FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, Oct. 7, 2005
Contact: Jane Norris
(202) 401-9215
ACF Awards Grant to Help Gulf Coast Child Care Agencies Resume Operation
WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced $99,500 in aid to help families in Mississippi and Louisiana find needed child care by assisting the child care resource and referral agencies in those states to get back in operation.
The funds will be given to the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA). NACCRRA will provide technical support to help local child care agencies in Mississippi and Louisiana resume operation as quickly as possible. Interim emergency services will also be provided, including alternative staffing and collaboration for other agencies to provide communication services to identify the capacity and need for child care in Louisiana and Mississippi.
“These funds will help restore child care services in Louisiana and Mississippi,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D. “This aid will help improve access to child care services for those families affected by these devastating storms.”
Child care resource and referral agencies help parents find child care, train caregivers and provide community-wide coordination on child care services.
Families and child care providers displaced by Hurricane Katrina can call Child Care Aware at 1-800-242-2246 or visit childcareaware.org to find the child care agency in their new community. Services are available in English and Spanish.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news