Referral Central: Linking Families to Your Program

Child Care Referral Central (Referral Central) is a regional collaborative between Alamance, Caswell, Person, and Franklin-Granville-Vance Partnerships for Children and Child Care Services Association (of Durham, Orange, and Wake counties) that makes finding child care in the 9-county area easy and central for families. 

Your program information is available to families calling in to the Child Care Referral Central (1-855-327-5933) or Find Child Care NC (1-888-600-1685) toll-free numbers and to families who use the Child Care Referral Central online child care search

Referral Central helps families find child care by providing them with information on child care providers, general licensing information, and information on choosing quality child care.  Information is provided in both English and Spanish and all our services are FREE.

Referral Specialists Customize Services

Child Care Referral Central Team

Help families understand the questions to ask to get the answers they need to make the best choice for their child. 

Conduct customized searches on our computer database for providers that match the families’ individual needs. 

Identify providers for them based on many criteria, such as location and vacancy information.  An effort is always made to give at least three possibilities

Provide families with checklists for both center and home care to help them evaluate child care quality and we encourage them to visit at least three child care providers before making their care decision.

Schedule virtual tours or site visits and may accompany families during visits to provide additional support for families.

All listings and referrals are made in an unbiased manner without regard to race, color, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and national origin.   We do not make recommendations to any child care program and we do not screen parents for child care providers.

How Can Referral Central Help?

Provider Profile Portal

Each month you will receive an email from the NC Child Care Resource & Referral Council requesting for you to log in to the Provider Profile Portal to update your current enrollment status and any other information that has changed in your program such as contact information, rates, operating hours, etc. The information you enter into the Portal is used to match families in need of child care with available care options and to inform decisions about programmatic and financial policies to support child care programs.

  • What is the Provider Profile Portal?

    CCSA uses the industry standard WorkLife System (WLS) web-based child care resource and referral software system. The Provider Profile Portal enables you and your assigned Referral Specialist to collect and store specific information about your program. The information you enter into the Portal is used to match families in need of child care with available care options, to inform decisions about programmatic and financial policies to support child care programs, and inform policy, planning, and system development toward strengthened early care and education and school-age care services. You can also upload photos and descriptions so parents can have access to a “virtual tour” of your program.

  • I am NOT able to access the Portal using my email address and/or Password. What should I do?

    Use the email address at which you received the NC CCRR Council email “Update Your Program’s Information Today”. If you can not remember or do not have a password, click on the Request Password button on the Login screen.

    If you receive the message, “We’re sorry, but we are unable to find the email you entered. Please try again or call us.”,

    Email Referral@childcareservices.org or call 1-855-327-5933 to request an email address update.

  • Email Reminders: Who sends them and when?

    At the beginning of each month, all licensed programs listed in our referral database system will receive an email reminder to update their vacancy and enrollment information through the Provider Profile Portal. The email will come from the North Carolina Child Care Resource & Referral Council with the email address support@worklifesystems.com. Be sure add this email address to your contact list and/or check your spam or junk folders for some domains like Yahoo and AOL. If you are not receiving these reminder emails, check your spam folder or call us for assistance at 1-855-327-5933.

  • Do I also have to log into the DCDEE portal?

    You should continue to log into the NC FAST Provider Portal to enroll and re-enroll in the Subsidized Child Care Assistance Program, manage attendance rosters and accept or reject vouchers. Updating your open or temporarily closed status in the Provider Profile Portal does not impact your attendance rosters of payment for NC FAST.

Promote Your Program & Connect with Families

Make sure your program listing is accurate and up to date. Every year CCRC provides referrals to early education and school-age programs for thousands of families!

Click Here to request summarized supply and demand data

Have questions? We can help!

1-855-327-5933

A Referral Specialist is available to assist you as you update your program’s profile. You can reach us by calling 1-855-327-5933 or email us, and we will respond as soon as possible.