About thread

thread is Alaska’s Child Care Resource and Referral organization, offering services to families, early childhood educators and programs, and businesses and communities statewide.

thread assists families in finding affordable, high-quality child care that meets their needs.  We provide professional development, technical assistance, and financial support to early childhood educators and programs to ensure they are preparing children for lifelong success.  By collaborating with communities and businesses, we work to achieve positive outcomes for families and young children through increased access to affordable, high-quality child care. We undertake research and advocate for child care policies. This work is guided by our core values of empowerment, access, child care professionalism, children’s rights, and entrepreneurial incubator.

Our work is also rooted in the latest research, data, and best practices using national frameworks, tools, and strategies such as Strengthening Families, Pyramid Model, and Environmental Rating Scales (ERS) to assist early childhood education programs in creating high-quality environments for young children. Plus, thread uses guidance from the National Association for the Education of Young Children and Child Care Aware of America to assist families in navigating the process of finding high-quality child care.

thread houses and manages Learn & Grow, Alaska’s Quality Recognition and Improvement System (QRIS) and the Alaska System for Early Education Development (SEED), a professional development system for early childhood educators. We work closely with partners in tribal child care, Head Start, school districts, military child care, and other child/youth-focused non-profits to combine efforts and resources to strengthen the quality of child care in our state. In this way, thread plays a unique role in Alaska, acting as a centralized network for early childhood education systems, data, and information.

thread prides itself on being a strength-based organization, which means that we recognize, promote, and build upon the existing strengths of our staff, organization, partners, communities, and most importantly, our clients.

The Role of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies

thread is Alaska’s Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agency. CCR&Rs nationwide support local communities by assisting families in finding child care that meets their needs, and helping eligible families obtain child care financial assistance. Learn more about the role of CCR&Rs here.