Page 24 - Creating a Community of Resiliency

Regulations, Resources, and Toolkits
Resources for Early Care and Education Providers
R&R Agencies
Although the regulations for emergency preparedness are minor, there are many emergency planning resources available for child care facilities. Child Care Aware, under its former name of National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), developed a disaster planning guide—Is Child Care Ready?—specifically for R&Rs to support FCCs and CCCs in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies. The guide provides recommendations on how R&Rs can help early care and education providers prepare and respond to a disaster. R&Rs are in a unique position to take on this role due to their existing relationships with early care and education providers in their communities:
 R&Rs have already developed methods of communicating with providers and are already established as a resource and support.
 Many R&Rs already conduct training workshops on health and safety issues as well as other topics.
 R&Rs can use their relationship with the national organization, Child Care Aware, to access needed support and resources from other areas not impacted by the disaster.
 R&Rs have connections to other local, state, and national organizations and businesses to obtain provisions.
As a result of this unique position and access to resources, R&Rs should take a lead role in preparing for and minimizing the impact of disasters on early care and education providers. For example, R&Rs can offer the following services:
 Emergency Preparedness: R&Rs can organize training workshops on how to collect a contact list for staff, children and families; review and practice the provider’s evacuation plan; and maintain a stock of supplies needed to support the children and staff at the facility.
 Attendance Records: R&Rs can offer training and technical assistance that teach providers the proper procedures for maintaining up-to-date attendance lists so that there is an accurate record of who is inside the facility and needs to be accounted for .
 Emergency Contacts: R&Rs can help programs develop a list of emergency services contacts. They can arrange for representatives from the fire and police departments to meet with child care programs to learn how to create communication lines.
 Insurance: R&Rs can offer training and materials to teach providers how to purchase a policy that meets their program’s needs, what documents will be required to process a claim, how to understand what is covered in their policy, and how deductibles work.
 Helping Families: R&Rs can provide written materials for the child care program to share with families to help them prepare for disasters.
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