PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, October 19, 2020
For Immediate Release:

Maggie Adair
Office of Early Childhood
860-878-8936

Annie Scully
United Way of Connecticut
860-571-7215
United Way of Connecticut 211 Child Care Helps Families Connect With The Child Care Services They Need To Get Back To Work
211 Child Care's new Provider Portal empowers child providers to share real-time updates with Connecticut families seeking child care services.
ROCKY HILL, Conn. — The COVID-19 Pandemic reinforced the importance of access to quality and affordable child care. United Way of Connecticut/211 Child Care’s release of a new Child Care Provider Portal will ensure that Connecticut families have quick and easy access to the most accurate and up-to-date information on available child care services.
 
 “The Office of Early Childhood is working harder than ever before to increase access to quality, affordable child care. Child Care providers across our state are committed to increasing their capacity while keeping children, families and staff safe,” said Commissioner Beth Bye, Connecticut Office of Early Childhood. “In partnership with United Way of Connecticut’s 211 Child Care program, we are committed to supporting our state’s incredible child care workforce and families seeking quality care for their children.”

"The COVID-19 Pandemic has further proven that access to child care is essential to the success of our state’s economy and to the success and stability of families," said Lisa Tepper Bates, President & CEO of United Way of Connecticut. "Many Connecticut workers, in particular women and women of color, need access to necessary supports like child care as they seek to reenter the workforce. The new Portal will help families connect with the services they need ."
 
“211 Child Care is committed to maintaining the most comprehensive database of child care resources and helping parents and caretakers find the services that best meet the needs of their family,” said Sherri Sutera, Senior Vice President of Child Care Services at United Way of Connecticut. “The new 211 Child Care Provider Portal allows providers to quickly and easily edit their program information to ensure that our database is up to date, allows families to explore their options, and helps 211 Child Care Specialists better assist families in finding the right child care for their family.“ 
 
Families and caretakers can access this information and search for child care services HERE. 
Every day, 211 Child Care helps families find child care to best meet their needs both over the phone (Dial 211 and select option 2 or dial 1-800-505-1000) and at www.211childcare.org. 211 Child Care collects important program information such as program hours, rates, ages of children accepted, program accreditations and information about the program setting so that families can learn more about available child care services and select the services most appropriate for their family.
 
Recent updates to the 211 Child Care database and search engine allow families to easily:

  • Search for a provider/program by name or location
  • Search for programs that serve specific age groups
  • Search for programs with fees, hours, quality indicators etc. that match their needs
  • Search for programs with sliding fee scale and those that accept child care subsidies
  • See any violations cited by the Office of Early Childhood over the past five years
  • View Office of Early Childhood inspection reports and provider’s corrective action plans 

Alarming data from, Essential Equity: Women, Covid-19 and Rebuilding CT shows that many female caregivers were forced to choose between remaining in the workforce and caring for children as child care became less available and that 76% of parents who had to stop working to provide child care during the pandemic are women.

Connecticut United Ways most recent ALICE Report, a report on families who are Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, and Employed, revealed that even before the onset of COVID-19, 44% of Connecticut families lived in a child care desert, defined as having no child care providers at all, or so few options that there are three times as many children for each available licensed child care slot.
 
For ALICE families with children, child care is often the largest monthly expense and, finding child care that meets the needs of ALICE families is often difficult. 
 
As Connecticut continues to get back to work, 211 Child Care is committed to helping parents and caregivers navigate available child care resources and connect with child care services.
 
To learn more about 211 Child Care visit www.211childcare.org or dial 211 and select option 2 to speak with a 211 Child Care Specialist. 


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About United Way of Connecticut 211 Child Care

United Way of Connecticut’s 211 Child Care is Connecticut's statewide child care resource and referral service. 211 Child Care provides consumer education and assistance to families to identify and access quality child care programs for their children. 211 Child Care also provides professional development, business supports, and technical assistance to child care providers.

About the Office of Early Childhood

The Office of Early Childhood (OEC) advances a two-generation family-centered approach in our pursuit of optimal health, safety and learning outcomes for young children. Through our core programs, we support infant and toddler care, preschool, after-school care, child care and youth camp licensing, home visiting, and early intervention to address developmental delays.