Child Care - The selection Process

When it comes to child care we are naturally very protective of our children's well being , thousands more families need child care than ever before but for many families especially those with low and moderate incomes high-quality affordable care is not available.

There are a number of excellent websites available that will help families to select carers in their area and also assist in advising sources of help to pay for child care.

Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R)
Local agencies that will help you find quality child care in your community and give you information on state licensing requirements as well as advice on sources to help pay. Learn more at ChildCareAware http://www.childcareaware.org

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
A non-profit professional organization dedicated to improving the quality of care and education provided to our nations young children. NAEYC is a good source for brochures to assist you in making your child care choices. These include: Finding the best care for your infant or toddler, A good pre-school for your child, A good kindergarten for your child and many more.
http://naeyc.org

National Network for Childcare (NNCC)
This site offers over 1,000 publications and resources related to child care, the following link gives access to topics including: Child care centers, Preparing your child for child care, School-age child care and numerous other articles.
http://cyfernet.ces.ncsu.edu/cyfdb/browse_2pageAnncc.php?bcat=Child+Care+Options&search=NNCC&search_type=browse.

ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers & Families
A national organization focused only on issues affecting infants and toddlers, the following link takes you to audio interviews and articles about choosing child care.
http://www.zerotothree.org/ztt_parentAZ.html.

State Regulations
To learn of specific regulations and requirements of child care programs in your area, contact the state office responsible for child care regulation. A directory of all state licensing agencies can be found at http://nccic.org/statedata/dirs/regoffic.html.

National Accreditation
One way for parents to identify high-quality child care programs is to look for programs that have achieved national accreditation. Achieving accreditation involves extensive self-study and validation by professionals outside the program to confirm that quality standards are met.