WHY CHILDCARE RESOURCES?
Children are one of our greatest natural resources, and it is imperative that they receive quality care from trained and supported staff to help them reach their full potential. Childcare Resources helps to make this possible by providing information, education, and assistance to families, child care providers, and the community.
Services provided by Childcare Resources include:
Financial assistance for low-to-moderate income working families
Quality training and technical assistance for child care providers including a free Early Learning Resource Library and mobile Resource Library Van
Research-based parent education resources
Resource and referral assistance to hundreds of families in our community seeking quality child care options for their young children
COMMUNITY NEED + MISSION IMPACT
282,396 children in Alabama live in poverty with 30% of these children are under the age of five.
336,000 children in Alabama live in households where their parents lack secure employment, while 63% of Alabama’s children live in households where both parents are in the workforce.
Economists have shown that families can normally afford to pay 10% of their gross annual income for child care and still be able to afford other necessities, such as housing, food, clothing, and medical care.
The average cost in central Alabama for a full-time care for one infant in a licensed child care center is$7,300, which is more than $4,000 above the estimated amount a low to moderate income working family would ever be able to afford.
Families enrolled in Childcare Resources Supplemental Child Care program earn an average annual income of $31,899. Of these families, 100% are single female head-of-household families with at least one child under the age of five.
There are 66,000 young children in Alabama between the ages of 3 and 4 are not in school and missing out on opportunities for learning crucial to their development.
It is unimaginable to relate to being forced to manage the choice between affording food on the table for your children, versus paying for the essential, quality child care they need so you are able to go to work and provide for your family.
AN EXCELLENT RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Last year, Childcare Resources distributed $108,830 on behalf of 72 working single mothers caring for 81 children in our community to supplement child care costs so these mothers would be able to remain employed and provide for their families.
In the last 5 years, we have seen child care costs rise nearly 33%, and we expect that trend to continue in the coming years. This means an increase in the amount of financial assistance needed per family each year.
523 families used our Resource and Referral Program to search for child care options for nearly 700children, with more than 31,000 referrals provided to the community.