Mission: The mission of 2-1-1 Child Care is to provide families with free resources to assist them in finding child-care programs that best meet their children’s needs and to provide technical assistance and resources to early care professionals.
Background: Established in 1982, 2-1-1 Child Care is a confidential, free, multilingual child-care referral telephone service in Connecticut, reachable by dialing 2-1-1. Child-care referral specialists are available to assist parents and child-care providers in locating appropriate resources and referrals. Each of 2-1-1 Child Care’s referral specialists has a background in child development and participate in ongoing training to ensure they can best meet callers’ needs.
2-1-1 Child Care maintains current listings of all state-licensed child-care centers and family child-care homes, as well as listings for nanny agencies, nursery schools, play groups and summer camp programs in Connecticut. Among these listings are facilities and programs, which are equipped for children with special needs. Each of 2-1-1 Child Care’s referral specialists is educated on the features of these programs and able to quickly identify those that will meet both the needs of the children and their families. It is funded by the state Department of Social Services and does not charge providers to be listed in its directory, nor does it charge those seeking referrals to qualified providers.
Child Care referral specialists educate parents about quality child care, provide early care professionals with technical assistance and resources, and provide early care stakeholders with data and statistical information on Connecticut’s early care system. 2-1-1 Child Care maintains current listings of licensed and licensed-exempt child care options in Connecticut. Last year, 2-1-1 Child Care received almost 30,000 calls and more than 70,000 Web visits.
Leadership:
Richard Porth, CEO, United Way of Connecticut;
Sherri Sutera, senior vice president, Child Care Services;
Holly Wolff, board chairman, United Way of Connecticut.
Contact Information:
2-1-1 Child Care
1344 Silas Deane Highway, Rocky Hill, CT 06067
2-1-1 (within CT only); http://211childcare.org
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Sherri Sutera is senior vice president of Child Care Services for 2-1-1 Child Care
