An exciting new partnership is emerging with the founders of American ChildCare and Imagination Station Child Development Center. This new partnership brings the expertise of enriched child care for traveling families, with NAEYC accredited educational child care to form an unprecedented comprehensive child care program for the Chicago 2016 Olympics.

Rebecca Van’t Hof founded American ChildCare twenty years ago with a vision to provide professional, reliable family care to the traveling public. American ChildCare partners with the hotel industry to provide care for hotel guests in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. Rebecca has established close relationships with hotel concierges in all three cities to ensure that American ChildCare exceeds the expectations of the hotels and their guests.

American ChildCare strongly believes that our staff is our best asset. Our recruiting team  recruits staff from local Universities that offer care related degrees. Candidates are selected from the departments of social work, nursing, physical therapy, early, and secondary education.

Janice Englander Katz, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with 23 years of experience working to improve the lives of children, families and adults. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Katz is an inexhaustible community organizer committed to finding systematic solutions to society’s challenges. In 1992 Dr. Katz united several Michigan City business leaders and established The Child Care Consortium, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to improving the quality and accessibility of child care. Dr. Katz’s efforts led to the creation of Imagination Station Child Development Center, a The Consortium’s NAEYC accredited educational child care center that accommodates 120 children from infancy through kindergarten. Dr. Katz remains Chair of The Consortium Board and donates her services as Mental Health Consultant and Development Director.

Several issues in the early care and education field have prompted Dr. Katz to develop new programs and work to affect public policy. Recognizing that teacher education significantly improves child care quality, Dr. Katz worked closely with Purdue University North Central to establish their Early Childhood Education program. In 2008, PNC enrolled its first cohort of Early Childhood Education Bachelor Degree students.

Dr. Katz is Co-Chair of the Public Policy Committee for the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children. She is also an active member of the Indiana Infant Mental Health Task Force. She has served on many nonprofit Boards, is a frequent presenter at local, state and regional conferences and provides workshops for physicians, educators, and parents on a variety of topics. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. at Washington University in St. Louis and her B.A. at University of Minnesota.