MISSION

Our mission is to increase the quantity and quality of accessible, affordable and developmentally appropriate childcare that provides employment for child care providers and allows parents to pursue employment and self-development courses. We are dedicated to the creation of childcare that is so essential to the development of our communities, human resources and to the hopes of our children for a better future.

HISTORY

Eastern Kentucky Child Care Coalition (EKCCC) was formed in 1990 when community leaders in several rural Eastern Kentucky counties came together because they all shared the same concern about the lack of child care in the region. They felt there was a vital need for an organizational focus on child care issues, and that child care resources needed to be developed for people in Eastern Kentucky.

TODAY

The essential mission of EKCCC has not changed. Our work includes organizing and outreach in local areas, providing technical assistance and training for grassroots groups as well as child care providers, linking resources between organizations, and providing child care referrals to parents in our communities.

Currently we are part of the Kentucky Partnership for Early Childhood to provide Child Care Resource & Referral services in the Area Development Districts of Lake Cumberland, Cumberland Valley, Kentucky River, and Big Sandy.  For information on accessing the technical assistance we can provide to communities or individuals interested in developing child care programs, please refer to our “Office Contact Info” link.  For information on finding child care appropriate for your needs, click on the “Parents” tab at the top of the page.

Through the Department of Education, we are a sponsoring organization for the Child Care Food Program for Family Child Care Homes in 40 counties throughout those four districts as well as part of the Bluegrass ADD. For more information on this program, please click on the “Food Program” tab at the top of this page.

We have just completed a three year partnership with the national organizations Zero To Three and Save the Children in a federal Department of Education Early Childhood Professional Development grant known as Project CLICK (”Cradling Literacy In Children in Kentucky”).  Participants from preschools, Head Start classrooms, and child care programs in six counties received training in early language and literacy development.  They also received monthly visits from Resource Coaches who assisted the participants in putting the concepts learned at the monthly training into practice.  The training is based on Zero To Three’s “Cradling Literacy” curriculum.