Have questions? We can help!
A Referral Specialist is available to assist you as you update your program’s profile. You can reach us by calling 855-327-5933 or email us, and we will respond as soon as possible.
Program
Child Care Referral Central
Child Care Referral Central helps families find your program, fill your openings and highlight what makes you unique—-all in one place.
Child Care Referral Central for Providers
Child Care Referral Central (CCRC) is operated by Early Years and serves families across North Central and Eastern North Carolina by providing free child care referrals, consumer education and personalized support as they search for child care and early education options.
Your program is included in the CCRC referral database, making it easier for families to find your program when they:
- Call Child Care Referral Central at 1-855-327-5933
- Call the statewide Find Child Care NC line at 1-888-600-1685
- Search for child care through our online child care search.
Our Referral Specialists help families make informed child care decisions by providing personalized referrals, information about licensed child care programs and legally operating license-exempt programs, guidance on choosing quality child care and connections to additional family resources when needed.
Our team includes bilingual English- and Spanish-speaking Referral Specialists, and interpretation services are available to assist families in many other languages. There is no cost for families to use CCRC services, and there is no cost for eligible child care programs to be included in our referral database.
Child Care Referral Central Team
Referral Specialists Customize Services
Help families understand the questions to ask to get the answers they need to make the best choice for their child.
Conduct customized searches on our computer database for providers that match the families’ individual needs.
Identify providers for them based on many criteria, such as location and vacancy information. An effort is always made to give at least three possibilities.
Provide families with checklists for both center and home care to help them evaluate child care quality and we encourage them to visit at least three child care providers before making their care decision.
Schedule virtual tours or site visits and may accompany families during visits to provide additional support for families.
All listings and referrals are made in an unbiased manner without regard to race, color, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and national origin. We do not make recommendations to any child care program and we do not screen parents for child care providers.
Provider Profile Portal
Each month you will receive an email from the NC Child Care Resource and Referral Council requesting for you to log in to the Provider Profile Portal to update your current enrollment status and any other information that has changed in your program such as contact information, rates, operating hours, etc. The information you enter into the Portal is used to match families in need of child care with available care options and to inform decisions about programmatic and financial policies to support child care programs.
Early Years uses the industry standard WorkLife System (WLS) web-based child care resource and referral software system. The Provider Profile Portal enables you and your assigned Referral Specialist to collect and store specific information about your program. The information you enter into the Portal is used to match families in need of child care with available care options, to inform decisions about programmatic and financial policies to support child care programs, and inform policy, planning, and system development toward strengthened early care and education and school-age care services. You can also upload photos and descriptions so parents can have access to a “virtual tour” of your program.
Use the email address at which you received the NC CCRR Council email “Update Your Program’s Information Today.” If you can not remember or do not have a password, click on the Request Password button on the Login screen.
If you receive the message, “We’re sorry, but we are unable to find the email you entered. Please try again or call us.”,
Email referral@earlyyearsnc.org or call 855-327-5933 to request an email address update.
At the beginning of each month, all licensed programs listed in our referral database system will receive an email reminder to update their vacancy and enrollment information through the Provider Profile Portal. The email will come from the North Carolina Child Care Resource & Referral Council with the email address support@worklifesystems.com. Be sure add this email address to your contact list and/or check your spam or junk folders for some domains like Yahoo and AOL. If you are not receiving these reminder emails, check your spam folder or call us for assistance at 855-327-5933.
You should continue to log into the NC FAST Provider Portal to enroll and re-enroll in the Subsidized Child Care Assistance Program, manage attendance rosters and accept or reject vouchers. Updating your open or temporarily closed status in the Provider Profile Portal does not impact your attendance rosters of payment for NC FAST.
Promote Your Program and Connect with Families
Make sure your program listing is accurate and up to date. Every year CCRC provides referrals to early education and school-age programs for thousands of families!
Every day, families move into your area, seeking and gaining employment or making other life changes that require them to start the search for child care.
Through the CCRC program, families receive the information that most closely meets their needs along with the tools and information they need to make informed choices. In the referral process, parents can learn a lot about your child care program including where you are located, the hours you operate, the ages of children for which you provide care, your tuition rates and other fees, whether or not your offer or participate in child care scholarship programs, your staff to child ratios, or your licensing or accreditation level. After learning about your vacancies, they may call you or stop by for a visit. Listing with Referral Central is free and a great marketing strategy for programs to target their services directly to consumers.
Early childhood experts provide personal consultations and customized referral lists through our online child care search.
- Guided family in-person or virtual tours, with interpretation services
- Technical Assistance and training
- Placement of children receiving Early Years’s Scholarship
- USDA Food Program, Meal Services
Early Years us called upon to provider critical data about child care supply and demand to help public policy makers, employers, funders and child care providers understand and plan for the community’s child care needs. Data collected is used to tell the early care and education story, bringing the voices of children, child care providers, and families to the public.
Child Care Referral Central’s reports about the demand for and availability of child care are often used to advocate for higher quality child care or key funding for projects and services. This information can have an important impact on key decision-makers and influence the community’s investments in early care and education.
By providing information about your child care program to CCRC, you also contribute data that is summarized and available to you!
- Data that will help you identify where child care services are lacking and needed in your local community
- Information that will help you understand your place in the market and the competitiveness of your services and tuition rates
- Plan for new services and/or potential expansion
- Summarized data that will help you build your business plan and apply for funding and donations
