Community
Child Care Resource & Referral
Child Care Resource & Referral is a free service that provides information to families about choosing child care, generates child care referrals, and helps families understand their early care and education options to make an informed choice about their child care. The referrals are computer-generated based on the needs expressed by a family and are not recommendations by the Early Learning Coalition.
All families receiving Child Care Resource and Referral services will be contacted to complete a voluntary survey to gauge your customer service experience with our office. All responses are anonymous and confidential and will not affect your services.
The ELC values caregiver choice and encourages families to contact the providers on the referral list to arrange interviews to determine which provider is the best fit for their child care needs. The ELC recommends families interview at least three providers before making a final decision about care and suggests that multiple visits at different times of day be made to each provider to thoroughly evaluate the program being considered.
Providers are required to annually complete a Child Care Resource & Referral Provider Update form as part of their contract with the ELC. The information submitted by providers is entered into the Child Care Resource & Referral database and is used to generate referrals for families by matching family needs with providers who meet those needs. It is critical that providers contact the ELC to update their Child Care Resource & Referral information any time there is a change to their program to ensure families are being given the most accurate information.
Any local child care program can be part of the Child Care Resource & Referral database, even if they choose not to contract with the ELC for participation in the School Readiness Program. To add your program information to this database fill out the Child Care Resource and Referral Network Provider Update Form and submit it to the ELC.
For more information about Child Care Resource and Referral, click here to visit the Division of Early Learning’s website. You may also contact the ELC’s Child Care Resource and Referral team at 1-866-973-9030 or ccrr@elcbigbend.org.
Resource Fair
ELC hosts a bi-annual virtual resource fair, featuring community partners that provide critical information to our Big Bend families. Services featured include diaper banks, adult education and workforce opportunities, housing assistance, transportation assistance, and more. Below is the latest information from our most recent Resource Fair (updated 10/5/2023)
Florida Department of Education Newsletter, Parent Pages
Information provided by DEL helps parents prepare their children for school, support their learning, and assist them in finding child care. To receive notifications to your email about future issues of Parents’ Pages, sign up here.
