The Danbury area has been facing a child care crisis. Demand has been increasing, while the number of licensed child care spaces has declined. Subsidies to pay for child care through the state’s Care4Kids program plummeted after a policy change in 2017.
Parents have been resorting to putting their children in unlicensed, potentially unsafe child care so they could work. There have been disturbing anecdotal reports about unlicensed child care in the community—care that was not developmentally sound and even possibly dangerous.
With an estimated need of 3,986 child care spaces, there are only 2,107 licensed spots available. This means that as many as 1,880 children might possibly need care.
In January of 2018, United Way launched Cora’s Kids. The goal: increase the number of licensed family child care providers so parents will have safe, affordable care for their children while they were at work.
The program works with people in the Danbury area who want to become licensed home child care providers, to expand the number of licensed home child care spaces. It also invites existing home providers to join a network, which helps to improve the quality of the care they offer.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
There are two tiers of membership:
Providers who agree to become Cora’s Kids Providers and serve ALICE® families have exclusive FREE access to:
- A year of liability insurance free of charge
- $1,000 of supplies for new providers
- $1,000 mini-grants for providers who have been in business a year or more
- $100 in books every year
- Circle of Security Parenting Training (adapted for providers)
Cora’s Kids Providers and all other Network Providers have FREE access to
- Professional development trainings
- Networking events
- Benefits Specialist
- Ages & Stages Developmental Surveys
- Support from All Our Kin License Toolkit Coordinator and Educational Coach
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Cora’s Kids provider or joining the network, contact Elizabeth Quiñonez at 203-297-6738 or email elizabeth.quinonez@uwwesternct.org
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
7 newly licensed providers
14 new providers in process
42 new child care spots created to date
20 providers are part of the Cora’s Kids network
15 trainings and network events
62 parents attended parent education classes
SUCCESS STORY
Learn how Cora’s Kids helped one parent with a nursing background open her own licensed family child care business.
Because babies and young children need TLC