New Support for Early Education Includes Wage Incentives, Cribs

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thread is one of 47 Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Networks across the nation. The Alaska Child Care Resource and Referral Network was formally established in July 2008, and was branded and named thread in August 2009. Thread has three regional hub locations in Fairbanks, serving Interior/Northern communities, Anchorage, serving South Central communities and Juneau, serving communities in Southeast Alaska. The new name was chosen to signify “the common thread” that ties together our network of support to families, early educators and communities throughout Alaska. thread’s mission is to advance the quality of early education and child development by empowering parents, educating child care professionals, and collaborating with our communities.

thread is managed by the child care resource and referral network’s South Central Regional Office, formerly known as Child Care Connection (CCC), a non profit organization founded in 1985 with public and private support in the Anchorage community. Responding to employee need, past ARCO President Harold Heinze donated initial funds and advocated for the creation of a Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agency in Anchorage.  With the support of Mayor Knowles, United Way of Anchorage, and the Anchorage School District, CCC was created with a goal to help parents in Anchorage find child care. The organization’s founders also built the agency to advocate for the needs of young children and to create a strong early education system to support young children’s growth and development.

In 1990 the federal government created the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program which required that 4% of the state’s CCDBG funds be spent on quality activities. Most states, including Alaska, utilized and continue to utilize their CCDBG quality set-aside to support CCR&R agencies.  Child Care Connection has applied for and received this CCR&R grant for South Central Alaska since its inception. This grant expanded direct services beyond parent support and community outreach and education to include funding for professional development training and consultation for early education programs.

Soon after receiving initial federal funding, Child Care Connection began acting as the voluntary leader of an informal and unfunded network comprised of three Alaska CCR&R partners: CCC serving the South Central Region, CARES Resource & Referral/Play’N’Learn serving the Northern Region, and the Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children Southeast (AEYC-SEA) serving the Southeast Region.

Last year, with staff in 13 locations and services in 58 Alaskan communities, thread provided early care and education referrals and parenting support to over 7,600 families, trained over 2,500 early educators, and provided technical assistance and consultation to 196 early care and education programs throughout Alaska.

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