The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning recently procured new contracts for local community-based organizations to administer the local Child Care Resource and Referral services for the State of Indiana. Indiana has been newly divided into five Service and Delivery Areas. The four core CCR&R service categories include:
- Parent education and referral support
- Program services
- Public awareness and engagement
- Data collection and analysis
These activities include providing resources to programs that wish to access TA supports around caring for and teaching infants and toddlers, school age children, children with special needs, and children whose primary language is not English; providing training, including training mandated by federal or state statute; conducting consumer education activities, including family referrals and community based outreach; building community based collaborative partnerships that support the state’s vision and priority areas; collecting data pertinent to Early Childhood Education and Out-of-School Time programs in Indiana; and participating in activities related to increasing the quality, affordability and accessibility of ECE and OST programs.
The Indiana CCR&R Program is a federal and state funded program that provides resources to families, early childhood programs, and communities in order to create a strong statewide network of Child Care Resource and Referral services. Previously, Indiana had been divided into nine geographical SDAs, each covered by its own local CCR&R agency. The Indiana CCR&R Program is undergoing a transition from these nine SDAs to five new SDAs. A map of the five SDAs can be found below. While local CCR&R agencies previously were responsible for providing technical assistance and Paths to QUALITY coaching supports, these services are being transferred to a separate contract which will take over the provision of TA services on or around the start date of this contract. Therefore, provision of TA services and PTQ coaching supports are no longer a local CCR&R responsibility. The overall function of each local CCR&R agency is to provide family and community outreach and quality improvement activities. All activities must be best practice and evidence based and result in the desired outcomes for children, families and communities.
Child Care Resource and Referral map