How Your Local Child Care Resource and Referral Office Helps
Orientations
Referral Database
Lending Library
Site Visits
Provider Information Form Updates

Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) offices are located in each of the seven regions in the state. CCR&R staff members provide a variety of services for child care providers and facility directors/owners. They are available to work directly with child care providers and directors/owners in meeting child care needs and providing support and resources toward increasing the quality of care.

Your local CCR&R staff can help you with your child care business and your professional development opportunities. They are your connection to the many different IdahoSTARS opportunities. Call the 2-1-1 Idaho CareLine by dialing 2-1-1 or 1-800-926-2588 and ask for your regional Child Care Resource & Referral Office.

CCR&R offices offer 4 different orientations for providers, director/owners, and facilities. The New Provider Orientation is for new child care providers. The Professional Development System Orientation is for child care providers interested in joining the PDS Registry. Director/Owners can learn how to become involved with the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), designed to improve child care, in the Quality Rating and Improvement System Orientation. For Facilities, the Idaho Child Care Program Orientation helps facilities learn about the Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP), Idaho’s tuition assistance program.

New Provider Orientation

The New Provider Orientation (NPO) is designed especially for family, relative, group, and in-home child care providers. It is a one hour orientation that provides child care providers with ideas, discussion, and resources to help them get started in the right direction. Child care providers receive a variety of sample forms and other information at the orientation to help them succeed in the child care profession.

Child care providers will learn:

• About working with families, working with relatives, and the important relationships they want to maintain
• Valuable information on contracts and agreements between caregivers and parents
• How to set child care rates
• The importance of insurance
• The importance of emergency preparedness
• How to deal with challenging behaviors and other frustrations that can occur in child care programs

Professional Development System Orientation

Professional Development System (PDS) Orientations are available to all child care providers, directors and owners interested in joining the PDS Registry. Attending the PDS Orientation is required to enroll in the PDS Registry.

The PDS orientation offers information on:

• Incentive opportunities available to providers who meet set criteria
• The Career Pathway
• Training and other professional development information and activities

More information about attending an orientation and enrolling in the PDS registry is available on the Professional Development System page.

Quality Rating and Improvement System Orientation

The Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) Orientation is offered regularly to facility owners and directors and is the required first step to begin participating in the QRIS. The QRIS is a voluntary program aimed at helping facilities improve the quality of care. The QRIS Orientation provides an overview of the QRIS that includes a flow chart and guidance on how to begin and the various steps along the way.

More information about the QRIS is available on the Quality Rating and Improvement System page.

Idaho Child Care Program Orientation

The Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP) Orientations are scheduled and held regularly each month in order to assist facilities to become eligible for the Idaho ICCP tuition assistance program. ICCP orientations help facility directors and owners with:

• Filling out paperwork
• Learning about the tuition assistance program
• Understanding state and local licensing information
• Helping with health inspections
• Local food programs
• Finding professional development opportunities through IdahoSTARS.

More information about ICCP is available on the Idaho Child Care Program page.

IdahoSTARS maintains a database of child care facilities across the state of Idaho. Parents can use the CCR&R referral system by working with a Referral Specialist to better match the parents’ child care needs with facilities that meet those needs. Parents can also access referrals to child care programs using the on-line referral system. The on-line referral system helps select child care facilities that match parents’ needs in areas such as programs or services, geographic location, and ages of children.

Requirements for a child care program to be listed in the referral database:

• Must either participate in the Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP) or have a state or local child care license
• Possess current First Aid and Infant CPR
• Pass the required criminal history background check

If you want to have your child care program listed on the IdahoSTARS referral database, meet the requirements listed above and contact your local Child Care Resource and Referral office: call the 2-1-1 Idaho CareLine by dialing 2-1-1 or 1-800-926-2588.

CCR&R offices contain lending libraries available to all child care facilities. These libraries were developed for child care programs. They hold many different educational materials and toys to borrow for a 1 month check-out period.

The goal of the lending libraries is to enhance opportunities for children and provide professional development opportunities for child care providers. Providers can earn IdahoSTARS training hours by utilizing IdahoSTARS approved training materials from the lending library. This in turn improves the care offered to children in child care programs.

A $20 annual user fee and signed agreement allows you to check out materials from the lending library for use in your facility.

If you are interested in using the regional lending libraries, please contact your local Child Care Resource and Referral office: call the 2-1-1 Idaho CareLine by dialing 2-1-1 or 1-800-926-2588.

CCR&R Quality Child Care Consultants are available to meet with child care providers and directors/owners in your child care facility. CCR&R consultants have education and experience in the field of early childhood and offer:

• Introductory visits
• Technical Assistance visits
• Planning the next steps to further one’s professional development in the field of child care
• Discussing training opportunities
• Offering resources and support on a variety of subjects such as:
  • Challenging behaviors
  • Facilitating play
  • Partnering with parents
  • Health and safety practices

Schedule a site visit by calling our regional offices. Call the 2-1-1 Idaho CareLine by dialing 2-1-1 or 1-800-926-2588 and ask for your local CCR&R office.

If you are a director or owner of a child care facility, you will receive a call from our CCR&R staff each quarter to update your Provider Information Form (PIF). It is important that we have accurate information on file for your ICCP payments, newsletters, and other mailed material, as well as for our referrals to parents.

As a director/owner you will be asked to verify:

• Basic information such as phone number, address, and email address
• Vacancies
• Changes to your schedules, rates, staff, or environment
• Additional training and education completed