As one of the first ambassadors in the cadre of Vroom Ambassadors for Child Care Aware^® of America, the Office of Early Learning (OEL) continues to promote Vroom throughout the state of Florida. Vroom is such a unique resource for families that it is easy to connect Vroom to many other initiatives promoted by our agency and our partners. It has become routine to include links or references to Vroom in many of our projects and plans and to encourage the 30 early learning coalitions within the state to do so. Vroom is routinely referenced in the Family Engagement Plans for the early learning coalitions and included as a staple in presentations and events at conferences and events with partners.

Child Care Aware of Kansas (CCAKS) is the statewide administrator of the Child Care Resource and Referral network in Kansas. As a managing state agency we are proud to serve 105 counties, ranging from frontier to urban populations, alongside our partnering agencies: Child Start, The Family Conservancy and Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas. Our aim is to ensure families across Kansas have access to affordable high-quality child care, support professional development for early learning staff and advocate for positive changes to impact the lives of children and families. Our partnership with Vroom has given us the opportunity to strengthen our initiatives by supporting early learning and engagement for families, providers and communities.

What's Vroom?

Vroom provides interactive tools and resources that highlight the science behind early brain development, showing parents how they can turn everyday activities like bath time and meal time into opportunities that build their children’s brains. The Vroom Partnership at Child Care Aware^® of America is made up of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies who educate and provide Vroom resources to families, providers, and organizations in their communities so they too understand the importance of brain development during the first five years of life. Learn more about Vroom here.

Since 1985, The Children’s Cabinet’s mission has been to keep children safe and families together by providing services and resources that address unmet needs through a unique and effective cooperative effort between the private sector and public agencies in Nevada. By offering a wide range of community programs, the goal of the agency’s founders was to create a lasting public/private partnership to address the needs of children and their families in our community.

Being a Vroom Ambassador has been beneficial to our staff, child care providers and parents as well as to our 50 plus community partners who are also sharing Vroom messaging and materials with their clients.  

What's Vroom?

Vroom provides interactive tools and resources that highlight the science behind early brain development, showing parents how they can turn everyday activities like bath time and meal time into opportunities that build their children’s brains. The Vroom Partnership at Child Care Aware^® of America is made up of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies who educate and provide Vroom resources to families, providers, and organizations in their communities so they too understand the importance of brain development during the first five years of life. Learn more about Vroom here.

For many families across the country, their little ones are going to school for the first time. Whether starting a brand new routine after being cared for in a home-based setting or if care was provided in a child care center, going to “big-kid school” is a big deal!

It is a lot of change and some of the changes can have an impact on a child’s health, for instance, the amount of active play time and the kind of meals being served.

In our recent paper, Family Voices: Driving Quality Child Care Choices, we examined the child care needs of families facing vulnerabilities (low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, families with children with special needs, etc.), and how they find the child care that fits their needs. Our infographic below shows many  of the findings at a glance. 

Every week in the United States, nearly 11 million children younger than age 5 are in some type of child care. All families benefit from having high-quality and affordable child care options, but finding such care can be challenging, especially for families facing adverse situations. Families with low incomes, or who are otherwise vulnerable, experience significant barriers that limit their child care options.

Today, Child Care Aware® of America released Family Voices Driving Quality Child Care Choices, a report on findings and recommendations from a survey of families's need when it comes to child care and how they find such care, both in-person and online.