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Resources for Families

Links to sections of this page:

• Information from the Network
• Links to Trauma and Disaster Resources
• Web Resources for Families

Information from the Network

• Types of child care
• Choosing quality care
• Checking a providers' references
• Making child care work: Contracts, Transitions, Communications, Complaints, Back-up Care
• Child Care Question of the Month
• Early Childhood Indicators of Progress: Signs of children's development and strategies caregivers and others can use to help.
• A Guide to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Child Care
• When can I leave my child home alone?

Links to Trauma and Disaster Resources

• The Child Advocate Disaster help for parents and children
   
  
• Coping and Contributing in Time of Crisis Tragedy and Trauma: An Educator's Guide (PDF)
  
  
• Coping with Traumatic Events Links from the United States Department of Health and Human Services
  
  
• What’s the Plan?: Ask Your Child Care Provider Before A Disaster
  This colorful brochure is designated to help parents ensure the safety and well-being of their children during a disaster. What’s the Plan walks parents through 10 questions they should ask about the what, when, where, and how of their provider’s disaster plan.

  Download (PDF. 2.3 MB)

  
  
• Early Learning Digest is a FREE parenting newsletter available for parents of 0-5 year olds. Each bi-monthly issue offers articles of interest regarding evidence-based child development and parenting tools and techniques. This newsletter is provided through a partnership with Minnesota Parents Know, Help Me Grow, and the Minnesota Department of Education.
  
  
• Families Coping with Traumatic Events Several special reports adapted from articles published in Family Information Services over the past few years
  
  
• Helping Families and Children Cope With Traumatic Events—tools for helping children and families cope with the tragedy, as well as resources for recognizing the early warning signs which may lead to youth violence.
  
  
• Nurturing Children After Natural Disaster: A Booklet for Child Care Providers (PDF)
  
  
• Preparing for Disaster—The Parent View NACCRRA offers resources that you can use to ask the right questions of your child care provider and play a role in planning for and recovering from any catastrophe that strikes.
  
  
• Publications to Help Families & Children Cope with Trauma in the Aftermath of Disaster
  
  
• Purple Wagon: A site for people interested in parents and children and their explorations and discussions of war, terrorism and peacemaking.
  
  
• Recognizing Stress in Children A disaster is frightening to everyone. Several factors play an important part in a child's reaction to the event. Children will be affected by the amount of direct exposure they have had to the disaster

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Web Resources

• Bridge to Benefits is a web-based screening tool that can help Minnesotan parents learn if they may qualify for programs that help pay for health care coverage, child care, food, school lunches, and heat. Includes printable applications and tells where to get more help.
• Caring for Children (PDF) This resource guide helps parents in immigrant and refugee families find and use child care in Minnesota.
• The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) has published a new resource for families entitled Making the Most of Playtime, which offers tips and strategies for families to consider when playing with their infant or toddler. It is part of the CSEFEL Family Tools Collection and can be accessed online at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/familytools/make_the_most_of_playtime2.pdf
• ChildCareAware.org is a non-profit initiative committed to helping parents find the best information on locating quality child care and child care resources in their community. They publish informational brochures as well as The Daily Parent.
• ChildCareFinancialAid.org helps parents find ways to pay for child care, including using tax credits, employer tax-free accounts, child care assistance programs, and grants and scholarships for parents attending college.
• Child Care Professional's Guide to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Child Care provides guidelines and resources for understanding your rights under the ADA.
• Covering Kids & Families is a national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focused on reducing the number of eligible but uninsured children and adults through enrollment in Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Now in its seventh year, the annual Covering Kids & Families Back-to-School Campaign takes place August and September to get the word out to parents that low-cost or free health care coverage may be available for their uninsured children.
• Earned Income Tax Credit Resource Center provides information about a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families.
• Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development, an online encyclopedia from Canada's Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development offers a wide range of early development topics and contains input from 270 authors from 11 countries. Each topic is organized with key messages geared for parents and service providers.
• Healthy Kids, Healthy Care contains 34 key health and safety practices for parents and families to look for when evaluating and choosing child care/early education programs. Parents can also use the resources to help improve the quality of their child's current program. Produced by the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC)
• How to Stay Healthy videos from Sesame Street.
• Military Child Care Partnerships provides information about programs that can help families of those in the military get and pay for child care. Includes information about Operation Military Child Care subsidies.
• Minnesota Data Trends is a clearinghouse of data and trends that serves as a barometer for the well-being of Minnesota families. This site takes a broad look at the financial struggles faced by increasing numbers of Minnesotans, and the economic forces that shape them.
• MNParentsKnow provides resources on child development, parent education, child care and consumer safety information and includes links to the Minnesota Department of Education and other trusted Web sites. Right now, the site focuses on newborns, but the site will expand to include information for parents with children ages 1-5 and K-12.
• NACCRRA's Parent Central is a way to get connected to information and resources, and become part of a growing network of concerned parents. Over 20,000 parents have already joined! If you have a child under age 8, you don't want to miss this opportunity. Sign up to receive Parent Central Express, the monthly newsletter chock full of tips for parents, activities, and ways to get connected in your community.
• What Children Learn in High-Quality Pre-K is a 10-minute video, capturing the journeys of real pre-k children in a high-quality classroom. The video follows five children – including an English Language Learner – and tracks their cognitive and socio-emotional development.

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