYD) programs

COA’s standards for Child and Youth Development (CYD) programs are designed to promote a program’s capacity to provide quality experiences that help children and youth thrive.

The CYD standards apply to a variety of programs, including:

  • Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs, including center-based care and oversight of family child care homes that are used to expand the capacity of center-based programs (Note: COA does not accredit standalone family child care homes.)
  • After School, Expanded/Extended Learning Time (ELT), Out-of School–Time (OST), etc. programs
  • Youth Development (teen) programs

hide
The standards address both administrative and service delivery practices and are divided into three parts:

  1. Administration and Management Standards

    The Administration and Management Standards promote sound operations and management and address Human Resources (HR) and Program Administration (CYD-AM). These apply to all programs regardless of the services provided or populations served.

  2. Service Delivery Administration

    The Service Delivery Administration Standards address practices related to the administration of services, including client rights, training and supervision, and the service environment. These also apply to all programs.

  3. Service Standards

    The Service Standards address practices related to the provision of Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Out-of-School Time (OST) services. They also include OST programming supplements for specific types of activities including arts education, academic enrichment, and mentoring. These standards apply based on your program’s scope and service population.

Note:  You are viewing the CYD Standards, a tailored subset of the standards for Private organizations. Click here to view the full list of Private Standards.