Every week in the United States, nearly 11 million children younger than age five are in some type of child care arrangement. While all families with young children benefit from an awareness and knowledge of high-quality, affordable child care options that match their need for safe, healthy, and developmentally appropriate care, children from economically challenged and diverse families benefit even more monumentally from a high-quality child care environment. There are, however, many barriers for low-income and otherwise vulnerable families accessing care including preventable barriers such as the lack of knowledge of early care options.

Tulsa, Oklahoma - September is National Preparedness Month, and Child Care Resource Center is celebrating by kicking off a new two-year emergency preparedness project. Tulsa-based Child Care Resource Center, a program of the Community Service Council (a United Way partner agency), was recently awarded the Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies as Resilience Hubs grant. The training program is designed to strengthen emergency preparedness efforts geared toward children, parents, and child care providers while also enhancing coordination with first responders and disaster response organizations.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) requires that states develop consumer education information for Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) parents, providers, and the general public on the following topics:

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies—CCR&Rs as Community Resilience Hubs. This initiative, administered through CCAoA’s emergency preparedness team aims to increase the capabilities of communities working with child care centers and family child care providers in preparing, responding, and recovering from natural disasters and emergencies.

We were excited to have more than 350 attendees join us for this year’s biennial Child Care Aware® of America 2016 Symposium on April 4-6 in Washington, D.C. Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies and early care professionals from various disciplines and settings joined us from across the nation to celebrate milestones, collaborate for results, and advocate for a high quality, affordable child care system.

We know professional conferences can be long and often times exhausting; learning can be hard work, right? Not at Symposium 2016! We want to make sure you take advantage of your down time here in Washington, D.C. to not only network with child care leaders, but enjoy some music, grab a healthy snack, and just catch up on your emails or master Candy Crush.