If you’re like many moms, you rejoined the workforce after a brief stint of maternity leave. Remember that overwhelming feeling of searching for just the right place to take care of your little one during the day? Perhaps you turned to Child Care Resources’ searchable online database of childcare providers or talked to one of our information and referral specialists to find some peace of mind.
What if your circumstances demanded that you needed a little more help in your search for the right childcare? Think about this for a minute:
- What if English isn’t your first language?
- Who can you trust to care for your child with special needs?
- What if you’re a single mom and you work the late shift?
- What if you are on public assistance — or worse, homeless — and you don’t know how to navigate your options or are ineligible for childcare subsidies?
Child Care Resources (CCR) serves all parents and families, no matter their circumstances. Founded in 1990, CCR provides families with the tools they need to make the best possible choice for their children’s childcare. As a nonprofit, we work directly with parents. But we don’t stop there; we also work directly with every kind of childcare provider in King County to mentor, train and provide financial support to help them offer the highest quality of care.
Our primary goal at CCR is to build an early learning system so strong that every family will find the care they need and every child will enter school ready for success.
These women’s stories speak to the progress we’re making:
- Nancy suffered postpartum depression, was trying to get back to work and was in dire need of childcare. She called CCR, and a member of our team worked one on one with her to find the best childcare solution for her family. Today she works for a national philanthropic foundation. Last year CCR helped 6,613 families, from all walks of life, find childcare in King County.
- CCR is known for its collaborative work with community partners and public and private agencies. Our work with organizations that serve family, friend and neighbor caregivers is one example. Women like Zhang benefit from a Play & Learn group that we helped launch. She cares for her granddaughter during the day and found herself feeling isolated. Then she discovered Play & Learn. She says, “The groups fill a role I could not do myself. To bring children of all ages to play and interact has changed my relationship with the whole family. Thanks!” We helped 62 agencies across King County facilitate their own Play & Learn groups, which then reached 800 families last year in nine languages.
- CCR helps women like Paulita, who courageously fled a violent husband and became homeless. We found and paid for childcare for her 2-year-old daughter while she secured housing and eventually found a job as an office manager in a doctor’s office. CCR assisted 594 homeless families and 1,081 homeless children in 2007. Our work didn’t end there. We provided one-on-one coaching with the childcare center’s staff so they could best interact with the child and her family during this transition. Now the little girl is thriving and learning.
At Child Care Resources, we help families and we maintain a network of 1,941 childcare providers, offering accreditation, mentorship, curriculum and business assistance. More than 7,000 hours of support was given to all types of providers in 2007 to help them raise the quality of their programs.
National research proves that high-quality early learning levels the playing field for all children. It results in better school performance. It reduces incarceration rates and helps to ensure economic success in later years. Childcare is essential for most families and absolutely crucial for working families.
Every child needs safe, nurturing play and learning experiences before they reach kindergarten. Those who get those experiences are ready for school; those who don’t are often the ones who start behind and stay behind.
It is our vision that every child has a great start in school and in life. Together, with our many partners across the community, we are leveling the playing field for all children and making long-term systemic change for children and for childcare.
Child Care Resources is a ParentMap Giving Together partner. To learn more, visit www.childcare.org.
