Cradle To Career is reaching out via phone calls to early education centers across the community, with the aim of getting a community-level understanding of how many childcare slots exist in Rochester, how many are currently used, and by whom.
Eventually we would like to use this data to create a deeper understanding of which children are currently in the care of family, friends, and neighbors (i.e. anyone who is not in licensed center-based or family-based care).
This information will be used to spark conversation within the networks, Whole Family Systems, and National League of Cities to talk about opportunities within the formal and informal childcare sectors.
This effort has garnered a lot of attention and support from our partners, with several saying they have wanted to do something similar in the past, but do not have the capacity to do so.
We would benefit greatly from Rotarians who are willing to cold-call providers using a script to learn about their current capacity, utilization, and wait lists. These calls will begin soon and continue on for the next few months
Cradle 2 Career is also requesting volunteers to assist with developing a parent survey related to the parent Kindergarten Readiness activity cards that were distributed earlier this year. Volunteers will also be needed to assist with interviewing parents about their use of the cards.
Please contact Marilyn Deling at humming73@gmail.com if you can assist with these initiatives. Thank you!