Provider Services

Provider Trainings/CCIP

4Cs offers myriad training opportunities for licensed family child care providers, parents, exempt-providers, individuals interested in becoming a child care provider, center staff, and community members. These trainings are part of our child care capacity building and retention program called the Child Care Initiative Project (CCIP). Trainings are held on weeknights and weekends, as well as during the day. To find out specific training topics and dates please visit the Trainings section of the website, as well as our calendar.

Resource & Toy Lending Library

The Toy and Resource Library is available to licensed and license- exempt child care providers in Sonoma County, and to community members of 4Cs. As children move through different stages of development, the library enables parents and providers to continually bring new and developmentally appropriate materials into the home. Some of the items that are available to borrow include puzzles and games, children's books, a variety of building and dramatic play props, trikes, infant and toddler toys, and activity kits. There is also a wealth of resources available for providers and parents, including but not limited to activity ideas, child development materials, health and safety information, working with children with special needs, and information to help child care providers run a quality and successful program.

Library Hours: Thursday 8:30am - 3:30pm or by appointment
Contact Jacqueline Buitrago at (707) 522-1413 x127 for more information.

Child Care Referrals

4Cs Resource and Referral department maintains a database of all licensed family child care homes, licensed child care centers, and exempt child care centers in our service area. We provide lists- free of charge- of child care providers to families looking for child care based on their stated needs or requests. We provide referrals; we do not make recommendations. We can not guarantee the quality of the providers in our files, and we strongly encourage parents to visit facilities, interview the provider, check references, and review the provider file at Community Care Licensing (707) 588-5026, before making the decision to leave the child in care. We update the provider files quarterly in order to have current information to provide to families looking for care.

Our referral lines are open Monday-Friday from 8:30am - 4:45pm. If you are a parent/guardian looking for child care or you are a provider who needs to update your file, please call (707) 544-3077, or after hours leave a message at (707) 522-1413 x131

Enhanced Referrals

4Cs contracts with businesses and/or other agencies to provide child care referrals to their staff members and/or clients. To provide an enhanced referral our referral counselors make additional phone calls to providers to guarantee their vacancies and ability to care for the particular child in question before the list of providers is sent out.

Technical Assistance

Resource & Referral counselors provide technical assistance over the phone and in person to parents, child care providers, and the general public. Information includes but is not limited to the following: choosing quality child care; how to become a licensed child care provider; Sonoma County child care statistics; caring for children with special needs; applying for mini-grants/stipends; finding mother's support groups, advocacy groups, or provider groups; community resources; designing the child care environment; health and safety issues, and much more.

If you have a child care question - we can help!
Call (707) 544-3077 and ask for the Resource & Referral Department.

Trustline

Trustline is the California registry of in-home child care providers who have passed a background screening. All caregivers listed with Trustline have been cleared through a fingerprint check of records at the California Department of Justice. This means they have no disqualifying criminal convictions or substantiated child abuse reports in California. It is invaluable information. Trustline uses the most up-to-date and detailed databases at the California Department of Justice and the FBI to protect children. Trustline is continually updated and caregivers who have committed a disqualifying crime are removed.

Parents
You can check to see if a provider is registered on Trustline by calling 1-800-822-8490 and giving the person's full name, driver's license number or other approved identification. If your current caregiver or the caregiver you are interviewing is not registered, just call Trustline's 800 number to learn how they can apply.

Providers
Registering is simple. Just call Trusline at 1-800-822-8490 to obtain a one-page application and send it in with a set of fingerprints and a one-time only fee. If no disqualifying criminal convictions or substantiated child abuse reports are found, your name will be added to the registry. Remember, all child care providers who operate in State-Licensed settings, such as child care centers, have undergone a similar screening process. For more information about Trustline visit their website at: www.trustline.org

Child Care Food Program

Our child care food program, or Child Health and Nutrition program, reimburses licensed family child care providers for healthy meals and snacks that are served to the children.