HEV0871 – Child Care Worker 2 is a 150-hour Postsecondary Adult Vocational (PSAV) course carrying zero credit hours. It is Occupational Completion Point B of Florida's 600-hour Early Childhood Education program, building directly on HEV0870 Child Care Worker 1.
Where the first course established the foundations required before a person can be responsible for children — safety, health, supervision, reporting — this course moves from keeping children safe to supporting their development deliberately. The shift is from custodial competence to educational intent.
Content covers planning developmentally appropriate activities across the curriculum areas: language and early literacy, mathematics and reasoning, science and discovery, creative arts, music and movement, and dramatic play. Students learn to select and adapt activities for the developmental range actually present in a group, rather than for a nominal age.
The course covers the learning environment in depth — arranging space into interest areas, selecting materials, establishing routines and transitions, and understanding how environment shapes behavior. Much of what looks like a behavior problem in early childhood is an environment problem, and the course treats it that way.
Observation and assessment deepen correspondingly: recording objectively, using observation to inform planning, recognizing developmental red flags, and documenting for family communication. Guidance moves beyond redirection into understanding the function of behavior and supporting social-emotional development.
Family engagement receives attention as a professional skill — building partnerships, communicating about progress and concerns, and working respectfully across differences in culture and family structure.
The course is offered at approximately 17 Florida institutions, predominantly district technical colleges and career centers: Charlotte Technical College, Daytona State, Fort Myers Technical College, Immokalee Technical College, Lake Technical College, Lorenzo Walker Technical College, North Florida College, Orange Technical College, Pinellas Technical College, Radford M. Locklin Technical College, Sarasota County Technical Institute, Suwannee-Hamilton Technical Center, Sheridan Technical College, Southwest Technical College, Traviss Technical College, and Withlacoochee Technical College.
Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten program and School Readiness funding sustain steady demand statewide, and staffing shortages have been persistent. Compensation is modest relative to the responsibility, which is worth stating honestly, but entry is accessible and the credential ladder is well defined.
Florida's Early Childhood Education program (FLDOE program number E300100, CIP 0419070913) is 600 clock hours across four Occupational Completion Points, each 150 hours and each separately employable, so a student can work while continuing:
Every component carries zero credit hours and is measured in clock hours. The FLDOE framework sets basic skills levels of Mathematics 9 and Communications 9, normally demonstrated by TABE, and the career and technical student organization is SkillsUSA.
Completing all courses in the program and meeting additional requirements — including a 480-hour direct work experience requirement with children five years old or younger while enrolled — qualifies a student for the FLDOE Early Childhood Professional Certificate (ECPC) and eligibility for a DCF Staff Credential. The work experience requirement runs concurrently with coursework and needs planning; classroom hours do not satisfy it.
The program is approved by the Florida Department of Children and Families as meeting the training requirements for child care personnel and preschool teachers under Rule 65C-22.001(6), F.A.C. Students should confirm their institution's program holds current DCF approval — the coursework serves its purpose only if it does.
Because students work with children, programs require Level 2 background screening under Chapter 435, F.S. before placement, and a disqualifying record prevents participation. Prospective students with any history should raise it with the program before enrolling rather than after.
Florida law requires any person who knows or suspects child abuse, abandonment, or neglect to report it to the Florida Abuse Hotline (1-800-96-ABUSE). The duty attaches to the individual, not the employer, and cannot be discharged by telling a supervisor. Failure to report carries criminal penalty.
This is clock-hour CTE and does not carry college credit or transfer as general education. Florida does maintain a statewide articulation agreement for Early Childhood Education awarding college credit toward an A.S. in Early Childhood Education for specified credentials — a meaningful pathway for students who later pursue a degree. Confirm current terms with the receiving institution, since articulated credit depends on the credential earned.
The most useful professional insight in this course, and the one experienced instructors emphasize: much of what presents as a behavior problem in a group of young children is a function of the environment — too little space, too few materials, waiting too long in transition, activities pitched wrong for the group. A worker who can read the environment solves problems that a worker focused on individual children keeps managing repeatedly.
Generated August 31, 2026 · Updated August 31, 2026