Child care resource and referral agencies, known as CCR&Rs, are the local offices that help families find child care and help providers run stronger programs.
They are one of the few free channels that can put your center in front of a family you have never met, which is why they earn a place near the front of any list of daycare referral partners.
This guide explains what a child care resource and referral agency does, how parents reach one, and the steps that get your listing and your open spots into its database.
What a child care resource and referral agency does
A CCR&R gives families referrals to local child care providers and information on licensing and paying for care, and gives providers coaching, technical assistance and quality-improvement support, per Child Care Aware of America, the field's national membership organization.
Child Care Aware of America counts more than 500 CCR&Rs across the country.
The field is not uniform: Child Care Aware of America's 2024 survey of CCR&Rs drew 210 responses from 48 states, and the group notes that some states run referral directly or through a single statewide agency.
The office your families would meet could be a regional nonprofit, a state agency or one statewide call center, so find out which one covers your ZIP code before you update anything.
For families
Referrals to local providers, plus information on licensing and paying for care.
For providers
Coaching, technical assistance and quality-improvement support, plus business resources.
For the search tools
The local database that state sites and Child Care Aware of America both point families to.
Childcare Aware referral: how families reach a CCR&R
Child Care Aware of America's Start Your Child Care Search page does not list providers itself: it sends families to their local CCR&R, searchable by ZIP code, which can build them a list of providers, and to state-by-state resources.
The national route ends at your local agency's database, so what a family hears about your center depends on what that database holds.
The second door is your state's website: CCDF requires each state to run a consumer education site with a ZIP-searchable list of all licensed providers, quality ratings where available, full inspection reports, and referrals to local CCR&Rs (45 CFR 98.33(a), as amended March 1, 2024).
Parents see inspection results next to a provider's listing there, and our state child care search sites guide covers that listing in depth.
How parents get daycare referrals
In a 2024 federal survey (OPRE report #2025-099), 27.6% of parents said they got child care information from conversations with organizations that help parents find care, the category CCR&Rs sit in.
Another 37.5% used official government sites or search tools, 40.2% used commercial sites or apps such as Care.com, and 60.2% got information from providers themselves, through websites, flyers, ads, social media, visits or calls; respondents could choose several sources.
Where parents got child care information, 2024 federal survey
An OPRE analysis of the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education sorted parent searches into five types, and the smallest, 6%, mainly used CCR&Rs plus friends and family.
The other four leaned on friends and family, internet search, social media or providers the parents already knew.
The same analysis found search types built on CCR&Rs, friends and family, or known providers were more common when the search was for a child with a condition that affects care, so the families who come through this channel are often searching for something specific rather than browsing.
Federal focus groups for HHS (OPRE report #2025-025, 94 parents, fieldwork in 2023) add the texture: parents said visiting a program in person was the most useful way to get good information, and they used Google reviews, Facebook comments, Yelp, Google Maps and state websites alongside referrals from family and other parents.
These percentages come from federal survey analysis rather than a channel report, so read them as the shape of a search, not market shares for your town.
How to get your center on the CCR&R list
Getting listed takes a phone call and a calendar reminder, not a budget.
Find the agency that covers your ZIP code
Child Care Aware of America runs a CCR&R search that routes you to your local agency, and in some states the answer is one statewide office.
Confirm what the referral database says about you
Ask the agency how your center appears and correct anything stale: name, address, phone, website, ages served, hours and current openings.
Keep vacancy information current
The provider list a family gets comes from the agency's database, so update openings as spots fill and clear.
Check your entry on the state search site too
Every licensed provider belongs on the state site under 45 CFR 98.33(a), so read your entry as a parent would and get errors corrected with your licensing contact.
Ask what else the agency offers providers
Child Care Aware of America describes CCR&Rs as offering providers coaching, technical assistance and quality-improvement support, but services differ by state, so ask what your agency offers and what it needs to keep your file complete.
What a listing does, and what it does not
A listing puts your center in a database; it does not mean the agency will send a family your way, and how CCR&Rs collect and display provider data varies by state and agency.
Treat it as one free listing that works alongside the others in our guide to free daycare advertising sites, not as a channel that fills rooms on its own.
One group of families does pass through often: CCR&Rs give families information on paying for care, and CCDF subsidized care for more than 1.6 million children from about 994,000 families in an average month in federal fiscal year 2023, the most recent year with data (HHS's May 2026 final rule).
If you accept subsidies, or you are deciding whether to, our child care subsidy marketing guide covers what that changes.
States run these systems differently and the rules move, so confirm your listing details with your state licensing agency and your local CCR&R.
Frequently asked questions
What does CCR&R stand for?
Child care resource and referral. Child Care Aware of America uses CCR&R for the agencies that refer families to local providers and give providers coaching and quality-improvement support.
How do I find the CCR&R that serves my center?
Child Care Aware of America runs a CCR&R search that routes you to the agency covering your area. Some states run referral directly or through one statewide agency, so your local office may be regional or not.
Is a CCR&R database the same as my state's child care search site?
No. 45 CFR 98.33(a) requires your state to run a consumer site listing every licensed provider by ZIP code with inspection reports, while each CCR&R keeps its own referral database. Confirm your details in both.
How often do parents use organizations like CCR&Rs in their search?
In a 2024 federal survey, 27.6% of parents got child care information from conversations with organizations that help parents find care. A 2019 federal analysis of searching families found that the smallest of its five search types, 6% of its sample, mainly used CCR&Rs plus friends and family. Neither figure counts families placed through a CCR&R.
Do CCR&Rs work with providers as well as families?
Yes. Child Care Aware of America describes CCR&Rs as giving providers coaching, technical assistance and quality-improvement support, plus business resources.