Child Care Resources

Child Care Services Association, Inc.

Child Care Services Association (CCSA) is a nationally recognized nonprofit working to ensure affordable, accessible, high quality child care for all families through research, services and advocacy. The Child Care Services Association provides child care scholarships for low/moderate income families, information to help families find appropriate child care and services to help improve the quality of child care in Durham, Orange and Wake counties. Contact info: Child Care Services Association, 319 Chapanoke Road, Suite 114, Raleigh, NC 27603; (919) 779-2220 or www.childcareservices.org.

North Carolina Division of Child Development

The North Carolina Division of Child Development regulates child care centers and homes. The Division provides information on what to look for when choosing child care, receiving child care financial assistance, child care center licensing information and other resources.

Wake County SmartStart Quality Enhancement Initiative

The Quality Enhancement and Maintenance Initiative (QEI and QMI) is a department within Wake County SmartStart, Inc. Through QEI, Quality Enhancement Specialists (QES) work with one to three star child care centers and family child care homes (hereafter called facilities) to improve both the quality and level of care for children, and the level of education for staff in those facilities. Through QMI, Quality Enhancement Specialists work with four and five star facilities to maintain their higher level of care and licensure. Facilities must apply to participate in the program and participating facilities receive a variety of services including consultation, training and technical assistance at no cost to the facility.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Paying for Child Care

Child Care Services Association offers a list of funding opportunities online, HERE.

Wake County Child Care Subsidy

The Wake County Child Care Subsidy Program provides financial assistance to parents for their child care needs. The child care subsidy is based on an assessment of need, income and family size. If you are eligible, your case manager will assist you in finding a program that meets the needs of your child/children. Parental choice is honored whenever possible. Parental fees are assessed for families who are income-eligible. For more information, contact the program using the information below.

Child Care Subsidy Service, Wake County Human Services, 220 Swinburne St., Raleigh, NC 27610; Tel: (919) 212-7376
http://www.wakegov.com/humanservices/social/Pages/ccs.aspx

Wake County Pre-K Program

The Wake County Pre-K program is a high-quality program that serves at-risk children and prepares them for success in school. Children served by the Wake County Pre-K program attend a full school day, full school year program that meets high-quality state standards. The program is community based; it is integrated with other early childhood programs in the community and administered at the county or regional level. Children participating in pre-k may be served in classrooms in the public schools, licensed child care centers or Head Start programs.

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The development of a child's brain holds the key to the child's future. Although the "first years last forever" in terms of the rapid development of young children's brains, the actual first years of a child's life go by very quickly. So touch, talk, read, smile, sing, count and play with your children. It does more than make both of you feel good. It helps a child's brain develop and nourishes the child's potential for a lifetime.