Child Care Resource & Referral

 

Child Care Resource and Referral [CCR&R] links parents to early learning programs and other agencies in the community. CCR&R maintains a database of all legally operating early learning programs in Indian River, Martin, and Okeechobee counties.

 

We refer to over 160 child care centers and family child care homes in three counties in addition to Head Starts, RCMA, CCCR, After-School Programs, Summer Camps, and Au-Pair Programs. Child Care Specialists provide useful information to take the guesswork out of choosing child care by:
  • providing information on different types of care including Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Programs (VPK) and customized referrals
  • educating parents about early learning and the components of quality care
  • reviewing information on state licensing requirements
  • helping parents find choices in care for children with special needs
  • informing eligible parents about the availability of child care subsidies
    CCR&R strives to increase the quality of child care. In order to achieve this goal, each county has a Resource Coordinator who offers each provider technical assistance and trainings. To access the DCF child care training information center call 1-888-352-2842 or visit www.myflorida.com/childcare/training .
     
    CCR&R obtains a list of all regulated providers in the three counties from the licensing office. A coordinator contacts each provider to collect detailed information from the program. Once the program is added to the database, we can start referring families whose child care needs match the services offered by providers.
     
    The “matching” process for referrals begins when a parent calls our office for assistance in finding child care. An R&R Specialist then collects basic demographic information from the parent. During this interview, the R&R Specialist enters the family’s child care needs into the database where it is matched with the providers who most closely meet those needs. An unbiased, computer generated referral list is sent to the family along with a parent packet of information to help the family with the search,  including the licensing website where clients can review and check a provider’s record and inspection report on the internet at http://www.myflorida.com/childcare/training.
     

     “There are no charges/fees associated with a provider listing in the Resource & Referral Database or for referrals to your program. If you are asked to provide a payment for a referral or listing in the Resource & Referral database, please call Florida's Office of Early Learning Resource & Referral Network at 1-866-357-3239.”

     

Florida's Office of Early Learning (OEL)
 
Department of Children and Families (DCF) - Licensing Website
 
Child Care Aware
 
National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA)
 
Florida KidCare
 
National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)
 
211 Treasure Coast
 
Healthy Families Florida
 
Children’s Forum
 
Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)
 
United Way of Florida Success By Six
 
Child Abuse Registry contract information
www.dcf.state.fl.us/abuse   or 1-800-96-ABUSE