Helping Families

Free Referrals

Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) refers parents to programs that are most likely to meet their specific needs. Referrals are provided so that parents can look into all of their options:

  • Licensed Child Care Centers (CCC)
  • Licensed Preschools
  • Registered Child Development Homes (CDH)
  • Nonregistered Child Care Homes (CCH)
  • Department of Education Programs

CCR&R gives referrals instead of recommendations because CCR&R encourages parents to take the time to research child care programs and providers and make the decision that they feel will be best for their family.

baby new

Talk to a Parent Referral Specialist

855-244-5301
Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m
or email our Parent Referral team: childcare@caeiowa.org

Online Referral System

To start your search online:

  • Login as a guest or create an account to save your search
  • Select one or both: Center or Home options
  • Search location: Type city or zip code search parameters
  • Click: FIND
  • Use filters to customize your referrals

Online Search »

Texting Service

Our texting tool is the latest edition of our Parent Referral marketing efforts and offers a way for parents to connect with our online referral options by texting.

Text: IAchildcare to 59925

Start your search today! This parent text campaign will send no more than six texts offering referral assistance and tips to help parents with their search. (Our texting system is automated and personal responses may be delayed.)

Resources for Parents

All CCR&R services are free.

Resources

Assistance for Families

Need help paying for child care?

Resources

  Child Care Assistance

If you think you might qualify for Child Care Assistance (CCA), talk to your provider about accepting Child Care Assistance (CCA) payments.

Some local communities may have additional financial assistance in the form of scholarships or vouchers through community organizations. Click here to find your local Early Childhood Iowa (ECI) family support programs.

Family Emergency Preparedness

Make a plan today!

Resources

Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to know which types of disasters could affect your area. Know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Establish a family meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find. While your child care provider will have a plan to protect your child if an emergency occurs at their care location, Emergency Preparedness starts at home.

  Family Emergency Preparedness

  Be Ready Iowa

  Ready.Gov

  Red Cross

Helpful Tips for Families

Resources

  1. Start Early
    • Locating the right child care provider may take some time.
  2. Make a Call
    • Contact CCR&R to obtain a customized referral of child care programs for your family and information on how to choose quality child care.
  3. Visit Numerous Programs to Observe and Ask Questions
    • How many children are there for each adult?
    • How many children are in the group?
    • What training and education has the caregiver completed?
    • How long has the provider been working in this program?
    • Does the provider follow recommended ABC's of Safe Sleep (Spanish, Burmese, Swahili) practices?
    • Does the provider participate in Iowa Quality for Kids (IQ4KTM) Quality Rating and Improvement System?
    • Can I see your Emergency Preparedness Plan?
    • In the event of an emergency that leads to an evacuation, where is the new pick-up location for reunification with families?
    • Make the Most of Your Child Care Visit - from Child Care Aware of America
  4. Make a Choice - Think about what you saw at each visit and make the best choice for your child and family. To ease the transition to child care:
  5. Stay Involved
    • Meet regularly with the provider and ask questions.
    • Visit often and participate in activities with your child.
    • Ask about planned emergency drills (both before and after) and updates to the programs Emergency Plan.

After you have searched for your child care, please complete a brief follow-up survey, we appreciate your feedback!

Home Business

Looking to offer child care in your home?

Resources

Prevention Services

How to report your concerns about the care of children?

Resources

If you suspect a child under the age of 18 is being abused or neglected:

  Call 800-362-2176 - Dept of Human Services

  Visit Iowa's child abuse website

 

If you have concerns regarding a child care provider:

  Call 844-786-1296 - Iowa Child Care Complaint Hotline

  View Child Care Compliance and Complaint Reports

 

  For Every Child - Child abuse prevention, education & treatment programs for children & families.

Other Service Referrals

Links to other services that parents might find helpful.

Resources

Quality Rating and Improvement System

IQ4K Iowa Quality for Kids (IQ4KTM) is Iowa’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for DHS licensed or registered child care programs. IQ4K provides five levels of quality that programs can achieve and allows programs to assess their current grade across all areas of programming and devise a structured plan to increase the overall level of program quality.

Benefits of IQ4K for children and families:

  1. Enhanced nutrition and physical activity plans
  2. Planned family and community partnerships
  3. Improved environment for children
  4. Assessment tools implemented for teaching and learning
  5. Continued professional development for providers

Ask if your child care program participates in IQ4K!

Check out our Parent Referral Services video!

Check out how we help your family with Success for Life!

Blog

You Are Not Alone!

You Are Not Alone!

Are you new to having a family or maybe you are new to Iowa? Did you know there is a program called Iowa Child Care Reso ...

More »
View Blog »

News

More

Staff Quick Search

Search by county, region or position

Search Now

Connect with Us