When families get a positive pregnancy result, they should be celebrating, looking at the tiniest of clothes and making plans to turn their home into one that works for their family. But, for many families, that positive result quickly can turn into stress and pressure as they navigate the child care landscape (especially, if they don’t have someone in their friend group who has navigated it before them).
Where do you begin? What are you looking for? More importantly, how are you going to pay for it?
These are the questions Thrive Birth to Five is hoping to answer with Child Care Finder, a new online child care locator that helps families in Central Virginia find and identify quality early-learning programs for children from birth to age five.
Child Care Finder offers a simple, centralized way to explore care options, see which programs accept financial assistance and connect with providers that fit their budget.
“Finding quality child care that fits a family’s needs shouldn’t be complicated,” said Ann Rohde Payes, president and CEO of Thrive Birth to Five. “Child Care Finder gives families one place to explore dozens of child care providers in one place, at one time, see which programs offer financial support and make the right choice for them and their children.”
Child Care Finder allows families to search by ZIP code, travel route, transportation mode and child age. It’s up to providers to fill in additional information about their child care center, but many providers will share details about financial assistance, cost and enrollment openings to help families find the right program for their child. Some providers even allow parents to set up a tour of the facility from within the Child Care Finder tool.
Preschool Application Day
The launch of Child Care Finder is complemented by Preschool Application Day on Feb. 14, a coordinated regional effort to help families apply early for publicly funded preschool programs, including the Virginia Preschool Initiative and Head Start. Early application increases access, supports school planning and gives children a strong foundation for kindergarten.
“We hear frequently that families want to apply for school-based preschool programs, but they wait too late to apply,” Payes said. “Our hope with Preschool Application Day, paired with the power of Child Care Finder, is that parents can do their research and get applications in early so their children are set up for success.”
Families can visit the Thrive Birth to Five website to access Child Care Finder and learn about tuition assistance and additional resources for early child care in the region.
At the date of publication, this organization is a client of The Hodges Partnership.
