Child Care Aware of Northcentral Arkansas recently celebrated the agency’s 20th anniversary of providing services to parents and caregivers.
A celebration reception was held in Independence Hall at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville on April 27.
Debbie Webb, program director of Child Care Aware of Northcentral Arkansas, has been a part of the organization since 1997.
Webb said it is fulfilling to work with child care providers, help them provide better early-learning experiences and know that the team at CCANA makes a difference.
“Our entire team loves making a difference in the lives of children,” Webb said.
The organization provides services to 14 counties, including Baxter, Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Searcy, Sharp, Stone, Van Buren and White.
Child Care Aware offers a variety of services to parents, including child care referral, information on how to choose child care providers, and a list of registered and licensed child care facilities.
CCANA also provides services to child care providers, such as fundraising and grant writing, business management, disaster preparedness and orientation training for new child care facilities.
“Our biggest goal is helping the facilities and meeting them where they are to raise the quality of early-learning experiences for children,” Webb said.
“We equip the classroom teachers, owners and family child care providers to better understand how children learn and develop,” she said. “This benefits children, families, businesses, employers and, ultimately, the communities.”
Webb said that in August 1996, the White River Planning and Development District was selected by the Independence County Child Care Task Force as the organization to provide a child care resource and referral program in north-central Arkansas.
“The original intent was to begin providing child care resource and referral services in Independence County and to expand, over time, into eight counties surrounding Independence County,” Webb said. “In 2011, the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education intended for all 75 Arkansas counties to be served by a regional child care resource and referral agency.”
The agency’s original name, CHILDREN (Childcare Hub for Information, Learning, Resources, Education and Networking), was changed in 2012 to Child Care Aware.
“Our national association, the National Child Care Resource and Referral Association, became Child Care Aware of America and had field-tested the brand in two of our neighboring states, Missouri and Kansas,” Webb said.
The agency also offers mini grants and startup assistance to new child care facilities.
“We have a small pot of funding that enables us to offer infant and toddler startup grants for new facilities or facilities expanding their infant or toddler capacities,” Webb said.
“These range from $500 to $1,200 and are made possible through our Division of Child Care contract,” she added.
The Northcentral Child Care Resource Center and Lending Library opened in Batesville in 2001.
“In November 2014, we opened a similar Child Care Resource Center in Conway to serve child care providers and students in early childhood in Faulkner and surrounding counties,” Webb said.
“We have over 20,000 items in the Batesville Resource Center, and we are nearing 5,000 in the Conway program, thanks to our many local partners there.”
Webb said the CCANA lending libraries feature theme units, topic bags, children’s books, flannel boards, music and a variety of manipulatives for young children, such as puzzles, lacing cards and counting blocks.
Debbie Mize, an infant and toddler specialist and child care health coordinator, has been with Child Care Aware for almost 16 years.
Mize said her favorite thing about the agency is supporting the child care providers and building relationships.
“I feel we are a valuable resource to the providers and to our communities — one of our strengths is to pull people together and address child care issues for both parents and providers,” she said.
“I have a heart for early intervention — when we can catch a delay early and work with both the provider and parents, or refer for specialized services, we know the child will truly benefit and have a greater opportunity to overcome the delay,” Mize said.
“Early years are when much of the brain development happens, and I wish this aspect was more widely understood among the public. Having quality child care that enriches those early learning experiences is so very important to the healthy growth and development of our children,” Mize said.
“Since CCANA began, most of the counties have increased the number of quality facilities by 300 percent,” Webb said. “We offer or host training on many topics needed by child care facilities.
“What’s not to be passionate about when you’re advocating and working to be a part of helping Arkansas’ children?”
Staff writer Kayla Baugh can be reached at (501) 244-4307 and kbaugh@arkansasonline.com.