A researcher at Penn State Harrisburg has received two major national research grants totaling $140,000 to help improve the quality of childcare nationally.

Richard Fiene, affiliate assistant professor of psychology at Penn State Harrisburg, has received grants from the National Child Care Association and the National Center for Health and Safety in Child Care. One grant is to complete an assessment of the various early childhood program accreditation systems in the United States. The other grant will help to measure the effectiveness of national health and safety standards by the development of key indicators to program quality in childcare.

These two grants build upon Fiene's research into developing effective and efficient systems to improve childcare quality through key risk indicators. Fiene is a recognized national expert on child care quality and affiliated with the college's Center for Community Action and Research. He has been instrumental in the development of national early childhood accreditation systems, national child care standards and training systems in early childhood.