Daniela Salinas’ access to quality child care has been limited by high costs.  Like many states around the nation the cost of child care in her home state is more expensive than college tuition.  Watch as Daniela shares how voucher and subsidy programs help families make child care more affordable and enabled her to finish college. Then, check out our 2017 Parents and the High Cost of Child Care report to find out how affordable child care is in your state.

The Problem:

States and territories must implement Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) requirements on criminal background checks, but those requirements are complicated and can be difficult to understand.

Child Care Aware® of America was proud to be a Gold Sponsor of the recent 2017 ZERO TO THREE conference. The event brought over 3,000 early childhood professionals to San Diego, CA November 29-December 1 for three days of learning, networking, and socializing.

An alarm rings…lights flash…you regularly practice fire drills, so you know this is the fire alarm. You need to evacuate, but what do you take with you?  Where is the closest exit?  What happens if the closest exit is blocked?  How can you evacuate yourself and your roomful of toddlers quickly and easily?

Children and their families are the heart of early care and education. We know that when child care providers and early educators work in close concert with families.

• Young children gain a stronger foundation for learning and development,
• Overall family well-being is enhanced, and
• The early care workforce experiences greater job satisfaction, and frequent turnover is less likely.

Amy Ornelas, a child care provider and grandparent and one of our Vroom Week winners, was thrilled to celebrate with us. She has been an avid user of the Vroom App, and wanted to share her experience for parents, grandparents and providers and how it has helped her.

Vroom Week, which was held October 16-20, celebrated the partnership between Child Care Aware® of America and Vroom by sharing interesting resources and tips, encouraging families and child care providers to participate by sharing their own tips on how to engage with children ages 0-5.