Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies

In New York City there are five Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies who work closely together to provide technical assistance and resources to child care programs and prospective child care programs. They also provide services to parents, families and the broader community. These organizations are:

Child Care Inc.
Child Development Support Corporation
Chinese American Planning Council
Committee for Hispanic Children and Families
Day Care Council of New York City

These agencies are funded by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, help us all understand what it means to provide child care services that are accessible, affordable and of good quality. For child care programs CCR&Rs provide a wealth of resources: Start-up grants are available to assist new programs with initial supplies and materials that can build health and safety standards into the program.

Technical assistance is offered to help programs stay in compliance with regulations and understand the requirements of opening and maintaining a quality early childhood program. CCR&Rs are places where programs can participate in activities that help link them to resources in the field.

Training to help child care providers focus on health, safety and other program compliance areas, like child abuse and maltreatment, program recordkeeping and program development topics. The CCR&R programs have calendars of their training schedules as well as other services and activities. Training includes the New York State mandated health and safety training and the medication administration training. The training offered by the CCR&Rs is part of a career development ladder that aims to professionalize child care staff and create a cadre of caretakers who understand the development of children and develop best practices in their interaction with children and their families. Finding child care can be challenging to parents/families.

The child care referral services include trained and experienced parent counselors with access to a database of all regulated child care programs in NYC. These counselors help parents to understand and navigate New York City’s complex child care delivery system. When parents have children with special needs or any other developmental issues, parent counselors can help families wade through the different types of child care, the locations and how to access those programs. Issues like cost, location and hours are a big part of how families make the decision for the care they want for their child.

Finally, CCR&Rs help the general public understand the world of child care by making information available about topics like:

Ways to identify program quality and whether a program meets regulatory requirements
Types of child care for various ages of children , including summer camps
Children’s’ health and wellness activities and resources
The need for child care services in various communities

CCR&Rs collaborate with community based agencies, to bring that information to communities in various languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Russian and French. CCR&Rs also work closely with city agencies like the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the Administration for Children’s Services to keep current with regulations and how the city is handling access to subsidized child care. Written materials, outreach activities and community based presentations are all strategies that the CCR&Rs use to promote child care services and show how they fit together to help communities stabilize To contact the Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies in New York City call this toll-free number: 1-888-469-5559 for more details about CCR&R resources go to http://www.childcarebusinessconnections.com/