by Rachael McMillan
Whether you are a parent in need of excellent childcare or a person wishing to provide it, the University of Illinois Child Care Resource Service has the information you need. Its aims to match families with the best, most appropriate care settings as well as to raise the quality of area child care options.
CCRS Director of Operations Brenda Eastham breaks down the services it provides into these four areas:
- helping income-eligible families to receive assistance with their child care costs
- assisting families looking for child care – CCRS maintains a database of just under 1,000 providers covering six counties: Champaign, Douglas, Iroquois, Macon, Piatt, and Vermilion
- providing training and technical assistance to child care providers
- helping child care providers improve the quality of their programs through initiatives provided by a quality coordinator, an infant/toddler specialist, a nurse consultant, and a mental health consultant.
Child Care Resource List is a great resource for Champaign-Urbana families looking for daycare. Photo by just jennifer on Flickr.
Parents who would like a list of child care providers can contact CCRS at 333-3252 or 1-800-325-5516 (fees depend upon income). A short phone intake session, which helps the service narrow down a list of providers to the most appropriate candidates (based on which type of setting the parents are looking for), is the first step in the process. The tailored lists CCRS mails to families include information about whether the providers are licensed, what certifications they hold, and—when applicable—their “star rating” based on additional criteria.
It should be stressed, however, that CCRS does NOT recommend caregivers. The lists it provides are more or less a “just the facts” kind of thing. Besides checking credentials, Eastham recommends that parents ask a potential care provider (the person or center) for personal references and recommendations, and follows these up with phone calls.
Child care providers, take note: according to Eastham, some of CCRS’s lesser-known services include financial assistance for training opportunities and awarding mini-grants to those looking to improve the quality of their programs.
Another unique CCRS service is the Quality Counts Van Program. This is a small mobile library which, in addition to lending books to child care centers, is driven by a specialist who leads reading activities with the children.
If none of the above applies to you, the CCRS can still be a good resource. Its website gives tips for determining whether or not your child is old/mature enough to be left alone safely and a host of general information about children’s health and safety, among other things.
Child Care Resource Service is located at 314 Bevier Hall, 905 S. Goodwin, Urbana. Its summer office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Fridays. During the school year, hours change to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. every weekday except Tuesday, when hours are 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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As a child care provider I have used the CCRS for trainings and information and they are a very helpful resource BUT when my family needed help with child care they weren’t as helpful. I was working full time and my partner was in his last semester of Grad school interning. He was putting in full time hours and only being compensated $100 a month.
So, with him interning and with me teaching preschool we definitely were within income eligibility.
When I called to get approved the first time I received a few different answers which led to a number of phone calls of me making sure I had the right information, just covering my bases. BUT when it was time for the re-determination they denied us because “your partner isn’t making enough money.” I have never heard of such a thing. Isn’t that the point. Low income = in need of assistance. Apparently I was given the wrong information. And when I called to challenge the decision (which is your right and they allow you this) they told me “you should have never been approved in the first place.” Well, there goes covering my bases.
I was directed to the supervisor and finally spoke after having to call a few times (which seems to me as avoidance). He informed me that Grad school (post secondary education) does fall in the guide lines of needed day care due to being in school. I really don’t have much to say to that but I am dumbfounded. You are punished for wanting to go further in your career to better yourself and the position of your family. But then I hear things like this,
A number of people who are pursuing their PHD and are receiving some kind of assistance. Well, it is because they have assistantships (which is a high paid position than interning ). So once again I am back to “Your partner isn’t making enough money”.
Can you see how frustrating it is to be in the middle ground trying to get ahead and better yourself and the future for your children. But more so in order to get assistance from a place that helps low income families you need to make enough money to make it worth it for them to help you. That just isn’t right.
A supporter of social services for ALL in need.
Allyson,
I’m sorry you had a difficult time with our child care assistance program. If you’d call the office, I’d like to look at the information myself to see what occurred. As you thought, there isn’t a state requirement on how little you can make. Many parents on the program have little to no income if they are attending an approved school program. Illinois Department of Human Services sets the guidelines for what type of school programs can be attended and receive assistance.
Again, if you’d call the office, I’d be happy to help you.