Meet the Director: Children's Services

JODI MISCANNON

I have been the Director of Children’s Services at UCP since October 2001. Previously, I worked as the Director of CADES children’s program in Delaware County. I graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education and completed my Master’s degree in Social Work at Temple University. My first affiliation with UCP of Philadelphia & Vicinity was through Director of Community Social Services Joe Scullin, who was my Field Supervisor during my practicum in graduate school.

I love being the Director here for many reasons, but primarily because I believe all children should play and learn together. When I started at UCP, we had one classroom that was not inclusive. The children in that room had more significant needs. It did not make sense to me that some children should be included while others were not. Today, I am proud to say that UCP Best Friends is a fully-inclusive program.

UCP Children’s Services department has many quality features including its committed and talented staff, Sibling Support Group, UCP Best Friends accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and four Keystone Stars, two strong indicators of quality early childhood education programming. I contributed to the development of the PA Infant Toddler Standards, sit on the Advisory Board for the Keystone Stars program, and am active on the Philadelphia Interagency Coordinating Council. UCP’s Children’s Services department partners with the School District of Philadelphia to provide Head Start and Pre-K Counts programs, and we participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, providing nutritious meals to our children.

Our program has an excellent reputation and I am proud to be a part of it.