“Quality is not act. It is a habit.” ~Aristotle

Following the successful publication of ISSA's Quality Framework for Early Childhood Practices in Services for Children under Three Years Old during 2016, we have undertaken to make this work available to more practitioners working in early childhood services by translating it into both Russian and Dutch languages. With this document, ISSA highlights the importance of putting very young children and their families at the centre of all early childhood interventions and programmes provided through a diverse range of services. ISSA also acknowledges that, for this age group, a shared understanding of quality is crucial to consistently addressing a child’s uniqueness and very specific needs by all service providers across sectors (health, education and social welfare). There is a need, across the globe, for better coordination among agencies providing different kinds of services to infants, young children and their families. Drawing on ISSA's unique history and experience, this work reflects on the care of children under three years of age in the regions of Central/Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Having a different history from other parts of Europe, the educational system in the Soviet Union and communist-bloc countries provided care and education for the vast majority of young children from birth through entrance into primary school in state-supported centres with trained, qualified staff. Following the end of the Soviet Union, and as ISSA's own research demonstrated, the access by children and families to these services has decreased since the 1990s and where they do exist, the quality in many locations is currently lower than it had been previously. These finding were not only the motivating factors in the development of the Quality Framework, but form the basis of a chapter, authored by ISSA experts, in Springer's new series, Under-three Year Olds in Policy and Practice. ISSA’s Quality Framework is grounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and stands for the centrality of the child and family in conceptualising, designing and implementing programs dedicated to this age group, regardless of the type of service, programme, or sector. Follow this link to learn more and to download the Quality Framework in English or click on the image below for the Russian and Dutch language versions.