Washington State Child Care Resource & Referral Network to
Manage Transformation of Local R&R Service Delivery

 Delivery of enhanced services to families, caregivers, and communities is the goal of a two-year organizational assessment and strategic planning process currently underway, guided by the Washington State Child Care Resource & Referral Network.

 “It is time to re-think our approach to service delivery and to develop creative policies that better support children, families and the professionals who care for them,” says Dan Baumgarten, R&R Network Board of Trustees President.

 Joining a nationwide trend, the R&R Network will manage and oversee the reorganization of the state’s local child care resource and referral offices from the current 18 programs to 11. These local “hubs” will be selected through a competitive bid process beginning in January and completed by July 2008. Four hub programs will be selected for eastern Washington and seven hubs for western Washington, to better reflect the state’s population flow and distribution. (See attached maps for more information on both the existing and the new geographic service areas.)

 The agencies hosting hub programs will be expected to have child care resource and referral as a significant activity in the delivery of the agency’s mission. They will also be expected to operate in accordance with a set of standard responsibilities and criteria designed to enhance the comparability and effectiveness of local services.

This transformation is the first time in the R&R Network’s history that the state’s entire R&R system has been assessed and strategic planning implemented. The R&R Network began in 1986 with five programs and grew to 18 over about ten years, with sometimes uneven distribution of resources and varying availability of services. While continuing to provide guidance and support, the R&R Network office will subcontract the funding for core services to the local R&R hubs as well.

 The new service delivery system, operated in partnership with the Washington State Department of Early Learning, will take child care resource and referral services to the next level. Reduction in the number of local R&R offices allows for the concentration of resources to serve families, while at the same time freeing up resources for R&R staff to provide relevant, locally-based services to caregivers and communities.

 “We hope that through the transition process the message to local communities will be clear: your community stands to gain more quality and consistency of core R&R services as a result of this change,” Baumgarten explains.

• Service Delivery Area After July 1, 2008

Please send us your thoughts and comments to feedback@childcarenet.org. You can also leave your comments on our "Feedback line" at (253) 383-1735 ext 17. Your input is welcomed and will be compiled for consideration at a later date.

October 2007