Child Care Development Services, Inc. (CCDS) was organized to
sponsor the Child Care Food Program in 1977, working from the
kitchen table of a family child care home.
The organizers, being young parents themselves, were committed to the concept
that all children deserve to be in quality care environments
at all times, both when at home and when in child care. From
the beginning, providing a quality service was our #1 goal.
As a result, CCDS grew quickly, adding more family child
care homes to our roster and more staff to serve them. Today
our CACFP sponsorship is nationally recognized as a leader
in the field whose trained staff offer services in four languages:
English,
Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Realizing
a Need for Public R&R
As
a result of the CACFP program, CCDS soon began to realize
the need for a child care referral service in the community. Parents
began calling our Food Program staff searching for child
care,
and we were able to link them to the providers participating
on our CACFP. We saw a need in our community and began the
task of creating a public resource & referral service.
The
Beginning of Corporate
Services
In
the early 1980's, CCDS was recruited by a private national
vendor
of dependent care referral services to deliver their services
locally. Our staff received extensive training at Wheelock
College and began delivering services to many of the local
employees of Fortune 500 companies. CCDS has been serving
the corporate community ever since.
Collaborative Efforts
In
1988, CCDS partnered with three other community based agencies
for the purpose of delivering public child care referral services,
fully incorporating the organizations's philosophy that communities
and services benefit from collaborative efforts. With CCES acting
as the lead agency, funding was secured in 1990 to build the infrastructure,
install computers and telephones, and train Resource & Referral
Specialists to offer child care referrals to Clackamas, Multnomah
and Washington county families.
Adding Services
In
addition to the basic state funded child care referral program,
funding was sought for more services, and new programs were
continually added to meet our community's needs. Some of the
services included:
- training,
resources and grants to help child care providers improve
the quality of the child care
- Emergency
Transitional Scholarships to help families secure child care
in times of financial crisis
- education
and referrals to AFS families and providers
- a teen parent subsidy program
- business
and child development specialists
- mental
health specialists
- public
and environmental health specialists
- multi-lingual
and multi-cultural staff
- revolving
loans
- grants
to parents and providers
and
many more programs designed to offer a premium child care
delivery system.
Adding
The Latest Technology
In
August 2004 our public service was greatly improved for parents
by implementing the latest technology and offering a comprehensive
service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Although
the service is now fee-based as CCDS no longer receives or is constrained
by public CCRR monies, the new delivery system was immediately
embraced by consumers requiring a quality, comprehensive
service
available at any time.
Services We Offer Today
In
1990 our child care database was composed of just under 1,000
child care providers. Today we list nearly 3,000, including
child care centers, family child care homes, preschool programs,
after-school programs and summer camps in Clackamas, Multnomah
and Washington counties. Although we are no longer funded
to offer child care referrals free to the public, we do offer
many other high quality services, some of which are free,
others requiring membership and fees. These services include:
- Child
Care Food Program
- Child
Care Provider Training
- Parenting
Classes
- Work/Life
Employer Benefit Programs
- Online
Child Care Referrals
- Online
Adult/Elder Care Services
- Online
Adoption Services
- Online
Educational Seminars
- Workplace
Health & Safety Training
Our Dedicated Staff
Our
experienced, knowledgeable staff (many of whom have experienced
child care from both the parent and provider perspectives) takes
great pride in the quality of our program and the services
we are able to offer to our clients. Their leadership, background
and experiences in child care support, training and regulation
bring a richness and depth that enhances all aspect of the
organization's program.
Our CEO
Our
CEO has been active in advocacy for the CACFP since 1981
and has had a passion of using her energy to improve the quality
of care
for children and the quality of the CACFP she directs. She
began representing the Western Region sponsors on the Forum board
in 1995 and served as the Forum president from 1998 to 2001. She
has served on state and national child care task forces and
committees, all related to improving the quality of care for children
and the CACFP.
Growing in New Directions
We
continue to add programs as we grow in new directions, always emphasizing
the quality service the community has come to expect from us.
Please
browse our web site and be sure to let us know if you would
like more information about our services.
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