About Us

Who We Are

SAL Community Services (SAL) believes that when all children have the chance to learn and grow with high quality early care and education, we all benefit. When people have the support and resources needed to weather life's storms, our community is stronger. We know well-being is built throughout a lifetime, much like a house is built and maintained over many years. SAL establishes strong foundations for lifelong development with high quality early care and education, while training and support for early education professionals provides the materials needed to strengthen well-being at all stages of life. Emergency funds and connections to community partners make sure everyone has support in times of crisis. We work with children ages six weeks to 12 years old in five separate early care and education centers, we support families and adults by providing for immediate needs at our two crisis assistance centers, and we consult with and train child care professionals in centers and homes throughout the region to ensure our communities remain vibrant places for all who live here.

Our Mission

SAL Community Services strengthens children, families, and individuals to build and enhance thriving communities.

Our History and Programs

SAL Community Services is a nonprofit organization based in Moline, IL. The agency was founded in 1970 as Skip-a-Long Daycare by a group called the "Concerned Citizens," who saw a need to establish quality care for children of families who could not afford the full cost of high quality early care and education programs in the Quad Cities. Skip-a-Long became one of the first centers to offer care for infants in the region, and partnered with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to offer care on a sliding fee scale so high quality care was accessible and affordable for all families, regardless of financial needs.

Skip-a-Long Childhood Centers 

Skip-a-Long Childhood Centers are dedicated to making sure every child is prepared for success in school and in life. Five campuses in Davenport, IA, Milan, IL, Moline, IL and Rock Island, IL serve nearly 800 children ages six weeks to 12 years old every day. All five campuses are Nationally Accredited, and all hold the highest ratings attainable through the Iowa Quality Rating System and Illinois' ExceleRate. With full-time infant and toddler care, preschool, before/after school care and full-day summer programs, Skip-a-Long early care and education centers provide a high quality, caring learning environment where children thrive.

The Home Child Care Network

The Home Child Care Network (HCCN) was started in 1996 to support families needing non-traditional hours of child care (1st, 2nd, 3rd shifts, weekends, holidays). HCCN works with licensed family child care providers to offer free support, supplies, and training resources so children in a home setting receive the same high quality care as children in center-based programs. HCCN offers free consultation and support to licensed family child care homes in 12 counties in Illinois, from the Quad Cities to Peoria, IL. HCCN Coordinators provide curriculum, CPR/First Aid training, professional development opportunities, assistance with the ExceleRate Illinois quality rating system application process, and one-on-one coaching on a variety of early childhood development topics. With this help, licensed family child care providers further their businesses while supporting the needs and education of children. HCCN Coordinators also work with parents/guardians needing child care on Child Care Assistance Program application processes and make referrals to the high quality licensed homes in the Network to best meet families' needs.

Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships

Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships (EHS CCP) is a new program to SAL as of 2021.  This federally funded grant program provides comprehensive services to low-income children and families.  Early Head Start specifically serves families with children age birth - 3 years in centers and birth - 4 years in child care homes.  Child care services are offered in our Illinois Skip-a-Long centers, partner center, P&J Tender Care, as well as Home Child Care Network home providers.  We also offer a home visiting program for expecting parents which includes individualized home vistits and socialization events with other families.  Comprehensive services include support staff in Early Childhood Education, Health and Nutrition, Mental Health/Disabilities, and Family, Parent, and Community Engagement.

Open Door Crisis Assistance Program

Open Door, a crisis assistance program founded by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) in 2009, works to stabilize individuals and families experiencing crises. The program has an office located next door to the Rock Island, IL Skip-a-Long center which serves Henry, Mercer, and Rock Island counties, and an office inside Friendly House in Davenport, IA that specializes in working with victims and witnesses of crime.

Open Door has an on-site food pantry, clothing, and public-accessible computers, and Coordinators work to connect individuals to community resources such as counseling, health services, employment, and safe homes to meet each person's immediate needs. Open Door provides management of the Opportunities Quad Cities initiative, a collaboration of voluntee who have experienced success in their lives - "Navigators," who work with individuals and families struggling with poverty - "Neighbors." Navigators support Neighbors one-on-one to connect them to specific community resources that can alleviate a barrier to success and help them move forward permanently out of poverty. Navigators have worked with Neighbors to resolve legal issues, parenting struggles, continuing education, and many other situations that keep people in poverty, and the Opportunities Quad Cities movement has successfully brough the community together to create a thriving place for all who live here.

SAL Child Care Connection & Child Care Resource and Referral of Midwestern Illinois

SAL Child Care Connection (SALCCC) and Child Care Resource and Referral of Midwestern Illinois (CCRR) are "sister programs" funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services to support families needing quality, affordable child care and to assist licensed and license-exempt child care centers and homes in Illinois with meeting quality standards. SALCCC serves the nine-county area surrounding Peoria, IL, and CCRR works with the seven counties surrounding the Illinois Quad Cities area. Both programs offer databases of all licensed and license-exempt child care options for parents, and both work with famlies who apply for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). Quality Teams at both locations offer support and resources for child care providers, to make sure they have what they need to provide high quality early care and education services. By hosting training sessions and conferences, collaborating with community organizations, and issuing Quality Grants to providers who qualify, both programs ensure communities are caring for and teaching children so they are prepared for success in school.