Child Care Aware® Resources
| Family Child Care Provider Resource E-Book | Download and save our booklet of resources designed to help Family Child Care Providers open and operate a successful child care business |
| Child Care Center Resource E-Book | Download and save our booklet of resources designed to help Child Care Center directors and owners open and operate a successful child care business |
Family Engagement
| Family Engagement | Research, resources, professional development opportunities and more for early educators working to actively engage parents and families in their programs |
| Parent, Family and Community Engagement Interactive Framework | Interactive tool created to help early education programs identify how they can work toward positive outcomes for children and families |
| Building Partnerships: Guide to Developing Relationships with Families | Guide from the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement designed to help early childhood professionals enhance engagement with parents, families and the community through positive goal-oriented relationships |
| Positive Goal-Oriented Relationships | E-learning course from the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement on developing and supporting positive, goal-oriented relationships with families |
Creating Inclusive Programs
| Culture and Language | Research, resources, tool kits, professional development opportunities and more for early educators working to create culturally and linguistically inclusive and rich programs |
| Services to Children with Disabilities | Information and resources to assist early educators in providing services to children with disabilities, from the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning |
Supports for Families
| Refugee Families | Resources from the National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness for child care providers and other early educators working with families that are new to the United States |
| Raising Young Children in a New Country | Handbook to assist early educators with providing basic information about raising a young child in the United States to families that are new to the U.S. |
| Integrating Refugees into the Head Start Community | Data, resources and important contacts from the National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness for those serving refugee families |
| Serving Children & Families Experiencing Homelessness | One-pager from Child Care Aware® of America on helping children and families experiencing homelessness find resources and support |
| The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit | Helpful information for families about claiming the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit |
| WIC Clinic Finder | Offers an easy way to connect with your nearest WIC clinic for food assistance and other support and resources |
Health, Safety and Well-being
| American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) | An organization of pediatricians offering health information for parents |
| American Heart Association – CPR and First Aid | Has information about Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and First Aid training opportunities |
| American Red Cross | Provides care to those in need, from disaster relief, health and safety courses and assistance for military members, veterans and their families |
| Caring for Our Children Basics: Program Review Tool | Self-assessment checklist for Center-Based and Family Child Care programs based on Caring for Our Children Basics minimum standards for health and safety in out-of-home child care settings |
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | A program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) focusing its efforts on research and investigations related to public health |
| Culture of Safety | Resources from the National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness on creating a child care environment where program staff and families work together to keep children safe |
| Emergency Preparedness Resources | Tools, resources and publications from Child Care Aware® of America to help child care providers prepare their programs for disaster |
| Health and Safety Screener | Tool designed for Head Start programs that may also be useful to help Center-Based and Family Child Care programs evaluate standards of health and safety in their environment, policies and procedures |
| Keep Children Safe Using Active Supervision | Resources on preventing injury in child care by ensuring active supervision in the classroom, from the National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness |
| National Fire Protection Association | Advocates for fire prevention and is an authoritative source on public safety |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | Conducts and supports medical research. NIH has 27 institutes and centers focusing on their efforts. Example programs of NIH programs are: The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and The National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINEplus |
| National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education | An organization that promotes safe and healthy out-of-home child care centers |
| National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS) | Delivers training and services related to outdoor play and safety |
| Positive Eating Environment Self-Assessment for ECE Programs | Helps programs identify how they can create or improve a positive eating environment for children ages 3-5 years of age |
| Sesame Street Fire Safety Program for Preschool Children | Free curriculum and materials for lessons about fire safety in preschool settings from Sesame Workshop and the U.S. Fire Administration |
| U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission | Promotes consumer safety in connection with more than 15,000 consumer products |
Child Development
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Learn the Signs. Act Early. | A federal program offering information and resources about child development milestones and concerns |
| HealthyChildren.org Ages and Stages | Information provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics to help parents identify the challenges, milestones and changes that are often experienced in each stage of childhood |
| Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns Training Course | Free online training course offered by the CDC to help early care and education providers learn about monitoring children’s development and how to talk with parents about concerns |
| Zero to Three | Focuses on the development of infants and toddlers |
National Accreditations/Child Care Credentials
| National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) | Promotes the quality of care of children birth to 8 years old through educational and developmental services |
| National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) | Promotes professional development and quality standards of care for Family Child Care providers |
| National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA) | A national accreditation for early childhood programs |
| National Accreditation Commission (NAC) for Early Care and Education Programs | A national accreditation for early childhood programs |
| Council on Accreditation (COA) | A national accreditation for early childhood education, after-school, and youth development programs |
| Council for Professional Recognition | Provides information on obtaining and renewing the Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential |
Child Care Program Supports
| BoardSource | Focuses on improving nonprofit effectiveness by strengthening nonprofit boards |
| Early Essentials Webisodes and Practice Moments for Infant and Toddler Educators | Videos, reflection questions and resources to help infant and toddler educators learn about important topics, from school readiness to self-care, interactions to environments, and to improve their own practices in each topic area |
| First Children’s Finance | Provides financing, training and business-development assistance and resources to child care businesses |
| Foundation Grants to Individuals Online | Offers an online listing of grants to individuals in the United States |
| National Database of Child Care Licensing Regulations | Tool for finding and searching state and territory licensing regulations and agency contact information |
| Text4Teachers | Resource for early educators from the Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC) that provides information, tips and resources through 2 free texts per month |
