The Child Care Bridge Program assists foster children and their families to close the “time gap” from when children are removed from their homes, put in a crisis, and are relocated to their prospective resource parent – who is often a relative – and need to access child care immediately in order to care for their new family member and maintain their job. The consistent resources and wrap around services through the Child Care Bridge Program is significant for the following reasons:
- Trauma Informed Care Training and Coaching are critical to continue supporting because childcare providers can use the tools they learn to implement in their center and better support their children and families. This has long-term positive effects on the children and families' well-being
- Vouchers are provided to families to help subsidize the immediate child care needs of the foster child so their new resource parent can help them adjust to their new family home while not worrying that they need to quit work to care for their child
- Navigators are crucial to the families participating in the program because they relieve the stress and worry of resource parents who may need to learn how to navigate a different system of care coordination for their children. Often, foster children are placed with older relatives, such as their grandparents, because they are their closest of kin
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