In October 2016, Michelle Roach received a call on a Tuesday morning—she would be fostering Jordan, a 6-day-old baby. “I wasn’t really prepared for actually searching for [child care],” Michelle said. “I’m a solo parent, so it was a big adjustment to do that, and as soon as he came into the home, we had a clock ticking. We had eight weeks at home with him and then he needed to find somewhere to go during the day.”
Parents often need a place to start as they begin their child care search. This is where Child Care Services Association’s Child Care Referral Central comes in. Child Care Referral Central is a trusted resource for families looking for child care, helping them find care based on their needs and providing information and resources at their request.
“We are in a unique position to link families, child care providers and the community together, so that parents can get all their child care answers in one place,” said Christy Thalheimer, referral manager at CCSA’s Child Care Referral Central.
“By going to Child Care Services Association, it really did allow me to have one place where I could ask my questions,” Michelle said. “I could get more information about both center-based [child care] but also family-based [child care]. I was able to sit down with a counselor and talk about what resources I had available to me, the subsidy through [the Department of Social Services] and what was available in the community.”
CCSA’s referral counselors can walk a family through all their child care options at each age of their children. From infant care to after school care, CCSA’s Child Care Referral Central can provide the tools families need to find the right child care for their children.
Often people see child care resource and referral programs (CCR&Rs) as only available to families who are most at risk due to poverty or special circumstances. While the Department of Social Services (DSS) offers a Child Care Subsidy program that uses state and federal funds to provide subsidized child care services to eligible families, finding the right child care is an important piece of the work-life puzzle for every family, no matter their income. Community members often ask if services are only for those in financial need, but CCSA’s Child Care Referral Central is available to every family in the nine-county area of Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Orange, Person, Vance and Wake counties.
Silvana Rodriguez was Michelle’s child care counselor at Child Care Referral Central. She has been a counselor for more than seven years.
“[Michelle] walked into the office…and then told me that she was a first time parent, she was going to receive an infant and she was nervous about the whole process,” Silvana said. “So, I answered all of her questions. She had several questions about the types of care, the differences between them, and then I did a [customized] search for her based on [her work and home addresses]…We talked about national accreditation and what to look for, and then after that, we made a package for her with all the different information that may be useful for her.”
“One of the things, it was so small but it helped me so much, was that all of that information was placed in one packet and handed to me,” Michelle said. “In the chaos of my life of having a newborn and figuring everything out, having this one place I could go back to with all the phone numbers and all the information about ratings and other really helpful things in one spot made something that could have been really overwhelming more manageable. I was able to periodically when I had the time, make phone calls, set up tours and narrow down where he ended up going between two really high-quality centers. I picked one that was closer to my work, and I was really happy with the results from that.”
Silvana loves helping families like Michelle’s.
“That’s the thing that drives all us counselors because you can see the results when you follow up with them, and especially when they find a great quality place, and just going through their options and helping them navigate everything in terms of finding child care,” Silvana said.
“[CCSA’s Child Care Referral Central] made the already challenging process of being a solo parent and figuring out the process of DSS and foster care, and also just the challenge that every parent faces when they have to go back to work, which is that you’re leaving your tiny human being with other people, to really make that easier and to make me feel better about that process and more comfortable with him being there and knowing that he would be cared for in a reputable space,” Michelle said. “I didn’t have the pressure of having to Google or guess. I had all that information in one spot, and for me, that really made all the difference.”
Jordan turns three at the end of next month. He’s is “graduating” from Early Head Start and will transition over to another classroom in the same center mid-August. Michelle has thought about reaching out to CCSA again to speak with a counselor about more child care options. “I’m hoping to participate in the Universal Pre-K program next August,” Michelle said.
You can hear more about Michelle’s story by watching the video below.
To continue supporting the operations of Child Care Services Association and crucial programs such as the Child Care Referral Central, please donate today.
