Skip-a-Long Child Development Services

Skip-a-Long Child Development Services is a nonprofit child development organization founded in 1970 in East Moline to address the critical shortage of quality, affordable child care for low-income families. Recognizing that reliable access to safe, high-quality early childhood education is essential to breaking cycles of poverty and enabling paren... ts to become stable, focused employees, Skip-a-Long's founders established the organization to serve disadvantaged children and support working families across the region. Today, Skip-a-Long operates three campuses across two states and manages the Home Child Care Network, which connects families in the Illinois Quad Cities and Peoria areas with licensed home-based child care providers offering flexible, nontraditional hours. The organization has evolved from serving exclusively low-income families to providing comprehensive child development services to all children regardless of financial means, supported by a sliding fee scale and partnerships with the Illinois Department of Human Services and United Way to ensure affordability and accessibility throughout the Quad Cities area. Skip-a-Long's child care centers are distinguished by their professional teaching staff, developmentally appropriate curriculum, and enriched activity programming that exceed typical quality benchmarks, preparing children for academic success and lifelong learning. The organization maintains a robust community support network that connects families with essential services including family assistance, crisis intervention, and financial aid for child care, ensuring that barriers to quality early education are removed. By combining high-quality developmental programming with wraparound family support services and flexible care options, Skip-a-Long Child Development Services has established itself as a trusted partner for working families seeking reliable, affordable, and educationally rigorous child care solutions in the Quad Cities region.Read More